SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2020
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Description of Business	Description of Business Immersion Corporation (the "Company", "Immersion", "we" or "us") was incorporated in 1993 in California and reincorporated in Delaware in 1999. We focus on the creation, design, development, and licensing of innovative haptic technologies that allow people to use their sense of touch more fully as they engage with products and experience the digital world around them. We have adopted a business model under which it provides advanced tactile software, related tools, technical assistance designed to help integrate our patented technology into our customers’ products or enhance the functionality of our patented technology to certain customers, and offers licenses to our patented technology to other customers.
Principles of Consolidation and Basis of Presentation	Principles of Consolidation and Basis of Presentation The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Immersion Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries: Immersion Canada Corporation; Immersion International, LLC; Immersion Medical, Inc.; Immersion Japan K.K.; Immersion Ltd.; Immersion Software Ireland Ltd.; Haptify, Inc.; Immersion (Shanghai) Science & Technology Company, Ltd.; and Immersion Technology International Ltd. All intercompany accounts, transactions, and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP") for interim financial information and with the instructions for Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, these condensed consolidated financial statements do not include all information and footnotes necessary for a complete presentation of the financial position, results of operations, and cash flows, in conformity with U.S. GAAP and should be read in conjunction with our audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. In the opinion of management, all adjustments consisting of only normal and recurring items necessary for the fair presentation of the financial position and results of operations for the interim periods presented have been included.
Use of Estimates	Use of Estimates The preparation of condensed consolidated financial statements and related disclosures requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates include valuation of income taxes including uncertain tax provisions, and revenue recognition. Actual results may differ materially from those estimates which were made based on the best information known to management at that time.
Segment Information	Segment Information We develop, license, and support a wide range of software and IP that more fully engage users’ senses of touch when operating digital devices. We focus on the following target application areas: mobile devices, wearables, consumer, mobile entertainment and other content; console gaming; automotive; medical; and commercial. We manage these application areas in one operating and reporting segment with only one set of management, development, and administrative personnel. Our chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) is the Chief Executive Officer. The CODM approves budgets and allocates resources to and assesses the performance of our business using information about our revenue and operating loss. There is only one segment that is reported to management.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements	Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements In June 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (“ASU 2016-13”). This guidance requires financial assets measured at amortized cost to be presented at the net amount expected to be collected based on historical events, current conditions and forecast information. The standard will be effective for the first interim period within annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019 and early adoption is permitted. We adopted ASU 2016-13 as of January 1, 2020. The adoption of this new accounting standard did not have a material impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements. Recent Accounting Guidance Not Yet Adopted In December 2019, the FASB issued Accounting Standard Update No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (ASU 2019-12), which enhances and simplifies various aspects of the income tax accounting guidance, including requirements such as tax basis step-up in goodwill obtained in a transaction that is not a business combination, ownership changes in investments, and interim-period accounting for enacted changes in tax law. The amendment is effective for public companies with fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020; early adoption is permitted. We are evaluating the impact of this amendment on our condensed consolidated financial statements.
Revenue Recognition Accounting Policy	Revenue Recognition Accounting Policy Our revenue is primarily derived from fixed fee license agreements and per-unit royalty agreements, along with less significant revenue earned from development, services and other revenue. Fixed fee license revenue We recognize revenue from a fixed fee license agreement when we have satisfied our performance obligations, which typically occurs upon the transfer of rights to our technology upon the execution of the license agreement. However, in certain contracts, we grant a license to our existing patent portfolio at the inception of the license agreement as well as rights to the portfolio as it evolves throughout the contract term. For such arrangements, we have concluded that there are two separate performance obligations: •Performance Obligation A: to transfer rights to our patent portfolio as it exists when the contract is executed; •Performance Obligation B: to transfer rights to our patent portfolio as it evolves over the term of the contract, including access to new patent applications that the licensee can benefit from over the term of the contract. If a fixed fee license agreement contains only Performance Obligation A, we recognize most or all of the revenue from the agreement at the inception of the contract. For fixed fee license agreements that contain both Performance Obligation A and B, we allocate the transaction price based on the standalone price for each of the two performance obligations. We use a number of factors primarily related to the attributes of our patent portfolio to estimate standalone prices related to Performance Obligation A and B. Once the transaction price is allocated, the portion of the transaction price allocable to Performance Obligation A is recognized in the period the license agreement is signed and the customer can benefit from rights provided in the contract. The portion allocable to Performance Obligation B is recognized on a straight-line basis over the contract term. For such contracts, a contract liability account is established and included within Deferred revenue on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. As the rights and obligations in a contract are interdependent, contract assets and contract liabilities that arise in the same contract are presented on a net basis. Some of our license agreements contain fixed fees related to past infringements. Such fixed fees are recognized as revenue or recorded as a deduction to our operating expense in the period the license agreement is signed. Payments for fixed fee license contracts typically are due in full within 30 - 45 days from execution of the contract. From time to time, we enter into a fixed fee license contract with payments due in a number of installments payable throughout the contract term. In such cases, we will determine if a significant financing component exists and if it does, we will recognize revenue and corresponding interest expense or income, as appropriate. Per-unit Royalty revenue We record per-unit royalty revenue in the same period in which the licensee’s underlying sales occur. As we generally do not receive the per-unit licensee royalty reports for sales during a given quarter within the time frame that allows us to adequately review the reports and include the actual amounts in our quarterly results for such quarter, we accrue the related revenue based on estimates of our licensees’ underlying sales, subject to certain constraints on our ability to estimate such amounts. We develop such estimates based on a combination of available data including, but not limited to, approved customer forecasts, a lookback at historical royalty reporting for each of our customers, and industry information available for the licensed products. As a result of accruing per-unit royalty revenue for the quarter based on such estimates, we make adjustments in the following quarter to true-up revenue to the actual amounts reported by our licensees. During the three months ended June 30, 2020, we recorded a $20,000 adjustment to decrease per-unit royalty revenue. This adjustment represents the difference between the actual per-unit royalty revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2020 as reported by our licensees during the three months ended June 30, 2020 and the estimated per-unit royalty revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2020 that we reported during the quarter. Certain of our per-unit royalty agreements contains a minimum royalty provision which sets forth minimum amounts to be received by us during the contract term. Under Accounting Standard Codification 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, (“ASC 606”), minimum royalties are considered a fixed transaction price to which we have an unconditional right once all other performance obligations, if any, are satisfied. We recognize all minimum royalties as revenue at the inception of the license agreement, or in the period in which all remaining revenue recognition criteria have been met. We account for the unbilled minimum royalties as contract assets on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, and the balance of such contract assets will be reduced by the actual royalties to be reported by the licensee during the contract term until fully utilized, after which point any excess per-unit royalties reported are recognized as revenue. As the rights and obligations in a contract are interdependent, contract assets and contract liabilities that arise in the same contract are presented on a net basis. Payments of per-unit royalties typically are due within 30 to 60 days from the end of the quarter in which the underlying sales took place. Development, services, and other revenue As the performance obligation related to our development, service and other revenue is satisfied over a period of time, we recognize such revenue evenly over the period of performance obligation, which is generally consistent with the contractual term.

SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Immersion Corporation (the "Company", "Immersion", "we" or "us") was incorporated in 1993 in California and reincorporated in Delaware in 1999. We focus on the creation, design, development, and licensing of innovative haptic technologies that allow people to use their sense of touch more fully as they engage with products and experience the digital world around them. We have adopted a business model under which it provides advanced tactile software, related tools, technical assistance designed to help integrate our patented technology into our customers’ products or enhance the functionality of our patented technology to certain customers, and offers licenses to our patented technology to other customers.

Principles of Consolidation and Basis of Presentation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Immersion Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries: Immersion Canada Corporation; Immersion International, LLC; Immersion Medical, Inc.; Immersion Japan K.K.; Immersion Ltd.; Immersion Software Ireland Ltd.; Haptify, Inc.; Immersion (Shanghai) Science & Technology Company, Ltd.; and Immersion Technology International Ltd. All intercompany accounts, transactions, and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP") for interim financial information and with the instructions for Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, these condensed consolidated financial statements

do not include all information and footnotes necessary for a complete presentation of the financial position, results of operations, and cash flows, in conformity with U.S. GAAP and should be read in conjunction with our audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. In the opinion of management, all adjustments consisting of only normal and recurring items necessary for the fair presentation of the financial position and results of operations for the interim periods presented have been included.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of condensed consolidated financial statements and related disclosures requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates include valuation of income taxes including uncertain tax provisions, and revenue recognition. Actual results may differ materially from those estimates which were made based on the best information known to management at that time.

Segment Information

We develop, license, and support a wide range of software and IP that more fully engage users’ senses of touch when operating digital devices. We focus on the following target application areas: mobile devices, wearables, consumer, mobile entertainment and other content; console gaming; automotive; medical; and commercial. We manage these application areas in one operating and reporting segment with only one set of management, development, and administrative personnel.

Our chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) is the Chief Executive Officer. The CODM approves budgets and allocates resources to and assesses the performance of our business using information about our revenue and operating loss. There is only one segment that is reported to management.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (“ASU 2016-13”). This guidance requires financial assets measured at amortized cost to be presented at the net amount expected to be collected based on historical events, current conditions and forecast information. The standard will be effective for the first interim period within annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019 and early adoption is permitted. We adopted ASU 2016-13 as of January 1, 2020. The adoption of this new accounting standard did not have a material impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements.

