7. TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AGREEMENT
Effective July 1, 2020, the Company entered into the Technology Investment Agreement (TIA) with the U.S. government to expand the Company’s manufacturing capacity for hypodermic safety needles in response to the worldwide COVID-19 global pandemic. The award is an expenditure-type TIA, whereby the U.S. government has made payments to the Company for the Company’s expenditures for equipment and supplies related to the expansion. The Company’s contributions under the terms of the TIA include providing facilities, technical expertise, labor and maintenance for the TIA-funded equipment for a ten-year term. In May of 2021, the Company and the U.S. government amended the TIA agreement to include two additional assembly lines and additional controlled environment space.
The Company has received all equipment, has completed all property construction required by the TIA, and all reimbursement requests have been submitted. No further amounts for expansion under the TIA are expected to be submitted or collected.
At the request of the US government, the TIA was transferred to a successor agreement, identified as Other Transaction Agreement in April 2023. Such agreement contains no additional requirements, and, for the purposes of this report, the agreement shall continue to be referred to herein as the “TIA”. The successor agreement governs ongoing terms established by the TIA until June 30, 2030, which includes maintenance of equipment, availability of capacity, and US government preference in the event of a public health emergency.
Under the TIA, reimbursable amounts are reflected as Other long-term liabilities on the Balance Sheets until the time the deferred income can be systematically amortized over a period matching the useful life of the purchased assets. Other long-term liabilities from the TIA were $65,344,155 and $71,517,656 at September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
8. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
On November 7, 2019, the Company filed a lawsuit in the 44th District Court of Dallas County, Texas (No. DC-19-17946) against Locke Lord, LLP and Roy Hardin in connection with their legal representation of the Company in its previous litigation against Becton, Dickinson and Company ("BD"). The Company alleged that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties, committed malpractice, and were negligent in their representation of the Company. The Company seeks actual and exemplary damages, disgorgement, costs, and interest. On September 2, 2022, the Company filed a Second Amended Petition alleging legal malpractice and negligence. On February 20, 2024, the Defendants filed another Motion for Summary Judgment on the Company’s remaining claim of legal malpractice. A hearing on that Motion for Summary Judgment was held on April 18, 2024 and an order denying Defendants’ Motion was signed May 10, 2024. A new trial date has been set for June 2, 2025.
On September 26, 2024, the Company filed a lawsuit in the United States Court of International Trade against the United States of America, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Trade Representative Katherine Tai, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, and U.S. Customs & Border Protection Acting Commissioner Troy Miller. Relief sought includes preliminary injunctions on recently enacted tariffs and, ultimately, a decision that the tariffs be set aside, as well as certain costs, fees, and other relief. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss on October 11, 2024 which was later restated on October 15, 2024. An evidentiary hearing was held on October 17, 2024. Post-hearing briefs were filed by the Company and the defendants on October 22, 2024. On October 28, 2024, the Court entered an opinion denying the Company’s motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the collection of tariffs, but ordered that the Company’s motion for preliminary injunction enjoining liquidation of entries during the pendency of the litigation was granted.
9. BUSINESS SEGMENT
The Company does not operate in separate reportable segments. Shipments to international customers generally require a prepayment either by wire transfer or an irrevocable confirmed letter of credit. The Company does extend