● any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee to us or our stockholders;
● any action asserting a claim against us arising under the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws; and
● any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal-affairs doctrine.
This provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act. Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all such Securities Act actions. Accordingly, both state and federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain such claims. To prevent having to litigate claims in multiple jurisdictions and the threat of inconsistent or contrary rulings by different courts, among other considerations, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. While the Delaware courts have determined that such choice of forum provisions are facially valid, a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring a claim in a venue other than those designated in the exclusive forum provisions. In such instance, we would expect to vigorously assert the validity and enforceability of the exclusive forum provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. This may require significant additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions and there can be no assurance that the provisions will be enforced by a court in those other jurisdictions.
These exclusive forum provisions may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. If a court were to find either exclusive-forum provision in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur further significant additional costs associated with resolving the dispute in other jurisdictions, all of which could seriously harm our business.
Effective December 31, 2021, we ceased to be an “emerging growth company,” and certain reduced reporting requirements applicable to emerging growth companies no longer apply to us, which is expected to increase our costs as a public company and place additional demands on management.
Effective December 31, 2021, we ceased to be classified as an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the JOBS Act). We have previously taken advantage of certain reduced reporting requirements pursuant to the JOBS Act specifically applicable to emerging growth companies, including exemptions from the requirements of holding advisory “say-on-pay” and the related “say-on frequency” votes on executive compensation. Since we are no longer classified as an emerging growth company, we are now required to comply with those additional reporting requirements for which we were previously exempt. For example, we were required to hold a say-on-pay vote and a say-on frequency vote at our 2022 annual meeting of stockholders. As a result, we expect that we will require additional attention from management with respect to our additional reporting requirements and will incur increased costs, which could include higher legal fees, accounting fees, consultant fees and fees associated with investor relations activities, among others.
General Risk Factors
Unfavorable economic and market conditions, domestically and internationally, may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We have significant customer sales both in the United States and internationally. We also rely on domestic and international suppliers, manufacturing partners and distributors. We are therefore susceptible to adverse U.S. and international economic and market conditions. If any of our manufacturing partners, customers, distributors or suppliers experience slowdowns in their business, serious financial difficulties or cease operations, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our business will be adversely affected. In addition, the adverse impact of general economic factors that are beyond our control, including, but not limited to, housing markets, recession, inflation, deflation, consumer credit activity, consumer debt levels, fuel and energy costs, interest rates, tax rates and policy, unemployment trends, potential industry downturn, the impact of natural disasters such as pandemics, civil disturbances, terrorist activities, and acts of war, including the military conflict in Ukraine, may adversely impact consumer spending, which