NETWORK-1 Technologies, Inc.: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2024

Our principal business is the development, licensing and protection of our intellectual property assets. We presently own one hundred and six (106) U.S. patents, fifty-four (54) of such patents have expired, and sixteen (16) foreign patents relating to (i) our M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio relating to, among other things, enabling technology for authenticating and using eSIM (embedded Subscriber Identification Module) technology in IoT, Machine-to-Machine and other mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets and computers, as well as automobiles; (ii) our HFT Patent Portfolio covering certain advanced technologies relating to high frequency trading, which inventions specifically address technological problems associated with speed and latency and provide critical latency gains in trading systems where the difference between success and failure may be measured in nanoseconds; (iii) our Cox Patent Portfolio relating to enabling technology for identifying media content on the Internet and taking further action to be performed after such identification; (iv) our Remote Power Patent covering the delivery of power over Ethernet (PoE) cables for the purpose of remotely powering network devices, such as wireless access ports, IP phones and network based cameras; and (v) our Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio relating to foundational technologies that enable unified search and indexing, displaying and archiving of documents in a computer system.

We have invested $7,000,000 in ILiAD Biotechnologies, LLC (“ILiAD”), a clinical stage biotechnology company with an exclusive license to seventy-four (74) patents. On December 31, 2024, we owned approximately 6.5% of the outstanding units of ILiAD on a non-fully diluted basis and 4.9% of the outstanding units on a fully diluted basis (after giving effect to the exercise of all outstanding options and warrants).

Our current strategy includes continuing our efforts to monetize our intellectual property. In addition, we continue to seek to acquire additional intellectual property assets to develop, commercialize, license or otherwise monetize. Our strategy includes working with inventors and patent owners to assist in the development and monetization of their patented technologies. Our patent acquisition and development strategy is to focus on acquiring high quality patents which management believes have the potential to generate significant licensing opportunities as we have achieved with respect to our Remote Power Patent and our Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio. In addition, we may also enter into strategic relationships with third parties to develop, commercialize, license or otherwise monetize their intellectual property.

We have been dependent upon our Remote Power Patent for a significant portion of our revenue. Our Remote Power Patent has generated revenue in excess of $188,000,000 from May 2007 through December 31, 2024. We no longer receive revenue for our Remote Power Patent for any infringement period subsequent to March 7, 2020 (the expiration date of the patent). During the year ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, our Remote Power Patent generated all of our revenue. Our future revenue is largely dependent on our ability to monetize our other patent assets.

We have pending litigations involving our assertion of infringement claims concerning certain patents within our HFT Patent Portfolio. In addition, we have a pending appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit of the District Court judgment of non-infringement dismissing our case against Google and YouTube involving certain patents within our Cox Patent Portfolio (see “Legal Proceedings” at page 20 of this Annual Report).

At December 31, 2024, we had cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities of $40,600,000 and working capital of $40,066,000. Based on our current cash position, we believe that we will have sufficient cash to fund our operations for the foreseeable future.

Overview of Our Patents

We currently own one hundred and six (106) U.S. patents and sixteen (16) foreign patents relating to patents within our M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio, HFT Patent Portfolio, Cox Patent Portfolio, Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio and our Remote Power Patent. With respect to our one hundred and six (106) U.S. patents, fifty-four (54) of such patents have expired. However, we can assert expired patents against third parties but only for past damages up to the expiration date. In 2024, our revenue was achieved from claims related to our expired Remote Power Patent and we have appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit the District Court order dismissing our claims involving certain expired patents within our Cox Patent Portfolio (see “Legal Proceedings” at page 20 hereof).

M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio

Our M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio, acquired in December 2017 from M2M and IoT Technologies, LLC (“M2M”), relates to, among other things, enabling technology for authenticating and using eSIM (embedded Subscriber Identification Module) technology in IoT, Machine-to-Machine and other mobile devices including smartphones, tablets and computers, as well as automobiles. The M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio currently consists of forty-one (41) issued U.S. patents, six (6) pending U.S. patent applications, and fifteen (15) registered foreign patents. Since we acquired the M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio in December 2017, we have been issued twenty-nine (29) additional U.S. patents with respect to the portfolio. We anticipate further issuances of additional claims for this portfolio. The expiration dates of the forty-one (41) issued U.S. patents currently within our M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio range from September 2033 to May 2034.

We have an obligation to pay M2M 14% of the first $100 million of net proceeds (after deduction of expenses) and 5% of net proceeds greater than $100 million from Monetization Activities (as defined) related to our M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio. In addition, M2M will be entitled to receive from us $250,000 of additional consideration upon the occurrence of certain future events related to the patent portfolio.

John Nix, the Managing Member of M2M, provides consulting services to us with respect to our M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio. Mr. Nix is an entrepreneur and inventor, and founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vobal Technologies, LLC. In 2016, Mr. Nix was recognized as “Creator of the Year” by the Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago for his intellectual property related to eSIM technology.

HFT Patent Portfolio

On March 25, 2022, we acquired the HFT Patent Portfolio. This portfolio covers certain advanced technologies relating to high frequency trading, which inventions specifically address technological problems associated with speed and latency and provide critical latency gains in trading systems where the difference between success and failure may be measured in nanoseconds. The HFT Patent Portfolio currently includes eleven (11) issued U.S. patents and two pending U.S. patents. The expiration dates within our HFT Patent Portfolio range from October 2039 to February 2040.

In addition to the purchase price that we paid at closing, we have an obligation to pay the seller an additional cash payment of $500,000 and $375,000 of our common stock contingent upon achieving certain milestones with respect to the HFT Patent Portfolio. We also have an obligation to pay the seller 15% of the first $50 million of net proceeds (after deduction of expenses) generated from the patent portfolio and 17.5% of net proceeds greater than $50 million.

Cox Patent Portfolio

Our Cox Patent Portfolio, acquired from Dr. Ingemar Cox in February 2013, currently consists of thirty-nine (39) U.S. patents relating to enabling technology for identifying media content on the Internet, such as audio and video, and taking further actions to be performed based on such identification. All of the patents within our Cox patent portfolio have expired. We have a pending appeal to the Federal Circuit of a District Court ruling dismissing our case against Google Inc. and YouTube, LLC involving assertion of certain patents within our Cox Patent Portfolio (see “Legal Proceedings” at page 20 hereof). The patents within our Cox Patent Portfolio are based on a patent application filed in 2000. Since the acquisition of the Cox Patent Portfolio in February 2013, we have been issued thirty-four (34) additional patents relating to this portfolio. The claims in these thirty-four (34) additional patents are generally directed towards systems of content identification and performing actions following therefrom.

