7. Commitments and Contingencies

Office Facility Leases

The Company has various operating lease agreements for its office facilities which expire at various dates through September 2029. The terms of the lease agreements provide for rental payments on a graduated basis. For its primary operating leases, the Company can, after the initial lease term, renew its leases under right of first offer terms at fair value at the time of renewal for a period of five years. The Company recognizes rent expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Rental expense, primarily for leased office space under the operating lease commitments, was $7.5 million, $5.6 million and $4.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Future minimum lease payments under the Company’s operating lease agreements that have initial or remaining non-cancelable lease terms in excess of one year as of December 31, 2017 were as follows:

	(in thousands)
2018	$	7,714
2019		10,822
2020		11,566
2021		11,527
2022		9,952
Thereafter		64,546
Total	$	116,127

The table above does not reflect the Company’s option to exercise early termination rights or the payment of related early termination fees.

Legal

In August 2011, Ameranth, Inc. (“Ameranth”) filed a patent infringement action against a number of defendants, including Grubhub Holdings Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (the “Court”), Case No. 3:11-cv-1810 (“’1810 action”).

In March 2012, Ameranth initiated eight additional actions for infringement of a related patent, U.S. Patent No. 8,146,077 (“’077 patent”), in the same forum, including separate actions against Grubhub Holdings Inc., Case No. 3:12-cv-739 (“’739 action”), and Seamless North America, LLC, Case No. 3:12-cv-737 (“’737 action”). In August 2012, the Court severed the claims against Grubhub Holdings Inc. and Seamless North America, LLC in the ’1810 action and consolidated them with the ’739 action and the ’737 action, respectively. Later, the Court consolidated these separate cases against Grubhub Holdings Inc. and Seamless North America, LLC, along with the approximately 40 other cases Ameranth filed in the same district, with the original ’1810 action. In their answers, Grubhub Holdings Inc. and Seamless North America, LLC denied infringement and interposed various defenses, including non-infringement, invalidity, unenforceability and inequitable conduct.

The consolidated district court case was stayed until January 2017, when Ameranth’s motion to lift the stay and proceed on only the ‘077 patent was granted. The court set a jury trial date of December 3, 2018 for the claims against Grubhub Holdings Inc. and Seamless North America, LLC. The Company believes this case lacks merit and that it has strong defenses to all of the infringement claims. The Company intends to defend the suit vigorously. However, the Company is unable to predict the likelihood of success of Ameranth’s infringement claims and is unable to predict the likelihood of success of its counterclaims. The Company has not recorded an accrual related to this lawsuit as of December 31, 2017, as it does not believe a material loss is probable. It is a reasonable possibility that a loss may be incurred; however, the possible range of loss is not estimable given the status of the case and the uncertainty as to whether the claims at issue are with or without merit, will be settled out of court, or will be determined in the Company’s favor, whether the Company may be required to expend significant management time and financial resources on the defense of such claims, and whether the Company will be able to recover any losses under its insurance policies.

In addition to the matter described above, from time to time, the Company is involved in various other legal proceedings arising from the normal course of business activities, including labor and employment claims, some of which relate to the alleged misclassification of independent contractors. In September 2015, a claim was brought in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California under the Private Attorneys General Act by an individual plaintiff on behalf of himself and seeking to represent other drivers and the State of California. The claim sought monetary penalties and injunctive relief for alleged violations of the California Labor Code based on the alleged misclassification of drivers as independent contractors. A decision was issued on February 8, 2018, and the court ruled in favor of the Company, finding that plaintiff was properly classified as an independent contractor. The Company does not believe any of the foregoing claims will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements. However, there is no assurance that any claim will not be combined into a collective or class action.

Indemnification

In connection with the merger of Seamless North America, LLC, Seamless Holdings Corporation and Grubhub Holdings Inc. in August 2013, the Company agreed to indemnify Aramark Holdings Corporation for negative income tax consequences associated with the October 2012 spin-off of Seamless Holdings Corporation that were the result of certain actions taken by the Company through October 29, 2014, in certain instances subject to a $15.0 million limitation. Management is not aware of any actions that would impact the indemnification obligation.