Commitments and Contingencies

Product Litigation

The Company is currently named as a defendant in seven lawsuits in which the plaintiffs allege either wrongful death or personal injury in situations in which a TASER CEW was used by law enforcement officers in connection with arrests. While the facts vary from case to case, the product liability claims are typically based on an alleged product defect resulting in injury or death, usually involving a failure to warn, and the plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages. The information throughout this note is current through the date of these financial statements.

As a general rule, it is the Company’s policy not to settle suspect injury or death cases. Exceptions are sometimes made where the settlement is strategically beneficial to the Company. Also, on occasion, the Company’s insurance company has settled such lawsuits over the Company’s objection where the risk is over the Company’s liability insurance deductibles. Due to the confidentiality of the Company's litigation strategy and the confidentiality agreements that are executed in the event of a settlement, the Company does not identify or comment on which specific lawsuits have been settled or the amount of any settlement.

In 2009, the Company implemented new risk management strategies, including revisions to product warnings and training to better protect both the Company and its customers from litigation based on “failure to warn” theories - which comprise the vast majority of the cases against the Company. These risk management strategies have been highly effective in reducing the rate and exposure from litigation post-2009. From the third quarter of 2011 to the first quarter of 2018, product liability cases have been reduced from 55 to seven active cases.

Management believes that pre-2009 cases have a different risk profile than cases which have occurred since the risk management procedures were introduced in 2009. Therefore, the Company necessarily treats certain pre-2009 cases as exceptions to the Company’s general no settlement policy in order to reduce caseload, legal costs and liability exposure.

The Company intends to continue its successful practice of aggressively defending and generally not settling litigation except in very limited and unusual circumstances as described above.With respect to each of the pending lawsuits, the following table lists the name of plaintiff, the date the Company was served with process, the jurisdiction in which the case is pending, the type of claim and the status of the matter.



Plaintiff	Month Served	Jurisdiction	Claim Type	Status
Derbyshire	Nov-09	Ontario, Canada Superior Court of Justice	Officer Injury	Discovery Phase. Trial scheduled for October 14, 2019.
Shymko	Dec-10	The Queen's Bench, Winnipeg Centre, Manitoba	Wrongful Death	Pleading Phase, currently inactive
Ramsey	Jan-12	12th Judicial Circuit Court, Broward County, FL	Wrongful Death	Discovery Phase
Bennett	Sep-15	11th Judicial Circuit Court, Miami-Dade County, FL	Wrongful Death	Discovery Phase. Trial scheduled for June 18, 2018.
Masters	Nov-16	U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri	Suspect Injury	Discovery Phase. Trial scheduled for December 10, 2018.
Taylor	Mar-17	U.S, District Court, Southern District of Texas	Officer Injury	Discovery Phase. The Company's motion for summary judgment was filed on April 20, 2018. Docket call scheduled for August 31, 2018.
Wiggington	Apr-18	U.S, District Court, Western District Court of Missouri	Wrongful Death	Pleading Phase

No product liability cases were dismissed or judgments entered during the first quarter of 2018 and through the date of these financial statements and there are no product litigation matters in which the Company is involved that are currently on appeal.

The claims, and in some instances the defense, of each of these lawsuits have been submitted to the Company’s insurance carriers that maintained insurance coverage during the applicable periods. The Company continues to maintain product liability insurance coverage with varying limits and deductibles. The following table provides information regarding the Company’s product liability insurance. Remaining insurance coverage is based on information received from the Company’s insurance provider (in millions).



Policy Year	Policy Start Date	Policy End Date	Insurance Coverage		Deductible Amount		Defense Costs Covered	Remaining Insurance Coverage		Active Cases and Cases on Appeal
2009	12/15/2008	12/15/2009	$	10.0	$	1.0	N	$	10.0	Derbyshire
2010	12/15/2009	12/15/2010	10.0		1.0		N	10.0		Shymko
2011	12/15/2010	12/15/2011	10.0		1.0		N	10.0		n/a
Jan-Jun 2012	12/15/2011	6/25/2012	7.0		1.0		N	7.0		Ramsey
Jul-Dec 2012	6/25/2012	12/15/2012	12.0		1.0		N	12.0		n/a
2013	12/15/2012	12/15/2013	12.0		1.0		N	12.0		n/a
2014	12/15/2013	12/15/2014	11.0		4.0		N	11.0		n/a
2015	12/15/2014	12/15/2015	10.0		5.0		N	10.0		Bennett
2016	12/15/2015	12/15/2016	10.0		5.0		N	10.0		Masters
2017	12/15/2016	12/15/2017	10.0		5.0		N	10.0		Taylor
2018	12/15/2017	12/15/2018	10.0		5.0		N	10.0		Wiggington