We are obligated to pay Dr. Cox 12.5% of the net proceeds generated by us from licensing, sale or enforcement of the Cox Patent Portfolio. Dr. Cox provides consulting services to us with respect to the Cox Patent Portfolio and assists our efforts to develop the patent portfolio.

Dr. Cox is currently a Professor at the University of Copenhagen and University College London where he is head of its Information and Decision Systems Group. He is also Director of the EPSRC Digital Health Hub for AMR (Antimicrobial resistance). Dr. Cox was formerly a member of the Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Labs and a Fellow at NEC Research Institute. He is a Fellow of the ACM, IEEE, the IET (formerly IEE), and the British Computer Society and is a member of the UK Computing Research Committee. In 2019, Dr. Cox was the recipient of the Tony Kent Strix Award in recognition of his contribution to the field of information retrieval. He was founding co-editor in chief of the IEE Proc. on Information Security and was an associate editor of the IEEE Trans. on Information Forensics and Security. He is co-author of a book entitled “Digital Watermarking” and its second edition “Digital Watermarking and Steganography”. He is an inventor or co-inventor of over seventy (70) U.S. patents.

Remote Power Patent

Our Remote Power Patent (U.S. Patent No. 6,218,930) covers the delivery of power over Ethernet cables for the purpose of remotely powering network devices such as wireless access ports, IP phones and network based cameras. Our Remote Power Patent expired on March 7, 2020. Notwithstanding the expiration of the Remote Power Patent in March 2020, in October and November 2022, we asserted the patent in nine separate actions against ten defendants for damages prior to March 7, 2020 and have reached settlement agreements with nine of the defendants (see “Legal Proceedings” at page 20 hereof).

On June 13, 2003, the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEEE), a non-profit, technical professional association, approved the 802.3af Power over Ethernet standard (the “Standard”), which covers technologies deployed in delivering power over Ethernet networks. The Standard provides for the Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE) to be deployed in switches or as standalone midspan hubs to provide power to remote devices such as wireless access points, IP phones and network-based cameras. The technology is commonly referred to as Power over Ethernet (“PoE”). In 2009, the IEEE Standards Association approved 802.3at, a new PoE standard which, among other things, increased the available power for delivery over Ethernet networks. We believe that our Remote Power Patent covers several of the key technologies covered by both the 802.3af and 802.3at standards.

Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio

Our Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio, acquired in May 2013, consists of ten (10) U.S. patents and covers foundational technologies that enable unified search and indexing, displaying and archiving of documents in a computer system. All of our patents within our Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio have expired. Our 227 Patent, within this portfolio, was previously asserted in litigations against Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corporation which were settled resulting in aggregate payments to us of $29,650,000. In December 2024, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the judgment of the District Court granting Meta Platform’s Inc.’s (formerly Facebook) motion for summary judgment of non- infringement dismissing Network-1 claims against Meta involving certain patents within our Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio.

The inventions relating to document stream operating systems covered by our Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio resulted from the work done by Yale University computer scientist, Professor David Gelernter, and his then graduate student, Dr. Eric Freeman, in the mid-1990s. Certain aspects of the technologies developed by David Gelernter were commercialized in their company's product offering called “Scopeware.” Technologies embodied in Scopeware are now common in various computer and web-based operating systems.

As part of our acquisition of the Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio in 2013, we also entered into an agreement with Recognition Interface, LLC (“Recognition”), an entity that financed the commercialization of the Mirror Worlds patent portfolio prior to its sale to Mirror Worlds, LLC and also retained an interest in the licensing proceeds of the Mirror Worlds patent portfolio. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement with us, we are obligated to pay Recognition an interest in the net proceeds realized from our monetization of the Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio as follows: (i) 10% of the first $125 million of net proceeds; (ii) 15% of the next $125 million of net proceeds; and (iii) 20% of any portion of the net proceeds in excess of $250 million. Since entering into the agreement with Recognition in May 2013, we have paid Recognition an aggregate of $3,127,000 with respect to such net proceeds interest in our Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio (no such payments were made during the years 2024 and 2023).

Network-1 Strategy

Our strategy is to capitalize on our intellectual property assets by entering into licensing arrangements with third parties that utilize our intellectual property's proprietary technologies as well as any additional proprietary technologies covered by patents which may be acquired by us in the future. Our current patent acquisition and development strategy is to focus on acquiring high quality patents which management believes have the potential to generate significant licensing opportunities as has been the case with our Remote Power Patent and Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio. Our Remote Power Patent has generated licensing revenue in excess of $188,000,000 from May 2007 through December 31, 2024. Since the acquisition of our Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio in May 2013, we have received licensing and other revenue of $47,150,000 through December 31, 2024. In addition, we may enter into third party strategic relationships with inventors and patent owners to assist in the development and monetization of their patent technologies. Based on our cash position, we review opportunities to acquire additional intellectual property as well as evaluate other strategic alternatives.

In connection with our activities relating to the protection of our intellectual property assets, or the intellectual property assets of third parties with whom we may have strategic relationships in the future, it may be necessary to assert patent infringement claims against third parties whom we believe are infringing our patents or those of our strategic partners. We are currently involved in several litigations to protect our patents including certain patents within our HFT Patent Portfolio and an appeal to the Federal Circuit of a District Court dismissal involving certain patents within our Cox Patent Portfolio (see “Legal Proceedings” at page 20 (hereof). We have previously successfully asserted litigation with respect to our Remote Power Patent and our Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio.

Revenue Concentration

Revenue from our Remote Power Patent as a result of a litigation settlement with a defendant constituted 100% of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2024.

We anticipate that our future revenue will continue to be derived from a few parties.

Competition

With respect to our ability to acquire additional intellectual property assets or enter into strategic relationships with third parties to monetize their intellectual property assets, we face considerable competition from other companies, many of which have significantly greater financial and other resources than we have. The patent licensing and enforcement industry has grown and there has been a material increase in the number of companies seeking to acquire intellectual property assets from third parties or to provide financing to third parties seeking to monetize their intellectual property. Entities including, among others, Acacia Research Corporation (NASDAQ:ACTG), Intellectual Ventures, WI-LAN Inc., VirnetX Holdings Corporation (NYSE MKT:VHC) and RPX Corporation, seek to acquire intellectual property or partner with third parties to license or enforce intellectual property rights. In addition, we also compete with strategic corporate buyers with respect to the acquisition of intellectual property assets. It is expected that others will enter this market as well. Many of these competitors have significantly greater financial and human resources than us.