Recent Accounting Guidance Not Yet Adopted

In December 2019, the FASB issued Accounting Standard Update No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (ASU 2019-12), which enhances and simplifies various aspects of the income tax accounting guidance, including requirements such as tax basis step-up in goodwill obtained in a transaction that is not a business combination, ownership changes in investments, and interim-period accounting for enacted changes in tax law. The amendment is effective for public companies with fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020; early adoption is permitted. We are evaluating the impact of this amendment on our condensed consolidated financial statements.

Revenue Recognition Accounting Policy

Our revenue is primarily derived from fixed fee license agreements and per-unit royalty agreements, along with less significant revenue earned from development, services and other revenue.

Fixed fee license revenue

We recognize revenue from a fixed fee license agreement when we have satisfied our performance obligations, which typically occurs upon the transfer of rights to our technology upon the execution of the license agreement. However, in certain contracts, we grant a license to our existing patent portfolio at the inception of the license agreement as well as rights to the portfolio as it evolves throughout the contract term. For such arrangements, we have concluded that there are two separate performance obligations:

•Performance Obligation A: to transfer rights to our patent portfolio as it exists when the contract is executed;

•Performance Obligation B: to transfer rights to our patent portfolio as it evolves over the term of the contract, including access to new patent applications that the licensee can benefit from over the term of the contract.

If a fixed fee license agreement contains only Performance Obligation A, we recognize most or all of the revenue from the agreement at the inception of the contract. For fixed fee license agreements that contain both Performance Obligation A and B, we allocate the transaction price based on the standalone price for each of the two performance obligations. We use a number of factors primarily related to the attributes of our patent portfolio to estimate standalone prices related to Performance Obligation A and B. Once the transaction price is allocated, the portion of the transaction price allocable to Performance Obligation A is recognized in the period the license agreement is signed and the customer can benefit from rights provided in the contract. The portion allocable to Performance Obligation B is recognized on a straight-line basis over the contract term. For such contracts, a contract liability account is established and included within Deferred revenue on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. As the rights and obligations in a contract are interdependent, contract assets and contract liabilities that arise in the same contract are presented on a net basis.

Some of our license agreements contain fixed fees related to past infringements. Such fixed fees are recognized as revenue or recorded as a deduction to our operating expense in the period the license agreement is signed.

Payments for fixed fee license contracts typically are due in full within 30 - 45 days from execution of the contract. From time to time, we enter into a fixed fee license contract with payments due in a number of installments payable throughout the contract term. In such cases, we will determine if a significant financing component exists and if it does, we will recognize revenue and corresponding interest expense or income, as appropriate.

Per-unit Royalty revenue

We record per-unit royalty revenue in the same period in which the licensee’s underlying sales occur. As we generally do not receive the per-unit licensee royalty reports for sales during a given quarter within the time frame that allows us to adequately review the reports and include the actual amounts in our quarterly results for such quarter, we accrue the related revenue based on estimates of our licensees’ underlying sales, subject to certain constraints on our ability to estimate such amounts. We develop such estimates based on a combination of available data including, but not limited to, approved customer forecasts, a lookback at historical royalty reporting for each of our customers, and industry information available for the licensed products.

As a result of accruing per-unit royalty revenue for the quarter based on such estimates, we make adjustments in the following quarter to true-up revenue to the actual amounts reported by our licensees. During the three months ended June 30, 2020, we recorded a $20,000 adjustment to decrease per-unit royalty revenue. This adjustment represents the difference between the actual per-unit royalty revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2020 as reported by our licensees during the three months ended June 30, 2020 and the estimated per-unit royalty revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2020 that we reported during the quarter.

Certain of our per-unit royalty agreements contains a minimum royalty provision which sets forth minimum amounts to be received by us during the contract term. Under Accounting Standard Codification 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, (“ASC 606”), minimum royalties are considered a fixed transaction price to which we have an unconditional right

once all other performance obligations, if any, are satisfied. We recognize all minimum royalties as revenue at the inception of the license agreement, or in the period in which all remaining revenue recognition criteria have been met. We account for the unbilled minimum royalties as contract assets on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, and the balance of such contract assets will be reduced by the actual royalties to be reported by the licensee during the contract term until fully utilized, after which point any excess per-unit royalties reported are recognized as revenue. As the rights and obligations in a contract are interdependent, contract assets and contract liabilities that arise in the same contract are presented on a net basis.

Payments of per-unit royalties typically are due within 30 to 60 days from the end of the quarter in which the underlying sales took place.

Development, services, and other revenue

As the performance obligation related to our development, service and other revenue is satisfied over a period of time, we recognize such revenue evenly over the period of performance obligation, which is generally consistent with the contractual term.