SECURITY AGREEMENT
SECURITY AGREEMENT, dated as of
September 14, 2009 (this “ Agreement ”),
between CONVERTED ORGANICS, INC., a Delaware corporation (the
“ Company ), and IROQUOIS MASTER FUND LTD. (the
“ Lender ”).
WHEREAS, the Company and the Lender are parties
to that certain Subscription Agreement dated the date hereof (the
“ Subscription Agreement ”);
WHEREAS, it is intended hereby that all
obligations of the Company to the Lender under the Transaction
Documents (as defined in the Subscription Agreement) and other
agreements to which the Company and Lender are from time to time
party, be secured by the personal property assets of the Company
herein described;
NOW,
THEREFORE, in consideration of the promises contained herein and
for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and
sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto
agree as follows:
1. Definitions .
(a) Capitalized terms used herein without
definition (by cross-reference or otherwise) shall have the
meanings provided for such terms (by cross-reference or otherwise)
in the Subscription Agreement.
(b) The following capitalized terms, when
used herein, shall have the meanings provided for such terms in
Article 9 of the NYUCC (as hereafter defined): Accession,
Account, Cash Proceeds, Certificate of Title, Chattel Paper,
Commercial Tort Claim, Commodity Account, Commodity Contract,
Commodity Intermediary, Deposit Account, Document, Electronic
Chattel Paper, Equipment, Farm Products, General Intangible, Goods,
Health-Care-Insurance Receivable, Instrument, Inventory, Investment
Property, Letter-of-Credit Right, Non-Cash Proceeds, Payment
Intangible, Proceeds, Promissory Note, Software, Supporting Secured
Obligations, and Tangible Chattel Paper. Such terms (and those in
the following clauses of this Section 1) shall include in the
singular number the plural and in the plural number the singular.
Nothing contained in this subsection (b) or otherwise in this
Agreement shall be construed to mean that uncapitalized terms used
herein which are defined in the UCC or the NYUCC shall not have the
meanings ascribed to such terms in such statutes.
(c) The following capitalized terms, when
used herein and not defined in Article 9 of the NYUCC, shall
have the meanings provided therefor elsewhere in the NYUCC:
Certificated Security, Letter of Credit, Securities Intermediary
and Uncertificated Security.
(d) As used herein, the following
capitalized terms shall have the following meanings:
“ Event of Default ” means
any of the following: (i) any failure by the Company to pay,
when due, any amount payable by it under any Transaction Document,
(ii) any other material breach by the Company of any provision
of any Transaction Document which if permitted to be cured is not
cured within 30 days, (iii) any representation or
warranty made by the Company in any Transaction Document, or
otherwise in writing in connection with any such document, or in
any certificate or statement furnished pursuant to or in connection
with any such document, shall be breached or shall prove to be
untrue in any material respect on the date as of which made;
(iv) the occurrence of an Insolvency Event with respect to the
Company; or (v) any other Event of Default (as defined in the
terms and conditions of any relevant Transaction
Document).
“ Government Authority ”
shall mean any nation or government, any state or political
subdivision thereof and any entity exercising executive,
legislative, judicial, regulatory or administrative functions of or
pertaining to government.
“ Insolvency Event ” means
the occurrence of any of the following with respect to the Company
or another Person: any bankruptcy, insolvency or other proceeding
for the relief of financially distressed debtors shall be commenced
with respect to such Person, or a receiver, liquidator, custodian
or trustee shall be appointed for such Person or a substantial part
of its assets, and, if any of the same shall occur involuntarily as
to such Person, it shall not be dismissed, stayed or discharged
within 60 days; or if any order for relief shall be entered
against such Person under Title 11 of the United States Code
entitled “Bankruptcy”; or such Person shall take any
action to effect, or which indicates its acquiescence in, any of
the foregoing; in each of the foregoing situations, whether under
the laws of the United States or the analogous laws of any foreign
jurisdiction.
“ Loan Agreement ” means each
agreement (if, as and when executed by the Company and the Lender)
pursuant to or in connection with which any financial accommodation
is extended by the Lender to or on behalf of the Company,
including, without limitation, the Note.