We may also compete with litigation funding firms such as Burford Capital Limited, Validity Finance, LLC, Fortress Investment Group, LLC, Parabellum Capital LLC and Bentham Capital LLC, venture capital firms and hedge funds for intellectual property acquisitions and licensing opportunities. Many of these competitors also have greater financial resources and human resources than us.

Regulatory Environment

If new legislation, regulations or rules are implemented either by Congress, the USPTO or the courts that impact the patent application process, the patent enforcement process or the rights of patent holders, these changes could negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Certain legislation, regulations, and rulings by the courts and actions by the USPTO have materially increased the risk and cost of enforcement of patents. U.S. patent laws were amended by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, referred to as the “America Invents Act”, which became effective on March 16, 2013. The America Invents Act included a number of significant changes to U.S. patent law. In general, it addressed issues surrounding the enforceability of patents and the increase in patent litigation by, among other things, establishing new procedures for patent litigation and new administrative post-grant review procedures to challenge the patentability of issued patents outside of litigation, including Inter Partes Review (IPR) and Covered Business Method Review (CBM) proceedings which provide third parties a timely and cost effective alternative to district court litigation to challenge the validity of an issued patent. The America Invents Act and its implementation increased the uncertainties and costs surrounding the enforcement of patent rights has made it more difficult to successfully enforce our patents.

In addition, future changes in patent law could adversely impact our business. Such changes may not be advantageous to us and may make it more difficult to obtain adequate patent protection to enforce our patents. Increased focus on the growing number of patent lawsuits, particularly by non-practicing entities (NPEs), may result in legislative changes which increase the risk and costs of asserting patent litigation.

Investment in ILiAD Biotechnologies

During the period December 2018 to date, we made aggregate investments of $7,000,000 in ILiAD, a privately held clinical stage biotechnology company dedicated to the prevention and treatment of human disease caused by Bordetella pertussis. ILiAD is currently focused on validating its proprietary intranasal vaccine, BPZE1, for the prevention of pertussis (whooping cough). Pertussis is a life-threatening disease caused by the highly contagious respiratory bacterium Bordetella pertussis. ILiAD has the exclusive license to seventy-four (74) issued patents and has fifty-four (54) pending patent applications. On December 31, 2024, we owned approximately 6.5% of the outstanding units of ILiAD on a non-fully diluted basis and 4.9% of the outstanding units on a fully diluted basis (after giving effect to the exercise of all outstanding options, and warrants). In connection with our investment, Corey Horowitz, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, became a member of ILiAD’s Board of Managers and receives the same compensation for service on the Board as the other non-management Board members.

BPZE1 was developed in the laboratory of Camille Locht, PhD, at the Institut Pasteur de Lille (IPL) and French National Institute of Health and Medical research. BPZE1 is a live-attenuated intranasal vaccine designed to overcome deficiencies of current pertussis vaccines, including poor durability of protection and failure to prevent nasopharyngeal Bordetella pertussis infections that lead to escape mutants and transmission to vulnerable infants.

On August 24, 2022, ILiAD consummated a private equity financing of $42,800,000, of which a multi-national pharmaceutical company invested $30,000,000.

Corporate Information

We were incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware in July 1990. Our principal executive offices are located at 65 Locust Avenue, Third Floor, New Canaan, Connecticut 06840 and our telephone number is (203) 920-1055.

Available Information

We file or furnish various reports, such as registration statements, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other materials with the SEC. Our website address is www.network-1.com (http://www.network-1.com). You may obtain, free of charge on our Internet website, copies of our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements, Section 16 filings and amendments to those reports or statements filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The information we post on our website is intended for reference purposes only; none of the information posted on our website is part of this Annual Report or incorporated by reference herein.

In addition to the materials that are posted on our website, you may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC at the SEC's Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. You may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC also maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and other information statements, and other information regarding issuers, including us, that file electronically with the SEC. The address of the SEC’s Internet site is http://www.sec.gov.

Employees and Consultants

We currently have two full-time employees and two consultants providing monthly services to us.

Our operations and financial results are subject to various material risks and uncertainties, including those described below, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flow, and the trading price of our common stock. You should carefully consider the material risks and uncertainties described below in addition to the other information set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including, but not limited to, the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” The material risks described below are not the only risks we face. Additional risks that we do not know of or that we currently believe are immaterial may also impair our business operations. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow could be materially adversely affected, and the trading price of our common stock could decline significantly.

Risks Related to Our Business

Our revenue is uncertain as it is dependent upon litigation outcomes involving our patents which we cannot predict.

Our revenue is dependent upon our litigation outcomes. We currently have pending patent infringement litigations involving our HFT Patent Portfolio and a pending appeal of dismissal of litigation involving our Cox Patent Portfolio (see “Legal Proceedings” at page 20 hereof). Patent litigation is inherently risky and uncertain and we cannot assure you that any of our current or future litigation will result in a favorable outcome for us. Accordingly, our revenue is uncertain.

If we are unable to protect our patents, our business would be negatively impacted.

We believe our patents are valid, enforceable and valuable. Despite this belief, third parties typically defend assertion of our patents by asserting defenses, among others, of non-infringement and invalidity. In addition, in the future certain of our patents may be subject to USPTO post-grant inter partes review proceedings (IPRs) which could result in all or a part of our patents being invalidated or the claims being limited. Unfavorable outcomes in our litigation or IPRs may reduce our ability to enforce our patents or have other adverse consequences. If we are unable to protect our patents or otherwise realize value for them, our business, financial condition and operating results would be negatively impacted.

We may not achieve successful outcomes of litigations involving our HFT Patent Portfolio or be able to monetize our M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio, which would have a material negative impact on our ability to achieve significant revenue and net income in the future.

On December 26, 2024, we commenced patent litigations against Citadel Securities, LLC and Jump Trading, LLC in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for infringement of certain patents within our HFT Patent Portfolio (see “Legal Proceedings” at page 20 hereof). We also intend to make efforts to monetize our M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio. We may not achieve successful outcomes in these patent litigations involving our HFT Patent Portfolio or be able to monetize our M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio which would have a material negative impact on our ability to achieve significant revenue and net income in the future.

