Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies

v3.19.1
Commitments and Contingencies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies

8. Commitments and Contingencies

 

Leases

 

The Company has operating office space leases in Austin, Texas; Newport Beach, California; San Diego, California; and Miami, Florida. Rent expense under operating leases totaled $643 and $634 for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

 

Future minimum annual lease payments under the Company's operating leases are as follows:

 

Future minimum lease obligations years ended December 31,   Lease
Obligations
 
2019   $ 573  
2020     164  
2021     119  
2022     119  
2023     59  
Thereafter     -  
Total   $ 1,034  

 

Litigation

 

On September 26, 2017, we filed a breach of contract complaint against Uber Technologies, Inc. seeking approximately $3 million (plus interest) for unpaid invoices for advertising campaign services provided for Uber in the first quarter of 2017. The case, captioned Phunware, Inc. v. Uber Technologies, Inc., Case No. CGC-17-561546 was filed in the Superior Court of the State of California County of San Francisco. On November 13, 2017, Uber generally denied the allegations in our complaint and also filed a cross-complaint against us and Fetch — the advertising agency Uber retained to run its mobile advertising campaign for the period 2014 through the first quarter of 2017 (the "Fetch Campaign"), asserting numerous fraud and contract-based claims. All the claims stem from Uber's assertion that Fetch and/or We (and/or other-as-yet-unidentified ad networks and publishers) are liable for the fraud-infested Fetch Campaign, under which Uber overpaid Fetch and mobile advertising providers due to fraudulent attribution for installments of the Uber application. Uber does not allege any specific dollar amount that it is seeking in damages against either of the named cross-defendants (Fetch and Phunware). We filed a motion to dismiss the cross-complaint, which was heard on February 7, 2018. The motion was granted in part and denied in part by the Court. On April 16, 2018, the action was designated complex, and the matter has been assigned for all purposes to Judge Wiss of the Superior Court of California, San Francisco County (Department 305). Uber and Fetch have reached an agreement in principle to settle Uber's claims against Fetch on terms that have not been disclosed to Phunware at this time. The Court has set a trial date of August 12, 2019. The parties have exchanged documents in discovery and depositions are underway. We maintain that our claims against Uber are meritorious and that Uber's claims against us are not. However, we make no predictions on the likelihood of success of prevailing on our contract action against Uber or on the likelihood of defeating Uber's claims against us.

 

On September 8, 2017, the Company and Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau ("GHCVB") initiated litigation in a breach of contract dispute. The case is captioned Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau v. Phunware, Inc., Cause No. 2017-58894, in the District Court of Harris County, Texas. The dispute concerns an October 2016 agreement for us to develop a mobile application and advertising campaign for GHCVB. In April 2018, the parties mediated this dispute with the assistance of a private mediator. The mediation was successful and Phunware was awarded $485, which was paid to us in April 2018 and recorded as net revenues in the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss for the year ended December 31, 2018. Each side was responsible for their own attorneys' fees.

 

From time to time, the Company is and may become involved in various legal proceedings in the ordinary course of business. The outcomes of our legal proceedings are inherently unpredictable, subject to significant uncertainties, and could be material to our operating results and cash flows for a particular reporting period. In addition, for the matters disclosed above that do not include an estimate of the amount of loss or range of losses, such an estimate is not possible, and we may be unable to estimate the possible loss or range of losses that could potentially result from the application of non-monetary remedies.