Other Litigation

Phazzer Patent Infringement Litigation

In November 2015, the Company filed a complaint against Phazzer Electronics Inc. and Sang Min International Co. Ltd. for patent infringement, trademark infringement and false advertising. On July 21, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted the Company's Motion for Sanctions and for a Permanent Injunction against Florida-based Phazzer Electronics, Inc. The Court issued a broad permanent injunction against Phazzer banning sales of the infringing Phazzer Enforcer CEWs and dart cartridges. The injunction prohibits Phazzer and its officers, agents, employees, and anyone else acting in concert with them, from making, using, offering for sale, selling, distributing, importing or exporting Phazzer CEWs and associated cartridges. Phazzer is further enjoined from dumping its infringing inventory by “donating” CEWs to law enforcement, and from false advertising and comparison to TASER® brand products. Both Phazzer and its U.S. distributors are barred from exporting CEWs or cartridges to fill foreign orders. The injunction also makes clear that nonparties who assist Phazzer in violating the injunction, including specifically Taiwanese CEW manufacturer Sang Min International and Double Dragon Development and Trading Corporation, may be held in contempt of court. On August 10, 2017, Phazzer filed a notice of appeal which is detailed in the following section entitled cases on appeal. On April 19, 2018, the Court denied Phazzer's second motion to stay the injunction pending appeal.

On April 4, 2018, the Court entered a judgment for the Company against Phazzer in an amount exceeding $7.8 million which included an award to the Company of compensatory and treble damages for willful infringement, and also an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. The collectability of this judgment is in doubt since Phazzer has informed the Court that it is insolvent.

In imposing severe sanctions against Phazzer, the Court found that Phazzer “engaged in a pattern of bad faith conduct designed and intended to delay, stall, and increase the cost of this litigation,” and that Phazzer repeatedly disregarded Court Orders thereby exhibiting “contemptuous”, “egregious”, “flagrant” and “intentional obstructionist behavior” resulting in willful “abuse [of] the judicial process.”

The Company’s patent (U.S. No. 7,234,262) at issue in the litigation (Case No. 6:16-cv-00366-PGB-KRS) relates to the CEW’s data recording of date and time of each trigger operation and duration of the stimulus. The Court found that patent is “valid, enforceable, and infringed by Phazzer.” The injunction will remain in effect until the patent expires, and includes any CEW or device not colorably different from the Phazzer Enforcer CEW. Phazzer filed a second petition for reexamination of the Company's Patent on April 27, 2017 which resulted in a non-final office action on December 5, 2017 rejecting all old and new patent claims. The Company filed its response on February 5, 2018 and a final office action was issued by the USPTO rejecting all old and new patent claims. The Company has appealed this ruling. The injunction is still in full force and effect despite recent USPTO office action.

The Company's trademark that is the subject of the injunction is Federal Registration No. 4,423,789, relating to the non-functional shape of TASER CEW cartridges used to launch the darts. The Court found the trademark “valid and enforceable, not generic, functional, or merely descriptive, and infringed by Phazzer.” The permanent injunction covers all Phazzer CEW dart cartridges that are confusingly similar to, or not more than a colorable imitation of, TASER CEW cartridges, and includes Phazzer product numbers 1-DC15, 1-DC21, 1-DC25, 1-DC21-SIDT, 1-PB30, 1-PB8F, 1-PB15943, 1-RB30, 1-PA30, and 1-LOWIMPT2015. Phazzer has filed a petition to cancel Axon’s trademark.

The Court expressly found that Phazzer cartridges currently marketed and sold as compatible with TASER brand CEWs embody the protected appearance and constitute infringing products enjoined under its Order. Phazzer was also ordered by the Court “not [to] challenge or continue to challenge the validity or enforceability of the ‘789 Registration in any manner in any forum, including the USTPO.” Accordingly, Phazzer’s pending USPTO cancellation action, which was stayed while the litigation ran its course, will be dismissed.

Digital Ally Patent Litigation

In February 2016, the Company was served with a first amended complaint filed by Digital Ally in the Federal District Court for the District of Kansas alleging patent infringement regarding the Company's Axon Signal technology, commercial bribery, antitrust, and unfair competition. In March 2016, the Company was served with a second amended complaint with similar allegations. The second amended complaint seeks a judgment of infringement, monetary damages, a permanent injunction, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees and costs.

