Intangible Assets

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

4.	Intangible Assets

Intangible assets are comprised of the following:

		September 30, 2015						December 31, 2014

		Gross Carrying		Accumulated		Net Carrying		Gross Carrying		Accumulated		Net Carrying
	Useful Life	Amount		Amortizaton		Amount		Amount		Amortizaton		Amount

Acquired intangibles- customer	5 -10 years
lists and non-compete		$	1,997,300	$	1,613,732	$	383,568	$	1,997,300	$	1,532,123	$	465,177
agreements

Acquired intangibles-patents	Varied (1)
and patent rights			3,650,000		1,384,981		2,265,019		3,650,000		852,343		2,797,657
Patent application costs	Varied (2)		1,059,823		490,938		568,885		1,058,833		413,268		645,565
		$	6,707,123	$	3,489,651	$	3,217,472	$	6,706,133	$	2,797,734	$	3,908,399

(1)

Acquired patents and patent rights are amortized over their expected useful life which is generally the remaining legal life of the patent. As of September 30, 2015, the weighted average remaining useful life of these assets in service was approximately 4.6 years.

(2)

Patent application costs are amortized over their expected useful life which is generally the remaining legal life of the patent. As of September 30, 2015, the weighted average remaining useful life of these assets in service was approximately 9.3 years.

Intangible asset amortization expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 amounted to $691,917 ($3,474,781 - September 30, 2014).

On January 5, 2015, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued a decision granting summary judgment to defendant Facebook, Inc. in connection with a lawsuit filed on October 3, 2012 by Plaintiff Bascom Research, LLC (a subsidiary of the Company) alleging patent infringement. As a result of the Court's decision, the Company evaluated the valuation of the patents that were the basis of the case for impairment as of December 31, 2014. The Company determined that since the patents had been invalidated the probability of future cash flows derived from the patents that would support the value of the assets had decreased so the assets were impaired. As a result, the Company recorded an impairment charge for the underlying patent assets of the net book value of the patents as of December 31, 2014 of approximately $22,285,000.

On March 3, 2015, a Markman hearing was held in the Eastern District of Texas in connection with the pending DSS Technology Management v. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited, et. al (“TSMC”) case. Based on the District Court's claim construction order issued on April 9, 2015, the Company's subsidiary, DSS Technology Management and TSMC entered in to a Joint Stipulation and Proposed Final Judgment of Non-Infringement dated May 4, 2015, subject to DSS Technology Management's right to appeal the court's claim construction decision to the Federal Circuit, thus preserving the status quo in the event an appeal results in remand for further proceedings in the District Court. During its review for the quarter ended March 31, 2015, the Company determined that this court action was a triggering event requiring that goodwill and certain of the Company's intangible assets be tested for impairment. Furthermore, during the quarters ended March 31, 2015, June 30, 2015 and September 30, 2015, the Company's market capitalization significantly declined due to a substantial decline in the price of the Company's stock and was considered an impairment indicator of goodwill in accordance with ASC 350-20. As such, the Company performed impairment tests for goodwill and certain of its intangible assets as described below for the quarters ended March 31, 2015, June 30, 2015 and September 30, 2015, respectively.

As a result of the aforementioned triggering events, during the quarters ended March 31, 2015, June 30, 2015 and September 30, 2015, respectively, the Company performed the first step of the goodwill impairment test on the goodwill allocated to DSS Technology Management in order to identify potential impairment by comparing the fair value of the reporting unit with its carrying amount, including goodwill. The carrying amount of the Company's goodwill as of March 31, 2015, June 30, 2015 and September 30, 2015 was approximately $12 million of which approximately $9.6 million is allocated to the Company's subsidiary DSS Technology Management as a reportable unit. For the Company's DSS Technology Management reporting unit, a significant amount of future value is based on the value of patents and patent rights. The Company uses a valuation methodology that assess the potential value of the claims against parties the Company believes have infringed on the patents and therefore, the Company has the rights to receive royalties for those infringers. The Company assessed the impact of the decision in the TSMC case referenced above on the expected future value of those assets. Based on the Company's analysis, the Company determined that the fair value of the reporting unit exceeded the carrying value of the reporting unit, and therefore, no impairment of goodwill had occurred during any of the periods tested.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the aggregate amount of goodwill and a description of intangible assets, which may include (a) for amortizable intangible assets (also referred to as finite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, the amount of any significant residual value, and the weighted-average amortization period, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization (also referred to as indefinite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, and (c) the amount of research and development assets acquired and written off in the period, including the line item in the income statement in which the amounts written off are aggregated, if not readily apparent from the income statement. Also discloses (a) for amortizable intangibles assets in total and by major class, the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization, the total amortization expense for the period, and the estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization the carrying amount in total and by major class, and (c) for goodwill, in total and for each reportable segment, the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the period (including the aggregate amount of goodwill acquired, the aggregate amount of impairment losses recognized, and the amount of goodwill included in the gain (loss) on disposal of a reporting unit). If any part of goodwill has not been allocated to a reportable segment, discloses the unallocated amount and the reasons for not allocating. For each impairment loss recognized related to an intangible asset (excluding goodwill), discloses: (a) a description of the impaired intangible asset and the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method for determining fair value, (c) the caption in the income statement or the statement of activities in which the impairment loss is aggregated, and (d) the segment in which the impaired intangible asset is reported. For each goodwill impairment loss recognized, discloses: (a) a description of the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method of determining the fair value of the associated reporting unit, and (c) if a recognized impairment loss is an estimate not finalized and the reasons why the estimate is not final. May also disclose the nature and amount of any significant adjustments made to a previous estimate of an impairment loss.

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