“ NYUCC ” means the Uniform
Commercial Code of the State of New York (as currently in effect
and as the same may from time to time hereafter be
amended).
“ Patents ” means
(i) all United States or other patents which the Company may
from time to time possess or be otherwise entitled to use, and all
licenses of United States or other patents which the Company may
from time to time possess or be otherwise entitled to use
(including without limitation the patents described in Section 8(f)
hereof), (ii) all re-issues, divisions, continuations,
renewals, extensions and continuations-in-part thereof,
(iii) the right to sue for past, present and future
infringements of the foregoing, and (iv) all rights
corresponding to all of the foregoing throughout the
world.
“ Payment Default ” means the
failure by the Company to make any payment required to be made by
it pursuant to any Transaction Document to which it is a party at
the time when same is due (after giving effect to any applicable
cure period).
“ Person ” shall mean and
include an individual, a partnership, a corporation (including a
business trust), a joint stock company, a limited liability
company, a not-for-profit corporation or other not-for-profit
entity, a trust, an unincorporated association, a joint venture or
other entity or a Government Authority.
“ Secured Obligations ” means
all of the indebtedness, obligations and liabilities of the Company
to the Lender, whether direct or indirect, joint or several,
absolute or contingent, due or to become due, now existing or
hereafter arising, pursuant to one or more of the Transaction
Documents.
“ State ” means the State of
New York.
“ Trademarks ” means
(i) all United States or other trademarks which the Company
may from time to time possess or be otherwise entitled to use,
together with the goodwill of the business connected with the use
of, and symbolized by, such trademarks (together with the
trademarks described in Section 8(f) hereof), (ii) all
re-issues, divisions, continuations, renewals, extensions and
continuations-in-part thereof, (iii) the right to sue for
past, present and future infringements of the foregoing, and
(iv) all rights corresponding to all of the foregoing
throughout the world (excluding intent-to-use United States
applications prior to their conversion into use-based
applications).
(e) Unless otherwise specified, each
reference in this Agreement or in any other Transaction Document to
a Transaction Document shall mean such Transaction Document as the
same may from time to time be amended, restated, replaced,
supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time with the
consent of the Lender.
(f) As used in this Agreement, the terms
“including,” “including without limitation”
and “such as” (and like terms) are illustrative and not
limitative. No difference shall be imputed to the use in some
places herein of “including” and in others of
“including without limitation.” Phrases such as
“hereof” and “herein” refer to the entire
Agreement and not just the section or other portion in which said
reference appears.
2. Grant of Security Interest
.
(a) The Company hereby grants to the
Lender, to secure the payment and performance in full of all of the
Secured Obligations, a security interest in and so pledges and
assigns to the Lender all the Company’s interest in Converted
Organics of California LLC, a California limited liability company,
and any and all assets that are acquired by the use of the funds
from the Subscription Agreement. In addition, the Company grants
the Lender a security interest in the Company’s interest in
Converted Organics of Woodbridge, LLC, a New Jersey limited
liability company, and all of its assets subordinate only to the
current lien held by the holder of the current debt issued in
connection with the initial plant of approximately $17,500,000,
wherever located, whether now owned or hereafter acquired or
arising, and all Proceeds and products thereof; all personal and
fixture property of every kind and nature including without
limitation all Goods (including Inventory, Equipment and any
Accessions thereto), Instruments (including Promissory Notes),
Documents, Accounts, Chattel Paper (whether Tangible Chattel Paper
or Electronic Chattel Paper), Deposit Accounts, Letter-of-Credit
Rights (whether or not the Letter of Credit is evidenced by a
writing), Commercial Tort Claims, Investment Property, Subsidiaries
(as defined in the Subscription Agreement) whether now existing or
existing in the future, Supporting Secured Obligations, any other
contract rights or rights to the payment of money, insurance claims
and proceeds, tort claims, and all General Intangibles (including
all Payment Intangibles and all Proceeds of the foregoing) (all of
the same listed in this Section 2 being hereinafter called,
the “ Collateral ”). The Lender acknowledges
that the attachment of its security interest in any Commercial Tort
Claim as original collateral is subject to the Company’s
compliance with Section 4(g).