Digital Ally’s complaint has been substantially narrowed based on (1) the district court dismissing all of Digital Ally’s antitrust claims in January 2017; (2) the USPTO granting validity review of Digital Ally’s ‘292 patent in June 2017, and Digital Ally subsequently dismissing this patent from the litigation and covenanting not to sue the Company with respect to existing and prior products; and (3) Digital Ally’s dismissal of certain inconsistent claims in the ‘452 patent, leaving only independent claim 10 for resolution by the Court. The Company believes the remaining claim of the ‘452 patent is invalid and not infringed, and is vigorously defending this litigation. Digital Ally filed an appeal on the dismissal of its antitrust claims on April 20, 2017, which is pending in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. The Company’s inter parte review of the ‘292 patent was heard by the PTAB on February 23, 2018, and a decision is expected by early June 2018.

The litigation stay has been lifted and the case is in the discovery phase. A third Scheduling Order was entered on December 20, 2017, and a Markman Hearing was held on March 8, 2018.

Antoine di Zazzo Arbitration

In April 2016, the Company was served with a notice of arbitration claim filed by Antoine di Zazzo, the Company’s former distributor in France, for commissions allegedly owed Mr. di Zazzo. The arbitration claim was filed with the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, France, and the amount that is claimed in controversy is $0.6 million. The Company’s records reflect that all commissions that were due Mr. di Zazzo under his contract were paid or offered to him and the Company will vigorously defend this arbitration claim.

VIEVU Commercial Litigation

In February 2017, the Company was served with a complaint filed by VieVU, LLC (“VIEVU” ) alleging tortious interference with a business expectancy. In February 2017, the Company filed complaints against VIEVU for unfair competition and false advertising in both the Superior Court of Arizona for Maricopa County as well as the California Superior Court for Santa Cruz County. VIEVU and the Company entered into mutual stipulations for dismissal of both parties’ complaints against the other. On February 21, 2018, the Federal lawsuit against VIEVU was dismissed, and on February 27, 2018 the State lawsuit against the Company was dismissed.

Appeals

The judgment entered resulting from the Court granting the Company’s motion for dismissal of Digital Ally litigation for antitrust claims as well as the judgment and permanent injunction in the Company’s favor against Phazzer are on appeal as noted in the following table:



Plaintiff	Month Served	Jurisdiction	Claim Type	Status
Digital Ally	Jan-16	U.S. District Court, District of Kansas	Antitrust Claims	The Company's motion for dismissal of the antitrust claims was granted on January 12, 2017 with judgment entered in its favor on April 14, 2017 and Plaintiff filed an appeal on April 20, 2017.
Axon	Mar-16	U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida	Judgment and Permanent Injunction	The Company received judgment in its favor and a permanent injunction against Phazzer on July 21, 2017. Phazzer filed a notice of appeal on August 10, 2017.

General

From time to time, the Company is notified that it may be a party to a lawsuit or that a claim is being made against it. It is the Company’s policy to not disclose the specifics of any claim or threatened lawsuit until the summons and complaint are actually served on the Company. After carefully assessing the claim, and assuming the Company determines that it is not at fault or it disagrees with the damages or relief demanded, the Company vigorously defends any lawsuit filed against the Company. In certain legal matters, the Company records a liability when losses are deemed probable and reasonably estimable. In evaluating matters for accrual and disclosure purposes, the Company takes into consideration factors such as our historical experience with matters of a similar nature, the specific facts and circumstances asserted, the likelihood of our prevailing, the availability of insurance, and the severity of any potential loss. The Company reevaluates and updates accruals as matters progress over time.

Based on the Company's assessment of outstanding litigation and claims as of March 31, 2018, the Company has determined that it is not reasonably possible that these lawsuits will individually, or in the aggregate, materially affect its results of operations, financial condition or cash flows. However, the outcome of any litigation is inherently uncertain and there can be no assurance that any expense, liability or damages that may ultimately result from the resolution of these matters will be covered by its insurance or will not be in excess of amounts recognized or provided by insurance coverage and will not have a material adverse effect on our operating results, financial condition or cash flows.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

Under certain circumstances, the Company uses letters of credit and surety bonds to guarantee its performance under various contracts, principally in connection with the installation and integration of its Axon cameras and related technologies. Certain of the Company's letters of credit and surety bonds have stated expiration dates with others being released as the contractual performance terms are completed. At March 31, 2018, the Company had outstanding letters of credit of $2.7 million that are expected to expire in May 2018. Additionally, the Company had $10.6 million of outstanding surety bonds at March 31, 2018, with $1.0 million expiring in 2018, $0.1 million expiring in 2020, $2.3 million expiring in 2021, $3.1 million expiring in 2022 and the remaining $4.0 million expiring in 2023.