COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Operating Leases
Certain facilities and equipment are leased under non-cancelable operating leases. The Company generally pays taxes, insurance and maintenance costs on leased facilities and equipment. The Company leases its headquarters in New York, New York and other locations under non-cancelable operating leases that expire at various dates through fiscal 2024.
As of September 30, 2018, future minimum annual payments under operating leases for the remainder of fiscal 2019 and future fiscal years are as follows (in thousands):
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2019 (remainder) | | 2020 | | 2021 | | 2022 | | 2023 | | Thereafter | | Total |
Operating leases | $ | 5,619 |
| | $ | 6,532 |
| | $ | 4,615 |
| | $ | 1,790 |
| | $ | 1,376 |
| | $ | 314 |
| | $ | 20,246 |
|
Purchase Obligations
We subcontract with third parties to manufacture our products. During the normal course of business, our contract manufacturers procure components and manufacture product based upon orders placed by us. If we cancel all or part of the orders, we may still be liable to the contract manufacturers for the cost of the components purchased by the subcontractors to manufacture our products. We periodically review the potential liability, and as of September 30, 2018, we have $3.3 million recorded purchase obligation liability related to FrontRow. There have been no other significant liabilities for cancellations recorded as of September 30, 2018. Our consolidated financial position and results of operations could be negatively impacted if we were required to compensate the contract manufacturers for any unrecorded liabilities incurred. The Company had inventory purchase obligations of $37.5 million for finished goods and $1.3 million for raw materials as of September 30, 2018. Additionally, we may be subject to additional purchase obligations for components ordered by our contract manufacturers based on manufacturing forecasts we provide them each month. We estimate the amount of these additional purchase obligation to range from $147 million to $244 million as of September 30, 2018, depending upon the timing of orders placed for these components by our manufacturers.
Other Obligations
The Company had other obligations of $1.6 million as of September 30, 2018, which consisted primarily of commitments related to research and development projects.
Indemnification Obligations
The Company enters into standard indemnification agreements with many of its business partners in the ordinary course of business. These agreements include provisions for indemnifying the business partner against any claim brought by a third-party to the extent any such claim alleges that a Company product infringes a patent, copyright or trademark, or violates any other proprietary rights of that third-party. The maximum potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make under these indemnification agreements is not estimable and the Company has not incurred any material costs to defend lawsuits or settle claims related to these indemnification agreements to date.
Legal Matters
The Company may be involved, from time to time, in a variety of claims, lawsuits, investigations, and proceedings relating to contractual disputes, intellectual property rights, employment matters, regulatory compliance matters and other litigation matters relating to various claims that arise in the normal course of business. The Company determines whether an estimated loss from a contingency should be accrued by assessing whether a loss is deemed probable and can be reasonably estimated. The Company assesses its potential liability by analyzing specific litigation and regulatory matters using available information. The Company develops its views on estimated losses in consultation with inside and outside counsel, which involves a subjective analysis of potential results and outcomes, assuming various combinations of appropriate litigation and settlement strategies. Taking all of the above factors into account, the Company records an amount where it is probable that the Company will incur a loss and where that loss can be reasonably estimated. However, the Company’s estimates may be incorrect and the Company could ultimately incur more or less than the amounts initially recorded. The Company may also incur significant legal fees, which are expensed as incurred, in defending against these claims. The Company is not currently aware of any pending or threatened litigation that would have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial statements.