(b) Lender at all times shall have a
perfected security interest in the Collateral. Company represents
that, other than the security interests described on
Schedule 2, if any, it has and will continue to have
full title to the Collateral free from any liens, leases,
encumbrances, judgments or other claims. The Lender’s
security interest in the Collateral constitutes and will continue
to constitute a first, prior and indefeasible security interest in
favor of Lender, subject only to the security interests described
on Schedule 2, if any, and as set forth in Section 2(a)
hereof Company will do all acts and things, and will execute and
file all instruments (including, but not limited to, security
agreements, financing statements, continuation statements, etc.)
reasonably requested by Lender to establish, maintain and continue
the perfected security interest of Lender in the perfected
Collateral, and will promptly on demand, pay all costs and expenses
of filing and recording, including the costs of any searches
reasonably deemed necessary by Lender from time to time to
establish and determine the validity and the continuing priority of
the security interest of Lender, and also pay all other claims and
charges that, in the opinion of Lender are reasonably likely to
materially prejudice, imperil or otherwise affect the Collateral or
Lender’s security interests therein.
3. Authorization to File Financing
Statements . The Company hereby irrevocably authorizes the
Lender at any time and from time to time to file in any Uniform
Commercial Code jurisdiction any initial Financing Statements and
amendments thereto that (a) indicate the Collateral
(i) as all assets of the Company or words of similar effect,
regardless of whether any particular asset included in the
Collateral falls within the scope of Article 9 of the NYUCC,
or (ii) as being of an equal or lesser scope or with greater
detail, and (b) contain any other information required by part
5 of Article 9 of the NYUCC for the sufficiency or filing
office acceptance of any Financing Statement or amendment,
including (i) whether the Company is an organization, the type
of organization and any organization identification number issued
to the Company and, (ii) in the case of a Financing Statement
filed as a fixture filing or indicating Collateral as as-extracted
collateral or timber to be cut, a sufficient description of real
property to which the Collateral relates. The Company agrees to
furnish any such information to the Lender promptly upon
request.
4. Other Actions . To further
insure the attachment, perfection and priority of, and the ability
of the Lender to enforce the Lender’s security interest in
the Collateral, the Company agrees, in each case at the
Company’s own expense, at any time when an Event of Default
exists and has not been cured under the terms of the Note or the
terms hereof, to take the following actions with respect to the
Collateral:
(a) Promissory Notes and Tangible
Chattel Paper . If the Company shall at any time hold or
acquire any Promissory Notes or Tangible Chattel Paper, the Company
shall (unless required otherwise by another Loan Document)
forthwith endorse, assign and deliver the same to the Lender,
accompanied by such instruments of transfer or assignment duly
executed in blank as the Lender may from time to time
specify.
(b) [Reserved] .
(c) Investment Property . If the
Company shall at any time hold or acquire any Certificated
Securities, the Company shall forthwith endorse, assign and deliver
the same to the Lender, accompanied by such instruments of transfer
or assignment duly executed in blank as the Lender may from time to
time specify. If any securities now or hereafter acquired by the
Company are uncertificated and are issued to the Company or its
nominee directly by the issuer thereof, the Company shall
immediately notify the Lender thereof and, at the Lender’s
request and option, pursuant to an agreement in form and substance
satisfactory to the Lender, cause the issuer to agree to comply
with instructions from the Lender as to such securities, without
further consent of the Company or such nominee. If any securities,
whether certificated or uncertificated, or other Investment
Property now or hereafter acquired by the Company are held by the
Company or its nominee through a Securities Intermediary or
Commodity Intermediary, the Company shall immediately notify the
Lender thereof and, at the Lender’s request and option,
pursuant to an agreement in form and substance satisfactory to the
Lender, either (i) cause such Securities Intermediary or (as
the case may be) Commodity Intermediary to agree to comply with
entitlement orders or other instructions from the Lender to such
Securities Intermediary as to such securities or other Investment
Property, or (as the case may be) to apply any value distributed on
account of any commodity contract as directed by the Lender to such
Commodity Intermediary, in each case without further consent of the
Company or such nominee, or (ii) in the case of financial
assets or other Investment Property held through a Securities
Intermediary, arrange for the Lender to become the entitlement
holder with respect to such Investment Property, with the Company
being permitted, only with the consent of the Lender, to exercise
rights to withdraw or otherwise deal with such Investment Property.