The outcome of our substantial investment in ILiAD is uncertain.

We have invested $7,000,000 in ILiAD, a privately held clinical stage biotechnology company, with focus on validating its proprietary intranasal vaccine (BPZE1) for the prevention of pertussis (whopping cough). Notwithstanding the aforementioned, ILiAD still faces material risks going forward. Accordingly, our investment in ILiAD remains subject to substantial risks.

We have been dependent upon our Remote Power Patent for a significant portion of our revenue in the past and we may not be able to generate future revenue from our other patents.

Our Remote Power Patent has generated revenue for us in excess of $188,000,000 from May 2007 through December 31, 2024. Revenue from our Remote Power Patent constituted 100% of our revenue for 2024 ($100,000) and 2023 ($2,601,000). We had no revenue in 2022 and revenue from our Remote Power Patent constituted 100% of our revenue for 2021 ($36,029,000), 2020 ($4,403,000) and 2019 ($3,037,000). As a result of the expiration of our Remote Power Patent on March 7, 2020, we no longer receive revenue from such patent for any period subsequent to the expiration date. Our failure to successfully monetize our other patents, including our HFT Patent Portfolio and M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio, would have a negative impact on our business, financial condition and operating results.

We may not be able to capitalize in the future on our strategy to acquire high quality patents with significant licensing opportunities or enter into strategic relationships with third parties to license or otherwise monetize their intellectual property.

Based upon the success we achieved from licensing our Remote Power Patent (twenty-eight (28) license agreements and in excess of $188,000,000 of revenue through December 31, 2024), the revenue we generated from our Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio ($47,150,000), establishing a patent portfolio currently consisting of one hundred and six (106) U.S. patents and sixteen (16) foreign patents, and our cash position, we believe we have the expertise and sufficient capital to compete in the patent monetization market and to enter strategic relationships with third parties to develop, commercialize, license or otherwise monetize their patents. Our strategy is to focus on acquiring high quality patent assets which management believes have the potential for significant licensing opportunities. However, we may not be able to acquire such additional high quality patents or, if acquired, we may not achieve material revenue or profit from such patents. Acquisitions of patent assets are competitive, time consuming, complex and costly to consummate. High quality patents with significant licensing opportunities are difficult to find and are often very competitive to acquire. In addition, such acquisitions present material risks. Even if we acquire such additional patent assets, we may not be able to achieve significant licensing revenue or even generate sufficient revenue related to such patent assets to offset the acquisition costs and the legal fees and expenses which may be incurred to enforce, license or otherwise monetize such patents. In addition, we may not be able to enter into strategic relationships with third parties to license or otherwise monetize their intellectual property and, even if we consummate such strategic relationships, we may not achieve material revenue or profit from such relationships.

The patent monetization cycle is long, costly and unpredictable.

There is generally a significant time lag between acquiring a patent portfolio and recognizing revenue from those patent assets. During this time lag, significant costs are likely to be incurred which may have a negative impact on our results of operations, cash flow and financial position. Furthermore, the outcome of our efforts to monetize our patents is uncertain and we may not be successful.

Our quarterly and annual operating and financial results, including our revenue, are difficult to predict and are likely to fluctuate significantly in future periods.

Our quarterly and annual operating and financial results are difficult to predict and may fluctuate significantly from period to period. Our revenue, net income and results of operations may widely fluctuate, including years where we may have no revenue, as a result of a variety of factors that are outside our control, including the timing and our ability to achieve successful outcomes from current and future patent litigation, our ability and timing in consummating future license agreements for our intellectual property assets, the timing and extent of payments received by us from licensees, whether we will achieve a successful outcome of our investment in ILiAD, and the timing and our ability to achieve revenue from future strategic relationships.

In the future we could be classified as a Personal Holding Company resulting in a 20% tax on our PHC Income that we do not distribute to our shareholders.

The personal holding company (“PHC”) rules under the Internal Revenue Code impose a 20% tax on a PHC’s undistributed personal holding company income (“UPHCI”), which means, in general, taxable income subject to certain adjustments and reduced by certain distributions to shareholders. For a corporation to be classified as a PHC, it must satisfy two tests: (1) that more than 50% in value of its outstanding shares must be owned directly or indirectly by five or fewer individuals at any time during the second half of the year (after applying constructive ownership rules to attribute stock owned by entities to their beneficial owners and among certain family members and other related parties) (the “Ownership Test”) and (2) at least 60% of its adjusted ordinary gross income for a taxable year consists of dividends, interest, royalties, annuities and rents (the “Income Test”). During the second half of 2024, based on available information concerning our shareholder ownership, we did not satisfy the Ownership Test. In addition, we did not satisfy the Income Test for 2024. Thus, we were not a PHC for 2024. However, we may be determined to be a PHC in the future. If we were determined to be a PHC in 2025 or any future year, we would be subject to an additional 20% tax on our UPHCI. In such event, we may issue a special cash dividend to our shareholders in an amount equal to the UPHCI rather than incur the 20% tax.

We are dependent upon our CEO and Chairman.

Our success is largely dependent upon the personal efforts of Corey M. Horowitz, our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of our Board of Directors. On March 22, 2022, we entered into a new four year employment agreement with Mr. Horowitz pursuant to which he continues to serve as our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The loss of the services of Mr. Horowitz would have a material adverse effect on our business and prospects. We do not maintain key-man life insurance on the life of Mr. Horowitz.

Cash dividends may not be continued to be paid.

Our dividend policy consists of semi-annual cash dividends of $0.05 per share ($0.10 per share annually) which have been paid in March and September of each year. We have paid such semi-annual dividends since our dividend policy was enacted in December 2016. At this time, we anticipate continuing to pay dividends consistent with our policy. However, our dividend policy undergoes a periodic review by our Board of Directors and is subject to change at any time depending upon our earnings, financial requirements and other factors existing at the time. We may not be in a position to continue to pay dividends in the future.

Legislation, regulations, court rulings and actions by the USPTO have materially increased the risk and cost of enforcement of patents and may continue to do so in the future.