Synopsys
On February 3, 2017, Synopsys, Inc. (“Synopsys”) filed a complaint against the Company, one of our subsidiaries and an employee in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). On March 28, 2017, Synopsys filed an amended complaint alleging (i) additional claims under the DMCA, (ii) claims under the Anti-Counterfeiting Act, and (iii) claims for label trafficking, fraud, civil RICO and negligent misrepresentation. On April 11, 2017, the Company moved to dismiss all but the initial DMCA claim in the amended complaint and its subsidiary moved to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and joined the Company’s motion to dismiss certain claims. On August 15, 2017, the court issued an order granting the Company’s motion to dismiss the Anti- Counterfeiting Act claim and certain of the predicate acts alleged under the civil RICO claim. The court denied the motion to dismiss the remaining claims, and denied the subsidiary’s motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. On September 5, 2017, Synopsys filed a Second Amended Complaint. On September 19, 2017, the defendants answered, and Ubiquiti Networks International Limited (“UNIL”) filed counterclaims for (1) declaratory judgment under 17 U.S.C. § 1201, (2) violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1030, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, (3) violation of California Penal Code § 502, the Computer Data Access Fraud Act, (4) trespass to personal property and chattels, (5) conversion, (6) civil RICO pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), (7) RICO conspiracy pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d), and (8) common law fraud. The Company also moved for leave to amend its existing counterclaims against Synopsys, for breach of contract and declaratory judgment under 17 U.S.C. § 1201, to include the counterclaims filed by UNIL. On October 3, 2017, Synopsys filed its opposition to the Company’s motion for leave to amend its counterclaims, as well as a motion to dismiss UNIL’s counterclaims and an anti-SLAPP motion to strike state law claims by both the Company and UNIL. On March 13, 2018, the Judge granted the motion to dismiss UNIL's counterclaims and denied the Company's request for leave to amend its counterclaims. On June 7, 2018, Synopsys filed a Third Amended Complaint. The Third Amended Complaint includes new allegations relating to alleged predicate acts for the RICO claims but it does not add any new causes of action beyond those that were included in the Second Amended Complaint. The Company answered the Third Amended Complaint on June 21, 2018. The Company plans to vigorously defend itself against these claims; however, there can be no assurance that the Company will prevail in the lawsuit. The Company cannot currently estimate the possible loss or range of losses, if any, that it may experience in connection with this litigation.
Vivato/XR
On April 19, 2017, XR Communications, LLC, d/b/a Vivato Technologies (“Vivato”), filed a complaint against the Company in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, alleging that at least one of the Company’s products infringes United States Patent Numbers 7,062,296 (the “’296 Patent”), 7,729,728 (the “’728 Patent”), and 6,611,231 (the “’231 Patent and, collectively, the “Patents-in-Suit”). The ‘296 and ‘728 Patents are entitled “Forced Beam Switching in Wireless Communication Systems Having Smart Antennas.” The ‘231 Patent is entitled “Wireless Packet Switched Communications Systems and Networks Using Adaptively Steered Antenna Arrays.” Vivato amended its complaint on June 23, 2017 and again on July 6, 2017. According to the complaint, the products accused of infringing the Patents-in-Suit include Wi-Fi access points and routers supporting MU-MIMO, including without limitation access points and routers utilizing the IEEE 802.11ac-2013 standard. Vivato has also filed nine other lawsuits asserting the same patents against other defendants in the Central District of California. On October 2, 2017, the ten cases were consolidated into a single action for all purposes except trial. On March 19, 2018, the Company and the remaining defendants in the consolidated action moved to stay the case (the “Motion to Stay”) pending completion of certain inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. On April 9, 2018, the Court held a hearing on the Motion to Stay, and, on April 11, 2018, the Court granted the motion. On October 22, 2018, the Court maintained the stay pending a status conference scheduled for February 11, 2019.
The Company plans to vigorously defend itself against these claims; however, there can be no assurance that the Company will prevail in the lawsuit. The Company cannot currently estimate the possible loss or range of losses, if any, that it may experience in connection with this litigation.
SEC Subpoena
As previously disclosed on the Form 8-K filed by the Company on February 20, 2018, on February 13, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) issued subpoenas to the Company and certain of the Company’s officers requesting documents and information relating to a range of topics, including metrics relating to the Ubiquiti Community, accounting practices, financial information, auditors, international trade practices, and relationships with distributors and various other third parties. The Company is in the process of responding to the requests and intends to cooperate fully with the SEC. As the SEC’s investigation is ongoing, we cannot currently predict the timing or the outcome of such investigation.
