The Company occupies approximately 76,000 square feet of office, engineering, and research and development space in Carlsbad, California. Monthly rent is approximately $111,000 per month for the year ended December 31, 2018 and increases by approximately $3,000 per month each year through expiration of the lease on July 31, 2021.

The Company also leases certain equipment under operating leases which expire on various dates through 2021, and certain equipment under a capital lease that expires in 2022.

Future minimum annual lease payments under the Company’s operating and capital leases are as follows (in thousands):

Year ending December 31,	Operating		Capital
2019	$	1,684	$	34
2020		1,688		37
2021		1,009		37
2022		—		37
2023 and thereafter		—		—
		4,381		145
Less: amount representing interest				(19	)
Present value of minimum lease payments				126
Current portion of capital leases				(34	)
Capital leases, less current portion			$	92

Rent expense under operating leases for each of the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 was $1.4 million.

The Company is and may become involved in various legal proceedings arising from its business activities. While management is not aware of any litigation matter that in and of itself would have a material adverse impact on the Company’s consolidated results of operations, cash flows or financial position, litigation is inherently unpredictable, and depending on the nature and timing of a proceeding, an unfavorable resolution could materially affect the Company’s future consolidated results of operations, cash flows or financial position in a particular period. The Company assesses contingencies to determine the degree of probability and range of possible loss for potential accrual or disclosure in the Company’s consolidated financial statements. An estimated loss contingency is accrued in the Company’s consolidated financial statements if it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. Because litigation is inherently unpredictable and unfavorable resolutions could occur, assessing contingencies is highly subjective and requires judgments about future events. When evaluating contingencies, the Company may be unable to provide a meaningful estimate due to a number of factors, including the procedural status of the matter in question, the presence of complex or novel legal theories, and/or the ongoing discovery and development of information important to the matters. In addition, damage amounts claimed in litigation against the Company may be unsupported, exaggerated or unrelated to reasonably possible outcomes, and as such are not meaningful indicators of the Company’s potential liability.

On February 13, 2018, NuVasive, Inc. filed suit against the Company in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, alleging that certain of the Company’s products (including components of the Battalion™ Lateral System), infringe, or contribute to the infringement of, U.S. Patent Nos. 7,819,801, 8,355,780, 8,439,832, 8,753,270, 9,833,227 (entitled “Surgical access system and related methods”), U.S. Patent No. 8,361,156 (entitled “Systems and methods for spinal fusion”), and U.S. Design Patent Nos. D652,519 (“Dilator”) and D750,252 (“Intervertebral Implant”). NuVasive is seeking unspecified monetary damages and a court injunction against future infringement by the Company.

On March 8, 2018, the Company moved to dismiss NuVasive’s claims of infringement of its design patents on the grounds that those allegations fail to state a cognizable legal claim. On May 14, 2018, the Court ruled that NuVasive had failed to state a plausible claim for infringement of the asserted design patents and granted the Company’s motion to dismiss those claims with prejudice, as any further amendment would be futile. The Company filed its answer, affirmative defenses and counterclaims to NuVasive’s remaining claims on May 21, 2018.

On March 26, 2018, NuVasive moved for a preliminary injunction, which, on March 27, 2018, the Court denied without prejudice for failure to comply with the Court’s chambers rules. On April 5, 2018, NuVasive again moved for a preliminary injunction. The Court held a hearing on the matter, having been fully briefed, on June 21, 2018. On July 10, 2018, the Court ruled that NuVasive had failed to establish either likelihood of success on the merits of its remaining claims or that it would suffer irreparable harm in the absence of a preliminary injunction. Accordingly, the Court denied NuVasive’s motion for preliminary injunction.

On September 13, 2018, NuVasive filed an Amended Complaint for Patent Infringement, asserting additional infringement claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 9,924,859, 9,974,531 and 8,187,334. The Company filed its answer, affirmative defenses and counterclaims to NuVasive’s claims on October 12, 2018. On October 26, 2018, NuVasive moved to dismiss the Company’s counterclaims that NuVasive intentionally had misled the Patent Office as a means of obtaining certain patents asserted against the Company. On January 30, 2019, the Court denied NuVasive’s motion as to all but one of the Company’s counterclaims. The Court granted NuVasive’s motion with respect to one counterclaim, but granted the Company leave to amend its counterclaim to cure the dismissal. The Company amended that counterclaim on February 14, 2019. On February 28, 2019, NuVasive moved to dismiss the amended counterclaim. A hearing on the matter is set for April 4, 2019.

On December 13, 2018, the Company filed a petition with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) challenging the validity of certain claims of U.S. Patent No. 8,361,156. On December 21, 2018, the Company filed a similar petition with PTAB challenging the validity of certain claims of U.S. Patent No. 8,187,334. The Company’s expects the PTAB to issue its decisions on the matters in the second half of 2019. On February 6, 2019, upon joint motion of the parties, the Court stayed all proceedings in this matter pending PTAB’s determination of whether to institute inter partes review of the asserted claims of the two patents at issue and vacated the trial date. The Company anticipates that the stay of proceedings will remain in effect until at least July 2019.

The Company believes that the allegations lack merit and intends to vigorously defend all claims asserted. It is impossible at this time to assess whether the outcome of this proceeding will have a material adverse effect on the Company consolidated results of operations, cash flows or financial position. Therefore, in accordance with authoritative accounting guidance, the Company has not recorded any accrual for a contingent liability associated with this legal proceeding based on its belief that a liability, while possible, is not probable and any range of potential future charge cannot be reasonably estimated at this time.

In the normal course of business, the Company enters into agreements under which it occasionally indemnifies third-parties for intellectual property infringement claims or claims arising from breaches of representations or warranties. In addition, from time to time, the Company provides indemnity protection to third-parties for claims relating to past performance arising from undisclosed liabilities, product liabilities, environmental obligations, representations and warranties, and other claims. In these agreements, the scope and amount of remedy, or the period in which claims can be made, may be limited. It is not possible to determine the maximum potential amount of future payments, if any, due under these indemnities due to the conditional nature of the obligations and the unique facts and circumstances involved in each agreement.

In October 2017, NuVasive filed a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court against Mr. Miles, the Company’s Chairman and CEO, who was a former officer and board member of NuVasive. The Company itself was not initially a named defendant in this lawsuit; however, on June 28, 2018, NuVasive amended its complaint to add the Company as a defendant. As of December 31, 2018, the Company has not recorded any liability on the consolidated balance sheet related to this matter. On October 12, 2018, the Delaware Court ordered that NuVasive begin advancing legal fees for Mr. Miles’ defense in the lawsuit, as well as Mr. Miles’ legal fees incurred in pursuing advancement of his fees, pursuant to an indemnification agreement between NuVasive and Mr. Miles.

The Company has entered into various intellectual property agreements requiring the payment of royalties based on the sale of products that utilize such intellectual property. These royalties primarily relate to products sold by Alphatec Spine and are based on fixed fees or calculated either as a percentage of net sales or on a per-unit sold basis. Royalties are included on the accompanying consolidated statements of operations as a component of cost of revenues. As of December 31, 2018, the Company is obligated to pay guaranteed minimum royalty payments under these agreements of approximately $5.9 million through 2023 and beyond.