Legislation, regulations, court rulings and actions by the USPTO have materially increased the risk and cost of enforcing patents. U.S. patent laws were amended by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, referred to as the America Invents Act, which became effective on March 16, 2013. The America Invents Act included a number of significant changes to U.S. patent law. In general, it addressed issues surrounding the enforceability of patents and the increase in patent litigation by, among other things, establishing new procedures for patent litigation and new administrative post-grant review procedures to challenge the patentability of issued patents outside of litigation, including Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings, which provide third parties a timely, cost effective alternative to district court litigation to challenge the validity of an issued patent. In addition, the America Invents Act changed the way that parties may be joined in patent infringement actions, and increased the likelihood that such actions will need to be brought against individual parties allegedly infringing by their respective individual actions or activities. The America Invents Act and its implementation also increased the uncertainties and costs surrounding the enforcement of patent rights, which have made it more difficult to successfully prosecute our patents.

The increasing development of artificial intelligence could impact our business.

Our patents are central to our business strategy of licensing our intellectual property rights or enforcing such rights against those that we believe are infringing. However, rapid advancements in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have the potential to impact our current business model in various ways. AI technologies are increasingly capable of developing solutions that either design around existing patents or create alternative technologies that may not infringe our intellectual property. Furthermore, the proliferation of AI may lead to the emergence of new market participants with innovative solutions that challenge our patents' validity or enforceability. Such challenges could result in lengthy legal battles or the invalidation of our patents, thereby impacting our potential future revenue.

AI driven legal analytics tools can also empower potential infringers with sophisticated insights into the strengths and weaknesses of our patent claims, potentially reducing our leverage in litigation and licensing negotiations. Investors are advised that our financial results could be adversely affected if we are unable to adapt to the rapid changes brought about by AI and ML technologies, and our ability to enforce our patent rights is consequently diminished.

Changes in patent law could adversely impact our business.

Patent laws may continue to change and may alter the protections afforded to owners of patent rights. Such changes may not be advantageous to us and may make it more difficult to obtain adequate patent protection to enforce our patents. Increased focus on the growing number of patent lawsuits, particularly by non-practicing entities (NPEs), may result in further legislative changes which increase the risk and costs of asserting patent litigation.

Our pending patent infringement litigations are time consuming and costly.

We have pending litigations involving our HFT Patent Portfolio and a pending appeal to the Federal Circuit of dismissal of our litigation against Google and YouTube involving certain patents within our Cox Patent Portfolio (see “Legal Proceedings” at page 20 of this Annual Report). While we have contingent legal fee arrangements, or a contingency plus a fixed cash amount arrangement, with our patent litigation counsel in each litigation, we are responsible for all or a portion of the expenses which are anticipated to be material. In addition, the time and effort required of our management to effectively pursue these litigations is likely to be significant and it may adversely affect other business opportunities.

We face intense competition to acquire intellectual property and enter into strategic relationships.

With respect to our ability to acquire additional intellectual property or enter into strategic relationships with third parties to monetize their intellectual property, we face considerable competition from other companies, many of which have significantly greater financial and other resources than we have. We face a number of competitors in the patent licensing and enforcement business seeking to acquire intellectual property rights from third parties. Many of these competitors have significantly more financial and human resources than us.

We may also compete with strategic corporate buyers, litigation funding firms, venture capital firms and hedge funds for intellectual property acquisitions and licensing opportunities. Many of these competitors also have greater financial resources and human resources than us.

Our markets are subject to rapid technological change and our technologies face potential technology obsolescence.

The markets covered by our intellectual property are characterized by rapid technological changes, changing customer requirements, frequent new product introductions and enhancements, and evolving industry standards. The introduction of products embodying new technologies and the emergence of new industry standards may render our technologies obsolete or less marketable.

In addition, other companies may develop competing technologies that offer better or less expensive alternatives to the technologies covered by our intellectual property. Moreover, technological advances or entirely different approaches developed by other companies or adopted by various standards groups could render our patents obsolete, less marketable or unenforceable.

The burdens of being a public company may adversely affect us including our ability to pursue litigation.

As a public company, our management must devote substantial time, attention and financial resources to comply with U.S. securities laws. This may have a material adverse effect on management's ability to effectively and efficiently pursue its business. In addition, our disclosure obligations under U.S. securities laws require us to disclose information publicly that will be available to litigation opponents. We may, from time to time, be required to disclose information that may have a material adverse effect on our litigation strategies. This information may enable our litigation opponents to develop effective litigation strategies that are contrary to our interests.

General Risk Factors

Investors may have limited influence on stockholder decisions because ownership of our common stock is concentrated.

As of February 15, 2025, our executive officers and directors beneficially owned 31.9% of our outstanding common stock. As a result, these stockholders may be able to exercise substantial control over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions, such as a merger or other sale of our company or its assets. This concentration of ownership will limit other stockholders' ability to influence corporate matters and may have the effect of delaying or preventing a third party from acquiring control over us.

Our common stock may be delisted from the NYSE American exchange if we fail to comply with continued listing standards.

Our common stock is currently traded on the NYSE American exchange under the symbol “NTIP”. If we fail to meet any of the continued listing standards of the NYSE American exchange, our common stock could be delisted. Such delisting could adversely affect the price and trading (including liquidity) of our common stock.

There are inherent uncertainties involved in estimates, judgments and assumptions used in the preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Any changes in estimates, judgments and assumptions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States involves making estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect reported amounts of assets (including intangible assets), liabilities and related reserves, revenues, expenses, and income. Estimates, judgments, and assumptions are inherently subject to change in the future, and any such changes could result in corresponding changes to the amounts of assets, liabilities, expenses, and income. Any such changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.

Provisions in our corporate charter, by-laws and in Delaware law could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, discourage a takeover and adversely affect existing stockholders.

Our certificate of incorporation authorizes the Board of Directors to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock. The preferred stock may be issued in one or more series, the terms of which may be determined at the time of issuance by our Board of Directors, without further action by stockholders, and may include, among other things, voting rights (including the right to vote as a series on particular matters), preferences as to dividends and liquidation, conversion and redemption rights, and sinking fund provisions, any of which could adversely affect holders of our common stock. Although there are currently no shares of preferred stock outstanding, future holders of preferred stock may have rights superior to our common stock and such rights could also be used to restrict our ability to merge with or sell our assets to third parties.

We are also subject to the “anti-takeover” provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which could prevent us from engaging in a “business combination” with a 15% or greater stockholder for a period of three years from the date such person acquired that status unless appropriate board or stockholder approvals are obtained.

