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CONTINGENCIES
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
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From time to time, the Company receives claims from third parties asserting that the Company’s technologies, or those of its licensees, infringe on the other parties’ IP rights. Management believes that these claims are without merit. Additionally, periodically, the Company is involved in routine legal matters and contractual disputes incidental to its normal operations. In management’s opinion, the resolution of such matters will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial condition, results of operations, or liquidity.
In the normal course of business, the Company provides indemnification of varying scope to customers, most commonly to licensees in connection with licensing arrangements that include our IP, although these provisions can cover additional matters. Historically, costs related to these guarantees have not been significant, and the Company is unable to estimate the maximum potential impact of these guarantees on its future results of operations.
As discussed in Part II, Item 1 (Legal Proceedings), on April 28, 2017, the Company and Immersion Software Ireland Limited (collectively, “Immersion”) received a letter from Samsung Electronics Co. (“Samsung”) requesting that the Company reimburse Samsung with respect to withholding tax and penalties imposed on Samsung by the Korean tax authorities following an investigation where the tax authority determined that Samsung failed to withhold taxes on Samsung’s royalty payments to Immersion Software Ireland from 2012 to 2016.  On July 12, 2017, Immersion filed an appeal with the Korea Tax Tribunal regarding their findings with respect to the withholding taxes and penalties. On October 18, 2018, the Korea Tax Tribunal held a hearing and on November 19, 2018, the Korea Tax Tribunal issued its ruling in which it decided not to accept the Company's arguments with respect to the Korean tax authorities’ assessment of withholding tax and penalties imposed on Samsung. We filed an appeal with the Korea Administrative Court on February 15, 2019. The first hearing is scheduled for May 30, 2019.
On September 29, 2017, Samsung filed an arbitration demand with the International Chamber of Commerce against Immersion demanding that the Company reimburse Samsung for the imposed tax and penalties that Samsung paid to the Korean tax authorities. On March 27, 2019, the Company received the final award. The award ordered Immersion to pay Samsung KRW 7,841,324,165 (approximately $6.9 million), which Immersion paid on April 22, 2019, denied Samsung’s claim for interest from and after May 2, 2017; and ordered Immersion to pay Samsung’s cost of the arbitration in the amount of approximately $871,454.
The Company believes that there are valid defenses to all of the claims from the Korean tax authorities. The Company intends to vigorously defend against the claims from the Korean tax authorities. As the Company believes that the likelihood of a material charge resulting from the appeal with the Korean Administrative Court is remote, the $6.9 million was recorded as a deposit included in Other assets on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2019. The Company expects to be reimbursed by Samsung to the extent the Company prevails in the appeal with the Korea Administrative Court.
On October 16, 2017, the Company received a letter from LG Electronics Inc. (“LGE”) requesting that the Company reimburse LGE with respect to withholding tax imposed on LGE by the Korean tax authorities following an investigation where the tax authority determined that LGE failed to withhold on LGE’s royalty payments to Immersion Software Ireland from 2012 to 2014.  On November 3, 2017, the Company filed an appeal with the Korea Tax Tribunal regarding their findings with respect to the withholding taxes. The Korea Tax Tribunal hearing took place on March 5, 2019. On March 19, 2019, the Korea Tax Tribunal issued its ruling in which it decided not to accept Immersion’s arguments with respect to the Korean tax authorities’ assessment of withholding tax and penalties imposed on LGE. We intend to appeal such ruling with the Korea Tax Administrative Court. The Company believes that there are valid defenses to the claims raised by the Korean tax authorities and that LGE’s claims are without merit.  The Company intends to vigorously defend itself against these claims and as a result, has concluded that the likelihood of a material charge resulting from the claim from LGE to be remote.