Note 4 – Commitments and Contingencies

Operating Leases

On September 10, 2014, the Company entered into a lease agreement with Balzer Family Investments, L.P. (the “Landlord”) related to space located at Northpointe Business Center, 3590 North First Street, San Jose, California. The initial term of the lease was 60 months, with initial monthly base rent of $36,720 and the lease was subject to certain annual escalations as defined in the agreement. On March 13, 2019, the Company amended its lease agreement with the Landlord which combined both the first-floor space and the second-floor space for the final three months of the original lease term for the second floor, which expired on September 30, 2019. Effective July 1, 2019 through September 30, 2019, the new monthly rent payment was $48,372.

On February 26, 2015, the Company entered into a sub-lease agreement for space in its San Jose location on the first floor and was amended on August 25, 2015 to include additional space. The sub-lease agreement had a term which expired on June 30, 2019.

On July 1, 2019, the Company signed a new lease agreement for the lease of its office space at its corporate headquarters in San Jose, California for an additional three years. The lease agreement includes space on the first floor of the building that had been previously subleased. Upon expiration of the original lease on September 30, 2019, the new monthly lease payment starting October 1, 2019 is $52,970 and is subject to annual escalations up to a maximum monthly lease payment of $64,941.

On May 31, 2017, the Company renewed a lease agreement for the Company’s space in Costa Mesa, California. The agreement had a term that expired on September 30, 2019 with initial monthly rent of $9,040 and was subject to certain annual escalations as defined in the agreement.

On July 15, 2019, the Company signed a new lease agreement for the lease of office space in Costa Mesa, California for an additional two years. Upon expiration of the original lease on September 30, 2019, the new monthly lease payment starting October 1, 2019 will be $9,773 and is subject to an annual escalation up to a maximum monthly lease payment of $10,200.

Note 4 – Commitments and Contingencies, continued

Operating Leases, continued

In February 2016, the FASB issued its final standard on lease accounting, ASU No. 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842),” which superseded Topic 840, “Leases,” which was further modified in ASU No. 2018-10, “Codification Improvements” to clarify the implementation guidance. The new accounting standard was effective for the Company beginning on January 1, 2019 and required the recognition on the balance sheet of right-of-use assets and lease liabilities. The Company elected the optional transition method and adopted the new guidance on January 1, 2019 on a modified retrospective basis with no restatement of prior period amounts. The Company’s adoption of the new standard resulted in the recognition of right-of-use assets of $414,426 and operating lease liabilities of $485,747, with no material cumulative effect adjustment to equity as of the date of adoption. The Company anticipates having future total lease payments of $2,429,376 during the period from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the third quarter of 2022. As of September 30, 2019, the company has total operating lease right-of-use assets of $2,244,336, current portion operating lease liabilities of $682,163 and long-term portion of operating lease liabilities of $1,610,319. The weighted average remaining lease term is 2.9 years as of September 30, 2019.

A reconciliation of undiscounted cash flows to lease liabilities recognized as of September 30, 2019 is as follows:

Hosted Design Solution Agreement

In June 2015, the Company entered into a three-year agreement to license electronic design automation software in a hosted environment. Pursuant to the agreement, under which services began in July 2015, the Company is required to remit quarterly payments in the amount of approximately $101,000 with the last payment due in March 2018. In December 2015, the agreement was amended to update and redefine the hosted hardware and software licensed by the Company and the quarterly payments increased to approximately $198,000. In July 2018, the Company renewed the three-year agreement, and the Company is required to remit quarterly payments in the amount of approximately $218,000, with the last payment due in March 2021.

Litigations, Claims, and Assessments

The Company is from time to time involved in various disputes, claims, liens and litigation matters arising in the normal course of business. While the outcome of these disputes, claims, liens and litigation matters cannot be predicted with certainty, after consulting with legal counsel, management does not believe that the outcome of these matters will have a material adverse effect on the Company's combined financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

MBO Bonus Plan

On March 15, 2018, the Company’s Board of Directors (“Board”), on the recommendation of the Board’s Compensation Committee (“Compensation Committee”), approved the Energous Corporation MBO Bonus Plan (“Bonus Plan”) for executive officers of the Company. To be eligible to receive a bonus under the Bonus Plan, an executive officer must be continuously employed throughout the applicable performance period, and in good standing, and achieve the performance objectives selected by the Compensation Committee.

Under the Bonus Plan, the Compensation Committee is responsible for selecting the amounts of potential bonuses for executive officers, the performance metrics used to determine whether any such bonuses will be paid and determining whether those performance metrics have been achieved.

During the three months ended September 30, 2019, the Company accrued $167,740 in expense under the Bonus Plan, which will be paid during the fourth quarter of 2019. During the three months ended September 30, 2018, the Company accrued $445,883 in expense, which was paid during the fourth quarter of 2018. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, the Company incurred $691,928 and $1,205,997 in expense under the Bonus Plan.

Note 4 – Commitments and Contingencies, continued

Severance and Change in Control Agreement

On March 15, 2018, the Compensation Committee approved a form of Severance and Change in Control Agreement (“Severance Agreement”) that the Company may enter into with executive officers (“Executive”).

Under the Severance Agreement, if an Executive is terminated in a qualifying termination, the Company agrees to pay the Executive six to 12 months of that Executive’s monthly base salary and bonuses, in some circumstances. If the Executive elects continued coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, as amended (“COBRA”) the Company agrees to pay the full amount of Executive’s premiums under the Company’s health, dental and vision plans, including coverage for the Executive’s eligible dependents, for the six to 12 month period following the Executive’s termination.

Employee Agreement – Stephen Rizzone

On April 3, 2015, the Company entered into an Amended and Restated Executive Employment Agreement with Stephen R. Rizzone, the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer (“Employment Agreement”).

The Employment Agreement was effective as of January 1, 2015, had an initial term of four years and renews automatically each year after the initial term. The Employment Agreement provides for an annual base salary of $365,000, and Mr. Rizzone is eligible to receive quarterly cash bonuses from the Bonus Plan with a total target amount equal to 100% of his base salary based upon achievement of performance-based objectives established by the Board.

Mr. Rizzone is also eligible to receive all customary and usual benefits generally available to senior executives of the Company.

Strategic Alliance Agreement

In November 2016, the Company and Dialog Semiconductor plc (“Dialog”), a related party (see Note 7—Related Party Transactions), entered into a Strategic Alliance Agreement (“Alliance Agreement”) for the manufacture, distribution and commercialization of products incorporating the Company’s wire-free charging technology (“Licensed Products”). Pursuant to the terms of the Alliance Agreement, the Company agreed to engage Dialog as the exclusive supplier of the Licensed Products for specified fields of use, subject to certain exceptions (the “Company Exclusivity Requirement”). Dialog agreed to not distribute, sell or work with any third party to develop any competing products without the Company’s approval (the “Dialog Exclusivity Requirement”). In addition, both parties agreed on a revenue sharing arrangement and will collaborate on the commercialization of Licensed Products based on a mutually-agreed upon plan. Each party will retain all of its intellectual property.

The Alliance Agreement has an initial term of seven years and will automatically renew annually thereafter unless terminated by either party upon 180 days’ prior written notice. The Company may terminate the Alliance Agreement at any time after the third anniversary of the Agreement upon 180 days’ prior written notice to Dialog, or if Dialog breaches certain exclusivity obligations. Dialog may terminate the Alliance Agreement if sales of Licensed Products do not meet specified targets. The Company Exclusivity Requirement will terminate upon the earlier of January 1, 2021 or the occurrence of certain events relating to the Company’s pre-existing exclusivity obligations.