In addition, our By-laws contain advance notice requirements for director nominations and for new business to be brought up at stockholder meetings. Stockholders wishing to submit director nominations or raise matters to a vote of stockholders must provide notice to us within specified date windows and in very specific forms in order to have that matter voted on at a stockholders meeting.

The aforementioned provisions could deter unsolicited takeovers or delay or prevent changes in our control or management, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares over the then current market price. These provisions may also limit the ability of stockholders to delay, deter or prevent a change of control, or approve transactions that they may deem to be in their best interests.

Our stock price may be volatile.

The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile and could fluctuate widely in price in response to various factors, many of which are beyond our control, including, but not limited to, the following:

• the outcome of our litigations against Citadel Securities, LLC and Jump Trading, LLC involving certain patents within our HFT Patent Portfolio;
• our ability to monetize our M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio;
• the outcome of our appeal to the Federal Circuit of the District Court dismissal of our litigation against Google and YouTube involving certain patents within our Cox Patent Portfolio;
• our ability to achieve a successful outcome of our investment in ILiAD;
• our ability to acquire additional intellectual property;
• our ability to enter into strategic relationships with third parties to license or otherwise monetize their intellectual property;
• variations in our quarterly and annual operating results;
• our ability to continue to pay cash dividends;
• our ability to raise capital if needed;
• sales of our common stock;
• technology changes;
• the increasing development of artificial intelligence could impact our business;
• legislative, regulatory and competitive developments; and
• economic and other external factors.

In addition, the securities markets have from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that are unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. These market fluctuations may also have a material and adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.

Based on our small size (two employees and two consultants), we rely extensively on information technology systems managed by third party major service providers to securely process, store and transmit our data to conduct business. Our employees and consultants utilize end point security tools, such as firewalls and anti-virus protection, to protect our data. We have recently implemented overall risk procedures which incorporate certain uniform processes. To date, we have not engaged any consultants, auditors or other third parties in connection with our risk management system or processes.

In connection with our use of third party service providers, we have certain processes in place to oversee and identify cybersecurity risks from threats and incidents. To date, we have not been materially impacted by risks from cybersecurity threats or incidents and we are not aware of cybersecurity threats or incidents that are reasonably likely to materially affect our business. However, there could be cybersecurity threats or incidents in the future that may adversely affect our business.

Our Executive Vice President oversees risks of cybersecurity threats and reports quarterly, and as necessary, to the Board of Directors, including promptly reporting any cybersecurity incidents that may pose a significant risk to us. Our Executive Vice President has over ten years of experience with developers of access management, network security and data protection solutions.

Our principal executive offices are located in New Canaan, Connecticut, where we lease approximately 2,000 square feet of office space at a base rent of $5,500 per month pursuant to a lease amendment, dated May 1, 2022, which term expires on April 30, 2025. We believe that our office facility is suitable and appropriate to support our current needs.

HFT Patent Portfolio Litigation

On December 24, 2024, our wholly-owned subsidiary, HFT Solutions, LLC (“HFT”), initiated patent litigations against Citadel Securities, LLC and Jump Trading, LLC in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 10,931,286, U.S. Patent No. 11,128,305, and U.S. Patent No. 11,575,381. The asserted patents are part of the HFT Patent Portfolio acquired by us in March 2022. The HFT Patent Portfolio relates to, among other things, certain advanced technologies relating to high frequency trading, which inventions specifically address technological problems associated with speed and latency and provide critical latency gains in trading systems where the difference between success and failure may be measured in nanoseconds.

Cox Patent Portfolio Litigation

On April 4, 2014 and December 3, 2014, we initiated litigation against Google Inc. (“Google”) and YouTube, LLC (“YouTube”) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for infringement of several of our patents within our Cox Patent Portfolio which relate to the identification of media content on the Internet. The lawsuit alleged that Google and YouTube had infringed and continued to infringe certain of our patents by making, using, selling and offering to sell unlicensed systems and related products and services, which included YouTube’s Content ID system.

The litigations against Google and YouTube were subject to court ordered stays which were in effect from July 2, 2015 until January 2, 2019 as a result of proceedings then pending at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and appeals to the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Pursuant to a joint stipulation and order, entered on January 2, 2019, the parties agreed, among other things, that the stays with respect to the litigations were lifted. In January 2019, the two litigations against Google and YouTube were consolidated. The consolidated actions proceeded and discovery was subsequently completed. On April 24, 2024, following a motion for summary judgment by the defendants, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a judgment dismissing our patent infringement claims finding that the asserted claims of two of the patents are invalid for indefiniteness and granting summary judgment that the asserted claims of another asserted patent are not infringed by Google’s accused system. The Court’s ruling disposes of all of our claims in the case. On May 14, 2024, we filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the appeal is pending.

Remote Power Patent Litigation

In October and November 2022, we initiated nine separate litigations against ten defendants for infringement of our Remote Power Patent seeking monetary damages based upon reasonable royalties, as follows: (i) on October 6, 2022, we initiated such litigation against Arista Networks, Inc., Fortinet, Inc., Honeywell International Inc. and Ubiquiti Inc. in the United States District Court, District of Delaware; (ii) on October 27, 2022, and November 3, 2022, we initiated such litigation against TP-Link USA Corporation and Hikvision USA, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Central District of California; (iii) on November 4, 2022, we initiated such litigation against Panasonic Holdings Corporation and Panasonic Corporation of North America in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (Marshall Division); and (iv) on November 8, 2022 and November 16, 2022, we initiated such litigation against Antaira Technologies, LLC and Dahua Technology USA in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

During the year ended December 31, 2023, we entered into settlement agreements with eight of the defendants resulting in aggregate settlement payments to us of $2,601,000 and a conditional payment of $150,000. On February 21, 2025, we received the conditional payment of $150,000 from a defendant as the conditions were satisfied in accordance with the settlement agreement. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we entered into a settlement agreement with one additional defendant resulting in a settlement payment to us of $100,000. On January 14, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware granted Ubiquiti’s partial motion for summary judgment on indirect infringement. On February 13, 2025, the Court granted the parties joint motion to dismiss the litigation.

Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio Litigation

On May 9, 2017, Mirror Worlds Technologies, LLC, our wholly-owned subsidiary, initiated litigation against Facebook, Inc. (“now Meta Platforms, Inc., “Meta”) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,006,227, U.S. Patent No. 7,865,538 and U.S. Patent No. 8,255,439 (among the patents within our Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio). The lawsuit alleges that the asserted patents are infringed by Meta’s core technologies that enable Meta’s Newsfeed and Timeline features. We seek, among other things, monetary damages based upon reasonable royalties.

On August 11, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York District Court issued an order granting Meta’s motion for summary judgment of non-infringement and dismissed the case. On January 23, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in our favor and reversed the summary judgment finding on non-infringement of the District Court and remanded the litigation to the Southern District of New York for further proceedings.

On March 7, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a ruling granting in part and denying in part a motion for summary judgment by Meta. In its ruling, the District Court (i) denied Meta’s motion that the asserted patents were invalid by concluding that all asserted claims were patent eligible under §101 of the Patent Act and (ii) granted summary judgment of non-infringement in favor of Meta and dismissed the case. On April 4, 2022, we filed an appeal of the District Court decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. On December 4, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the judgment of the District Court granting Meta’s motion for summary judgment of non-infringement dismissing our claims against Meta.

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and related notes contained elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The following discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates and beliefs. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include those discussed below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, particularly in the “Risk Factors” Section on pages 10 – 18 hereof.

OVERVIEW

Our principal business is the development, licensing and protection of our intellectual property assets. We presently own one hundred and six (106) U.S. patents and sixteen (16) foreign patents relating to: (i) our M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio relating to, among other things, enabling technology for authenticating and using eSIM (embedded Subscriber Identification Module) technology in IoT, Machine-to-Machine and other mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets and computers, as well as automobiles; (ii) our HFT Patent Portfolio covering certain advanced technologies relating to high frequency trading, which inventions specifically address technological problems associated with speed and latency and provide critical latency gains in trading systems where the difference between success and failure may be measured in nanoseconds; (iii) our Cox Patent Portfolio relating to enabling technology for identifying media content on the Internet and taking further action to be performed after such identification; (iv) our Remote Power Patent covering the delivery of power over Ethernet (PoE) cables for the purpose of remotely powering network devices, such as wireless access ports, IP phones and network based cameras; and (v) our Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio relating to foundational technologies that enable unified search and indexing, displaying and archiving of documents in a computer system.

With respect to our one hundred and six (106) U.S. patents, fifty-four (54) of such patents have expired. However, we can assert expired patents against third parties but only for past damages up to the patent expiration date. In 2024, our revenue was from our expired Remote Power Patent and we are currently appealing to the Federal Circuit a District Court dismissal of claims involving certain expired patents within our Cox Patent Portfolio (see Note K to our consolidated financial statements included herein). Our revenue is dependent upon our ability to achieve successful litigation outcomes.

At December 31, 2024, our principal sources of liquidity consisted of cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities of $40,600,000 and working capital of $40,066,000. Based on our cash position, we review opportunities to acquire additional intellectual property as well as evaluate other strategic opportunities.

To date we have invested $7,000,000 in ILiAD, a clinical stage biotechnology company with an exclusive license to seventy-four (74) patents (see Note H to our consolidated financial statements included herein). Our investment continues to involve significant risk and the outcome is uncertain.

We have been dependent upon our Remote Power Patent for a significant portion of our revenue. Our Remote Power Patent has generated revenue in excess of $188,000,000 from May 2007 through December 31, 2024. We no longer receive licensing revenue for our Remote Power Patent for any period subsequent to March 7, 2020 (the expiration date of the patent). During the fourth quarter of 2022, we commenced nine separate litigations against ten defendants involving our Remote Power Patent for patent infringement for the period prior to March 7, 2020. During 2024, we entered into a settlement agreement with one defendant for which we received $100,000. Such settlement payment constituted all of our revenue for 2024. During 2023, we entered into settlement agreements with eight of the defendants with respect to the aforementioned litigation resulting in aggregate settlement payments made to us of $2,601,000 and a future conditional payment of $150,000 (see Note K to our consolidated financial statements included herein). All of our revenue for 2023 was from these settlements involving our Remote Power Patent. If we are unable to successfully monetize our other patent portfolios or achieve a successful outcome of our investment in ILiAD, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be negatively impacted.

In addition, we have pending litigation involving certain patents within our HFT Patent Portfolio and have appealed the judgment of the District Court dismissing our litigation against Google and YouTube on the grounds of non-infringement involving certain patents within our Cox Patent Portfolio. In addition, we intend to monetize our M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio. We may not achieve successful outcomes of such litigation, the appeal, or future litigation involving our patent assets.

Our current strategy includes continuing our licensing efforts with respect to our intellectual property assets and the monetization of our patent portfolios. In addition, we continue to seek to acquire additional intellectual property assets to develop, commercialize, license or otherwise monetize. Our strategy includes working with inventors and patent owners to assist in the development and monetization of their patented technologies. We may also enter into strategic relationships with third parties to develop, commercialize, license or otherwise monetize their intellectual property. Our patent acquisition and development strategy is to focus on acquiring high quality patents which management believes have the potential to generate significant licensing opportunities as we have achieved with respect to our Remote Power Patent and Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio.

The significant components of expenses, when revenue is recorded, that may impact our net income (loss) relate to contingent legal fees and expenses related to our patent litigation (see Note I[1] to our consolidated financial statements included herein) and incentive compensation payable to our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer pursuant to his employment agreement (see Note J[1] to our consolidated financial statements included herein). Both such components of expenses are based on a percentage of the revenue received by us as a result of litigation or otherwise.

Our annual and quarterly operating and financial results may fluctuate significantly from period to period as a result of a variety of factors that are outside our control, including the timing and our ability to achieve successful outcomes of our patent litigation, our ability and timing of consummating future license agreements for our intellectual property, and whether we will achieve a return on our investment in ILiAD and the timing of any such return.

Our future operating results may also be materially impacted by our ability to acquire high quality patents which management believes have the potential to generate significant licensing opportunities. In the future, we may not be able to identify or consummate such patent acquisitions or, if consummated, achieve significant licensing revenue with respect to such acquisitions.

In 2025 and future years we could be classified as a Personal Holding Company. If this is the case, we would be subject to a 20% tax on the amount of any undistributed personal holding company income (as defined) for such year that we do not distribute to our shareholders (see Note E to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report).