The Lender agrees with the Company that the Lender shall not give
any such entitlement orders or instructions or directions to any
such issuer, Securities Intermediary or Commodity Intermediary, and
shall not withhold its consent to the exercise of any withdrawal or
dealing rights by the Company, unless an Event of Default exists
(or would exist after giving effect to any such investment or
withdrawal). The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to
any financial assets credited to a securities account for which the
Lender is the Securities Intermediary.
(d) Collateral in the Possession of a
Bailee . If any goods are at any time in the possession of a
bailee, the Company shall promptly notify the Lender thereof and,
if requested by the Lender, shall promptly obtain an acknowledgment
from the bailee, in form and substance satisfactory to the Lender,
that the bailee holds such Collateral for the benefit of the Lender
and shall act upon the instructions of the Lender, without the
further consent of the Company.
(e) Electronic Chattel Paper and
Transferable Records . If the Company at any time holds or
acquires an interest in any Electronic Chattel Paper or any
“transferable record,” as that term is defined in
Section 201 of the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and
National Commerce Act, or in §16 of the Uniform Electronic
Transactions Act as in effect in any relevant jurisdiction, the
Company shall promptly notify the Lender thereof and, at the
request of the Lender, shall take such action as the Lender may
reasonably request to vest in the Lender control, under §9-105
of the NYUCC, of such Electronic Chattel Paper or control under
Section 201 of the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and
National Commerce Act or, as the case may be, §16 of the
Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, as so in effect in such
jurisdiction, of such transferable record.
(f) Letter-of-Credit Rights . If
the Company is at any time a beneficiary under a letter of credit
now or hereafter issued in favor of the Company, the Company shall
promptly notify the Lender thereof and, at the request and option
of the Lender at any time when an Event of Default exists, the
Company shall, pursuant to an agreement in form and substance
satisfactory to the Lender, either (i) arrange for the issuer
and any confirmer of such letter of credit to consent to an
assignment to the Lender of the proceeds of any drawing under the
letter of credit or (ii) arrange for the Lender to become the
transferee beneficiary of the letter of credit, with the Lender
agreeing, in each case, that the proceeds of any drawing under the
letter of credit shall be held as collateral for the Secured
Obligations.
(g) Commercial Tort Claims . If the
Company shall at any time hold or acquire a Commercial Tort Claim,
the Company shall immediately notify the Lender in a writing signed
by the Company of the brief details thereof and grant to the Lender
in such writing a security interest therein and in the proceeds
thereof, all upon the terms of this Agreement, with such writing to
be in form and substance satisfactory to the Lender.
(h) Other Actions as to any and all
Collateral . The Company further agrees to take any other
action reasonably requested by the Lender to insure the attachment,
perfection and first priority of, and the ability of the Lender to
enforce, the Lender’s security interest in any and all of the
Collateral including, without limitation, (1) executing,
delivering and, where appropriate, filing Financing Statements and
amendments relating thereto under the Uniform Commercial Code, to
the extent, if any, that the Company’s signature thereon is
required therefor, (2) causing the Lender’s name to be
noted as secured party on any certificate of title for a titled
good if such notation is a condition to attachment, perfection or
priority of, or ability of the Lender to enforce, the
Lender’s security interest in such Collateral,
(3) complying with any provision of any statute, regulation or
treaty of the United States or any foreign jurisdiction to any
Collateral if compliance with such provision is a condition to
attachment, perfection or priority of (or comparable concepts under
the laws of the United States or any foreign jurisdiction), or
ability of the Lender to enforce, the Lender’s security
interest in such Collateral, (4) making such filings in the
United States Copyright Office and the United States Patent and
Trademark Office as the Lender shall request to register, file or
otherwise confirm Lender’s security interest in intellectual
property, or rights therein, held by the Company,
(5) obtaining governmental and other third party consents and
approvals, including without limitation any consent of any
licensor, lessor or other person obligated on Collateral,
(6) obtaining waivers from mortgagees and landlords in form
and substance satisfactory to the Lender and (7) taking all
actions required by any earlier versions of the Uniform Commercial
Code or by other law, as applicable in any relevant Uniform
Commercial Code jurisdiction, or by other law as applicable in any
foreign jurisdiction.