Shareholder Class Actions
On February 21, 2018, a purported class action, captioned Paul Vanderheiden v. Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. et al., No. 18-cv-01620 (the "Vanderheiden Action"), was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the Company and certain of its current and former officers. The Vanderheiden Action complaint alleges that the defendants violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by making false and/or misleading statements, including purported overstatements of the Company’s online community user engagement metrics and accounts receivable. On February 28, 2018 and March 13, 2018, substantially similar purported class actions, captioned Xiya Qian v. Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. et al., No. 18-cv-01841 (the “Qian Action”) and John Kho v. Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. et al., No. 18-cv-02242 (the "Kho Action", together with the Vanderheiden Action and the Qian Action, the “Class Actions”), respectively, were filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. On October 24, 2018, the court consolidated the Class Actions and appointed lead plaintiff and lead counsel (the “Consolidated Class Action”). The deadline for lead plaintiff to file an amended and consolidated complaint (the “Amended Complaint”) is December 26, 2018. Defendants will have 60 days from the date on which the Amended Complaint is filed in which to respond.
While the Company believes that the Consolidated Class Action is without merit and plans to vigorously defend itself, there can be no assurance that the Company will prevail. The Company cannot currently estimate the possible loss or range of losses, if any, that it may experience in connection with this litigation.
Shareholder Derivative Action & Section 220 Demand
On March 13, 2018, Anthony Franchi filed a shareholder derivative complaint in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Mateo against the Company’s directors, and certain of its officers (the "Franchi Action"). The Company is named as a nominal defendant. The complaint asserts claims against all individual defendants for breach of fiduciary duty for disseminating false and misleading information and failure to maintain internal controls and unjust enrichment. Additional claims are asserted against Robert Pera for breach of fiduciary duty for insider selling and misappropriation of information, as well as the violation of California Corporations Code § 25402. The allegations in support of these claims are similar to the allegations made in the Class Actions. Plaintiff seeks a judgment on behalf of the Company for all damages incurred or that will be incurred as a result of the alleged breaches of fiduciary duty by the individual defendants, a judgment ordering disgorgement of all profits, benefits, and other compensation obtained by the individual defendants, a judgment directing the Company to reform its governance and internal procedures, and attorneys’ fees and other costs. The Company moved for a stay of the derivative action pending resolution of the Consolidated Class Action. The court denied the Company's motion, but stayed discovery until the resolution of any motion to dismiss the Consolidated Class Action. On August 27, 2018, the individual defendants and nominal defendant Ubiquiti demurred to dismiss the Franchi Action. Plaintiff filed an omnibus response on October 5, 2018 and defendants filed replies on October 22, 2018. Oral argument on the motions to dismiss is presently scheduled for November 30, 2018.
On June 4, 2018, alleged Ubiquiti stockholder Richard Gericke served a demand to inspect the Company’s books and records pursuant to Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. The Company commenced its production of documents responding to Mr. Gericke’s requests for records on August 22, 2018 and completed its production on October 10, 2018. In addition to serving his Section 220 demand, Mr. Gericke has moved for leave to intervene in the Franchi Action. Oral argument on Mr. Gericke’s motion to intervene is currently scheduled for November 30, 2018.
On June 1, 2018, a second shareholder derivative complaint was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York by Eric Carlson against the Company’s directors and certain of its officers. The Company was named as a nominal defendant. The complaint asserted claims against all defendants for breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, abuse of control, gross mismanagement, and waste of corporate assets. As with the complaint in the Franchi Action, the allegations in support of these claims were similar to the allegations made in the Class Actions. Plaintiff sought a declaration that the individual defendants had breached and/or aided and abetted the breach of their fiduciary duties to the Company, a judgment on behalf of the Company of the damages sustained by the individual defendants’ alleged wrongdoing, a declaration that the Company and individual defendants take action to reform and improve corporate governance and internal procedures, an award to the Company of restitution from the individual defendants, and an award to Plaintiff of the costs and disbursements of the action, including attorneys’ fees. On September 11, 2018, Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the action in its entirety without prejudice.