Our current dividend policy consists of semi-annual cash dividends of $0.05 per share ($0.10 per share annually) which have been paid in March and September of each year. In 2024 and 2023, we paid semi-annual cash dividends in accordance with our dividend policy. At this time, we anticipate continuing to pay dividends consistent with our policy. However, our dividend policy undergoes a periodic review by our Board of Directors and is subject to change at any time depending upon our financial requirements, earnings and other factors existing at the time (see Note N to our consolidated financial statements included herein).

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Year Ended December 31, 2024 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2023

Revenue. We had revenue of $100,000 for the year ended December 31, 2024 (“2024”) as compared to revenue of $2,601,000 for the year ended December 31, 2023 (“2023”). All of our revenue for 2024 and 2023 was from litigation settlements involving our Remote Power Patent (see Note K[4] to our consolidated financial statements included herein).

Operating Expenses. Operating expenses for 2024 were $3,721,000 as compared to $4,836,000 for 2023. The decrease in operating expenses of $1,115,000 was primarily due to lower costs of revenue of $846,000, general and administrative of $275,000 and amortization of patents of $146,000. These reductions were offset somewhat due to higher professional fees of $152,000.

We had costs of revenue of $28,000 and $874,000 for 2024 and 2023, respectively. Included in the costs of revenue for 2024 were contingent legal fees of $23,000 and incentive bonus compensation of $5,000 payable to our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Included in the costs of revenue for 2023 were contingent legal fees of $744,000 and incentive bonus compensation of $130,000 payable to our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer pursuant to his employment Agreement (see Note J [1] to our consolidated financial statement included herein).

General and administrative expenses were $2,614,000 for 2024 as compared to $2,889,000 for 2023. The decrease in general and administrative expenses for 2024 was primarily due to lower payroll and related employer taxes of $159,000 and stock-based compensation of $109,000.

Operating Loss. We had an operating loss of $3,621,000 for 2024 compared with an operating loss of $2,235,000 for 2023. The operating loss increase of $1,386,000 was primarily due to lower revenue from patent litigation settlements in 2024 of $2,501,000 as compared to 2023.

Realized and Unrealized Loss on Marketable Securities. For 2024, we recorded realized and unrealized gains on marketable securities of $177,000 as compared to realized and unrealized gains on marketable securities of $525,000 in 2023, primarily due to the timing of maturities on marketable securities and the declines in yields on our fixed income holdings.

Income Taxes. For 2024, we had no current tax expense for federal, state and local income taxes and a deferred tax benefit of $425,000. For 2023, we had a current income tax for federal, state and local income taxes of $11,000 and a deferred tax benefit of $399,000.

Share of Net Losses of Equity Method Investee. We recognized $1,912,000 of net losses during 2024 related to our equity share of ILiAD net losses, as compared to recognized net losses of $2,003,000 for 2023 (see Note H to our consolidated financial statements included herein). We anticipate continuing to record our share of net losses from ILiAD.

Net Loss. As a result of the foregoing, we realized a net loss of $3,034,000 or $0.13 per share basic and diluted for 2024 compared with a net loss of $1,457,000 or $0.06 per share basic and diluted for 2023. Our net loss for 2024 increased by $1,577,000 as compared to 2023 primarily due to lower revenue from patent litigation settlements in 2024 of $2,501,000.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

We have financed our operations primarily from revenue from licensing our patents. At December 31, 2024, our principal sources of liquidity consisted of cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities of $40,600,000 and working capital of $40,066,000. Based on our current cash position, we believe that we will have sufficient cash to fund our operations for the next twelve months and the foreseeable future. Our patent infringement litigation or realization of our investment in ILiAD may result in a material increase in our liquidity and capital resources.

Working capital decreased by $4,784,000 at December 31,2024 to $40,600,000 as compared to working capital of $44,850,000 at December 31, 2023. The decrease in working capital in 2024 was primarily due to our operating loss of $3,621,000, cash dividends payments of $2,366,000 and share repurchases of $1,295,000, offset by interest and dividend income of $1,897,000.

Net cash used in operating activities for 2024 increased by $1,407,000 from $1,076,000 used in operating activities for 2024 compared to $331,000 provided by operating activities for 2023, primarily because of the increase in our net loss of $1,577,000.

Net cash used in investing activities during 2024 decreased by $5,488,000 as a result of our holdings of marketable securities declining by $1,049,000 in 2024 as compared to $6,537,000 in 2023.

Net cash used in financing activities for 2024 and 2023 was $3,724,000 and $3,420,000, respectively. The increase of $304,000 primarily resulted from higher repurchases of common shares of $329,000.

We maintain our cash equivalents and marketable securities in money market funds, government securities, certificates of deposit, corporate bonds and short-term fixed income securities. Accordingly, we do not believe that our investments have significant exposure to interest rate risk.

OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

We do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements.

CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS

We do not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, purchase obligations or other long-term liabilities.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES

We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, which require our management to make estimates that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the balance sheet dates, as well as the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. To the extent that there are material differences between these estimates and actual results, our financial condition or results of operations would be affected. We base our estimates on our own historical experience and other assumptions that we believe are reasonable after taking account of our circumstances and expectations for the future based on available information. We evaluate these estimates on an ongoing basis.

We consider an accounting estimate to be critical if (i) the accounting estimate requires us to make assumptions about matters that were highly uncertain at the time the accounting estimate was made, and (ii) changes in the estimate that are reasonably likely to occur from period to period or use of different estimates that we reasonably could have used in the current period, would have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations. There are items within our financial statements that require estimation but are not deemed critical, as defined above.

For a detailed discussion of our significant accounting policies and related judgments, see Note B to our consolidated financial statements included herein.

(a) Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Based upon this review, our executive officers concluded that, as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, our disclosure controls and procedures are effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in applicable rules and forms and is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

(b) Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

(i) Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management is also responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate “internal control over financial reporting” of the Company, as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) of the Exchange Act. Internal control over financial reporting is defined as a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the issuer’s principal executive and principal financial officer and effected by the board of directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024 using the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013). Based upon that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our internal controls over financial reporting were effective as of the end of the period covered by this report.

(ii) Attestation Report of Registered Public Accounting Firm

We are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Rule 12b-2 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as such, are not required to provide the information contained in this sub-section pursuant to Item 308(b) of Regulation S-K. Accordingly, this Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of our registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting.

(iii) Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the fiscal quarter ended December 31,2024, that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.