Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Notes to Financial Statements

3. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Significant Accounting Policies

There have been no material changes in the Company’s significant accounting policies other than described below to those previously disclosed in the 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 29, 2016.

Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company are unaudited and do not include all of the information and disclosures generally required for annual financial statements. In the opinion of management, the statements contain all material adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) necessary to present fairly the Company’s condensed consolidated financial position as of March 31, 2016, and the condensed consolidated results of its operations for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, and the condensed consolidated results of its cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015. This report should be read in conjunction with the Company’s 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K, which does contain the complete information and disclosure for the year ended December 31, 2015.

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“US GAAP”). This requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect certain reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the period. The Company’s significant estimates and assumptions include the recoverability and useful lives of long-lived assets, stock-based compensation, the valuation of derivative liabilities, and the valuation allowance related to the Company’s deferred tax assets. Certain of the Company’s estimates, including the carrying amount of the intangible assets, could be affected by external conditions, including those unique to the Company and general economic conditions. It is reasonably possible that these external factors could have an effect on the Company’s estimates and could cause actual results to differ from those estimates and assumptions.

Reclassification

Certain reclassifications have been made to prior year amounts to conform to the current year presentation on the condensed consolidated statements of cash flows.

Marketable Securities

Marketable securities are classified as trading and are carried at fair value. The Company’s marketable securities consist of highly liquid preferred stock and corporate bonds as of March 31, 2016, and consisted of highly liquid mutual funds and exchange-traded & closed-end funds during 2015. During the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, the Company incurred realized losses of approximately $66,000 and $53,000, respectively, and unrealized gains of approximately $12,000 and $57,000, respectively, on its investments in marketable securities, which are included in other income, net on the condensed consolidated statements of operations. In addition, during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, the Company earned dividend income of approximately $13,000 and $25,000, respectively, which is included in other income, net on the condensed consolidated statement of operations.  The fair values of marketable securities held as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015 were approximately $1.5 million and $3.4 million, respectively.

Impairment of Long-lived Assets (Including Patent Assets)

The Company monitors the carrying value of long-lived assets for potential impairment and tests the recoverability of such assets whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts may not be recoverable. If a change in circumstance occurs, the Company performs a test of recoverability by comparing the carrying value of the asset or asset group to its undiscounted expected future cash flows. If cash flows cannot be separately and independently identified for a single asset, the Company will determine whether impairment has occurred for the group of assets for which the Company can identify the projected cash flows. If the carrying values are in excess of undiscounted expected future cash flows, the Company measures any impairment by comparing the fair value of the asset or asset group to its carrying value. There were no indicators of impairment during the first quarter of 2016. 

Accounting for Warrants

The Company accounts for the issuance of common stock purchase warrants issued in connection with its previously consummated equity offerings in accordance with the provisions of ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”). The Company classifies as equity any contracts that (i) require physical settlement or net-share settlement or (ii) gives the Company a choice of net-cash settlement or settlement in its own shares (physical settlement or net-share settlement). The Company classifies as assets or liabilities any contracts that (i) require net-cash settlement (including a requirement to net-cash settle the contract if an event occurs and if that event is outside the control of the Company) or (ii) gives the counterparty a choice of net-cash settlement or settlement in shares (physical settlement or net-share settlement). In addition, Under ASC 815, registered common stock warrants that require the issuance of registered shares upon exercise and do not expressly preclude an implied right to cash settlement are accounted for as derivative liabilities. The Company classifies these derivative warrant liabilities on the condensed consolidated balance sheet as a current liability.

The Company assessed the classification of common stock purchase warrants as of the date of each offering and determined that such instruments met the criteria for liability classification. Accordingly, the Company classified the warrants as a liability at their fair value and adjusts the instruments to fair value at each reporting period. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until the warrants are exercised or expired, and any change in fair value is recognized as “change in the fair value of warrant liabilities” in the consolidated statements of operations. The fair value of the warrants has been estimated using a Black-Scholes valuation model (see Note 5). 