5. Conflicts; Other Jurisdictions
. In the case of any direct conflict between the provisions
of this Agreement and any other Transaction Document, whether
governed by the laws of the United States, any state therein or any
other jurisdiction, those provisions shall control which afford to
the Secured Party the greater rights, security and indemnification.
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the parties
hereto acknowledge that the inclusion of supplemental rights or
remedies in favor of the Secured Party with respect to any
Collateral in any such Transaction Document shall not be deemed a
conflict with this Agreement.
6. Representations and Warranties .
The Company hereby makes the following representations and
warranties to the Lender, which representations and warranties
shall survive the execution, delivery and performance of this
Agreement and the other Transaction Documents:
(a) All of the representations and
warranties made by the Company in any of the Transaction Documents
are incorporated herein by this reference.
(b) The Company is the owner of, or has
other rights in, the Collateral, free from any adverse lien,
security interest or other encumbrance, except for the security
interest created by this Agreement and other liens permitted by the
Transaction Documents or listed on Schedule 6(b)
attached hereto.
(c) None of the account debtors or other
persons materially obligated on any of the Collateral is a
governmental authority subject to the Federal Assignment of Claims
Act or like federal, state or local statute or rule in respect of
such Collateral.
(d) To the Company’s knowledge, the
Company holds no Commercial Tort Claim.
(e) The Company has at all times operated
its business in compliance with all applicable material provisions
of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended, and with all
applicable provisions of federal, state and local statutes and
ordinances dealing with the control, shipment, storage or disposal
of hazardous materials or substances, except where the failure to
do so would not be expected to have a Material Adverse
Effect.
(f) On the date hereof, excluding such
securities of the Subsidiaries, the Company does not hold or have
any interest in (directly or through a nominee or through a
Securities Intermediary or Commodity Intermediary) any Investment
Property (whether Certificated Securities, Uncertificated
Securities or otherwise).
(g) On the date hereof:
(i) the Company does not hold or otherwise
have any material interest in any Electronic Chattel Paper or any
such transferable record.
(ii) the Company is not a beneficiary under
a letter of credit issued in favor of the Company.
(iii) the Company possesses no rights in
any material or significant copyrights, regardless of whether same
have been registered with the United States Copyright Office or
not.
7. [Reserved].
8. Special Provisions Concerning
Trademarks and Patents .
(a) The Company (either itself or through
licensees) will, for each Patent, not do any act, or omit to do any
act, whereby any Patent which is material to the conduct of the
Company’s business may become abandoned or
dedicated.
(b) The Company shall notify the Lender
immediately if it knows or has reason to know that any application
or registration relating to any Patent or Trademark which is
material to the conduct of the Company’s business may become
abandoned or dedicated, or of any adverse determination or
development (including, without limitation, the institution of, or
any such determination or development in, any proceeding in the
United States Patent and Trademark Office or any court) regarding
the Company’s ownership of any Patent or Trademark which is
material to the Company’s business, its right to register the
same, or to keep and maintain the same.
(c) In no event shall the Company, either
itself or through any agent, employee, licensee or designee, file
an application for the registration of any Patent or Trademark with
the United States Patent and Trademark Office or any similar office
or agency in any other country or any political
subdivisio