Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies

v2.4.1.9
Commitments and Contingencies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies

6. Commitments and contingencies

Leases

The Company leases its offices and certain equipment under operating leases that expire through December 2019. At December 31, 2014, the minimum aggregate payments due under non-cancelable leases are summarized as follows:

 

 

December 31, 2014

 

2015

$

870

 

2016

 

483

 

2017

 

477

 

2018

 

457

 

2019

 

458

 

Thereafter

 

313

 

 

$

3,058

 

Rent expense of $750, $910 and $806 was included in the accompanying statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively.

Warranty obligation

The following table identifies the changes in the Company’s aggregate product warranty liabilities for the year ended December 31, 2014 and 2013:

 

 

 

Year ended December 31,

 

 

 

2014

 

 

2013

 

Product warranty liability at beginning of period

 

$

809

 

 

$

447

 

Accruals for warranties issued

 

 

1,075

 

 

 

533

 

Adjustments related to preexisting warranties

   (including changes in estimates)

 

 

406

 

 

 

322

 

Settlements made (in cash or in kind)

 

 

(1,175

)

 

 

(493

)

Product warranty liability at end of period

 

$

1,115

 

 

$

809

 

Legislation and HIPAA

The healthcare industry is subject to numerous laws and regulations of federal, state and local governments. These laws and regulations include, but are not necessarily limited to, matters such as licensure, accreditation, government healthcare program participation requirements, reimbursement for patient services, and Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse. Government activity has continued with respect to investigations and allegations concerning possible violations of fraud and abuse statutes and regulations by healthcare providers. Violations of these laws and regulations could result in expulsion from government healthcare programs together with the imposition of significant fines and penalties, as well as significant repayments for patient services previously billed.

The Company believes that it is in compliance with fraud and abuse regulations as well as other applicable government laws and regulations. Compliance with such laws and regulations can be subject to future government review and interpretation as well as regulatory actions unknown or unasserted at this time.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) assures health insurance portability, reduces healthcare fraud and abuse, guarantees security and privacy of health information, and enforces standards for health information. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) imposes notification requirements of certain security breaches relating to protected health information. The Company may be subject to significant fines and penalties if found not to be compliant with the provisions outlined in the regulations.

Amended & Restated Employment agreements

On October 1, 2013, the Company entered into an Employment Agreement with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) including considerations for salary, bonus awards, and severance and change of control benefits upon certain qualifying terminations up to period of thirty-six months.

On October 1, 2013, the Company has entered into employment agreements with certain key employees including considerations for salary, bonus awards, and severance and change of control benefits upon certain qualifying terminations up to period of twenty-four months.

Legal proceedings

On November 4, 2011, we filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against Inova Labs Inc., or Defendant, for infringement of two of our patents. The case, Inogen Inc. v. Inova Labs Inc., Case No. 8:11-cv-01692-JST-AN, or the Lawsuit, involves U.S. Patent Nos. 7,841,343, entitled “Systems and Methods For Delivering Therapeutic Gas to Patients”, or the ’343 patent, and 6,605,136 entitled “Pressure Swing Adsorption Process Operation And Optimization”, or the ’136 patent. We alleged in the Lawsuit that certain of Defendant’s oxygen concentrators infringe various claims of the ’343 and ’136 patents. The Lawsuit seeks damages, injunctive relief, costs and attorney fees.

The Defendant has answered the complaint, denying infringement and asserting various sets of defenses including non-infringement, invalidity and unenforceability, patent misuse, unclean hands, laches and estoppel. The Defendant also filed counterclaims against us alleging patent invalidity, non-infringement and inequitable conduct. We denied the allegations in the Defendant’s counterclaims. We have filed a motion to dismiss Defendant’s inequitable conduct counterclaim.

The Defendant filed a request with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office seeking an inter parties reexamination of the ’343 and ’136 patents. The Defendant also filed a motion to stay the Lawsuit pending outcome of the reexamination. On March 20, 2012, the Court granted the Defendant’s motion to stay the Lawsuit pending outcome of the reexamination and also granted our motion to dismiss the Defendant’s inequitable conduct counterclaim.

The Company is party to various other legal proceedings arising in the normal course of business. The Company carries insurance, subject to deductibles under the specified policies, to protect against losses from certain types of legal claims. The Company does not anticipate that any of these proceedings will have a material impact on the Company. Refer to Note 11 for subsequent events for additional information on lawsuits.