Convertible Preferred Stock

The Company has evaluated its convertible preferred stock and warrants in accordance with the provisions of ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging, including consideration of embedded derivatives requiring bifurcation. The issuance of the convertible preferred stock could generate a beneficial conversion feature (“BCF”), which arises when a debt or equity security is issued with an embedded conversion option that is beneficial to the investor or in the money at inception because the conversion option has an effective strike price that is less than the market price of the underlying stock at the commitment date. The Company recognized the BCF by allocating the intrinsic value of the conversion option, which is the number of shares of common stock available upon conversion multiplied by the difference between the effective conversion price per share and the fair value of common stock per share on the commitment date, to additional paid-in capital, resulting in a discount on the convertible preferred stock. As the convertible preferred stock may be converted immediately, the Company recognized the BCF as a deemed dividend in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.

Net Loss per Share

Basic loss per share is computed by dividing the net income or loss applicable to common shares by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted earnings per share is computed using the weighted average number of common shares and, if dilutive, potential common shares outstanding during the period. Potential common shares consist of the incremental common shares issuable upon the exercise of stock options (using the treasury stock method) and the conversion of the Company’s convertible preferred stock and warrants (using the if-converted method). Diluted loss per share excludes the shares issuable upon the conversion of preferred stock and the exercise of stock options and warrants from the calculation of net loss per share if their effect would be anti-dilutive.

Securities that could potentially dilute loss per share in the future that were not included in the computation of diluted loss per share at March 31, 2016 and 2015 are as follows:

	As of March 31,
	2016		2015
Convertible preferred stock		217,119		271,413
Warrants to purchase common stock		2,304,333		40,452
Options to purchase common stock		289,380		278,863
Total		2,810,832		590,728

Subsequent Events

The Company has evaluated the period after the balance sheet date but prior to the issuance of the financial statement, and determined that there were no subsequent events or transactions that required recognition or disclosure in the condensed consolidated financial statements, except as disclosed.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In January 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-01, Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities. ASU 2016-01 requires equity investments to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income; simplifies the impairment assessment of equity investments without readily determinable fair values by requiring a qualitative assessment to identify impairment; eliminates the requirement for public business entities to disclose the methods and significant assumptions used to estimate the fair value that is required to be disclosed for financial instruments measured at amortized cost on the balance sheet; requires public business entities to use the exit price notion when measuring the fair value of financial instruments for disclosure purposes; requires an entity to present separately in other comprehensive income the portion of the total change in the fair value of a liability resulting from a change in the instrument-specific credit risk when the entity has elected to measure the liability at fair value in accordance with the fair value option for financial instruments; requires separate presentation of financial assets and financial liabilities by measurement category and form of financial assets on the balance sheet or the accompanying notes to the financial statements; and clarifies that an entity should evaluate the need for a valuation allowance on a deferred tax asset related to available-for-sale securities in combination with the entity’s other deferred tax assets. ASU 2016-01 is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently evaluating the impact ASU 2016-01 will have on its condensed consolidated financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which supersedes FASB ASC Topic 840, Leases (Topic 840) and provides principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases for both lessees and lessors. The new standard requires lessees to apply a dual approach, classifying leases as either finance or operating leases based on the principle of whether or not the lease is effectively a financed purchase by the lessee. This classification will determine whether lease expense is recognized based on an effective interest method or on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease, respectively. A lessee is also required to record a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for all leases with a term of greater than twelve months regardless of classification. Leases with a term of twelve months or less will be accounted for similar to existing guidance for operating leases. The standard is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted upon issuance. The adoption of this standard is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial position and results of operations.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-08, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Principal versus Agent Considerations. The purpose of ASU 2016-08 is to clarify the implementation of guidance on principal versus agent considerations. The amendments in ASU 2016-08 are effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company is currently assessing the impact of ASU 2016-08 on the condensed consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting. The amendment is to simplify several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions including the income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement of cash flows. The amendments in ASU 2016-09 are effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company is currently assessing the impact of ASU 2016-09 on the condensed consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.