Exhibit 10.8
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP
AGREEMENT
THIS STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT is entered
into as of the 8th of October, 2004 (the “Effective
Date”) by and between MathStar, Inc., a Minnesota
corporation (“MathStar”); Valley
Technologies, Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation
(“VTI”); and, for purposes of only Sections 2.5,
3.1.2 and 3.3, Gerald Petrole, the President and Chief Executive
Officer of VTI (“Petrole”). MathStar and VTI are
hereinafter referred to as the “Parties” and
individually as a “Party.”
RECITALS
WHEREAS, MathStar is a fabless semiconductor
company addressing the reprogrammable logic markets with a new
class of platform chips called “Field Programmable Object
Arrays” (“FPOAs”), which are high performance,
reprogrammable integrated circuits based on MathStar’s
proprietary Silicon Object technology;
WHEREAS, VTI provides very high performance
digital signal processing (“DSP”) and data acquisition
boards and systems to the commercial and military
markets;
WHEREAS, VTI is willing to be engaged in
developing and supporting products, algorithms and applications for
the FPOAs (the “VTI Products”), and VTI is willing to
provide the services of Petrole to assist MathStar in marketing the
FPOAs, all as provided herein;
WHEREAS, some of the VTI Products will be
printed circuit board products utilizing FPOAs (the “Hardware
Products”); and
WHEREAS, the Parties desire to set forth the
terms and conditions under which such development and marketing
shall take place.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the
foregoing, the mutual promises herein contained, and for other good
and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which
are hereby acknowledged, MathStar and VTI hereby agree as
follows:
SECTION 1
DEFINITIONS
As used throughout this Agreement, and in
addition to the other definitions contained in this Agreement, the
following terms shall have the meanings set forth below:
1.1.
“Affiliate” of a Party
means any Person controlling, controlled by or under common control
with such Party. Two Persons will be considered to be
affiliated with one another if one of them controls the other, or
if both of them are controlled by a common third party. One
Person will be considered to control another Person if it has the
power to direct or cause the
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direction of the management and policies of the
other Person, whether directly or indirectly, through one or more
intermediaries or otherwise, and whether by virtue of the ownership
of shares or other equity interests, the holding of voting rights
or contractual rights, or otherwise.
1.2.
“Agreement” means the
terms and conditions contained in this Agreement and all attached
Exhibits, Schedules, Attachments, and Addenda and any other
documents made a part of this Agreement or incorporated by
reference (including Statements of Work), as the same may be
amended, modified or supplemented from time to time.
1.3.
“Bankruptcy Event” means
that a Party: (i) ceases conducting its business in the
normal course; (ii) becomes insolvent or unable to meet its
obligations as they become due; (iii) makes a general
assignment for the benefit of its creditors; (iv) petitions,
applies for, or suffers or permits, with or without its consent,
the appointment of a custodian, receiver, trustee in bankruptcy or
similar officer for all or any substantial part of its business or
assets; or (v) avails itself or becomes subject to any
proceeding under the United States Bankruptcy Code or any similar
state, federal or foreign statute relating to bankruptcy,
insolvency, reorganization, receivership, arrangement, adjustment
of debts, dissolution or liquidation, which proceeding is not
dismissed within sixty (60) days of the commencement
thereof.
1.4.
“Change of Control”
means with respect to a Party: (i) the direct or
indirect acquisition by another entity in a single transaction or
series of related transactions of either (A) the majority of
the voting stock of such Party or (B) all or substantially all
of the assets of such Party; or (ii) such Party has merged
with, or into, another entity, and the holders of securities of
that Party representing 100% of the voting power before the merger
hold less than 50% of the voting power of the surviving entity
immediately after the merger.
1.5.
“Code” means the United
States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
1.6.
“Confidential
Information” means information including, without limitation,
Technology, that is transmitted or otherwise provided, directly or
indirectly, by or on behalf of either Party to the other Party in
connection with this Agreement and the activities hereunder, and
that should reasonably have been understood by the receiving Party
because of legends or other markings, the circumstances of
disclosure or the nature of the information itself, to be
proprietary and confidential to the disclosing Party.
Confidential Information may be disclosed in written or other
tangible form (including on magnetic media) or by oral, visual or
other means, including inspection or discovery of tangible
objects.
1.7.
“Deliverable” means any
tangible or intangible material, work or thing delivered by one
Party to the other Party hereunder pursuant to this Agreement,
including any associated Documentation.
1.8.
“Derivative Work” has
the meaning ascribed to it under the United States Copyright Law,
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 101 et. seq., as amended now or in the
future.
1.9.
“Design Wins” means the
acceptance by a customer or prospective customer of the FPOAs for
use in or with respect to such customer’s or prospective
customer’s products, as determined by the mutual agreement of
the Parties.
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1.10.
“Development Schedule”
means the schedule for the completion of identified
Deliverables as set forth in Exhibit A this Agreement
or a Statement of Work.
1.11.
“Documentation” means
all or any portion of the materials, in written or other tangible
form (including on magnetic media), generated by either Party in
the performance of development hereunder or generally made
available by either Party for use in connection with the VTI
Products and FPOAs including, without limitation, any summaries;
designs; architectures; program logic; flow charts; program
listings; functional or technical specifications; logical models;
user guides; operator guides; installation and operation guides;
and any other supporting or programming materials.
1.12.
“Enhancement” means any
improvement, upgrade, new version of, enhancement to, fix,
extension which is compatible or interoperable with, or any
Derivative Work of, any Technology.
1.13.
“Fully Diluted Basis”
means all shares of a Party’s capital stock outstanding as of
any specified date and all shares of such Party’s capital
stock subject to options, warrants, convertible debt or other
rights to acquire such Party’s capital stock outstanding as
of such date.
1.14.
“Intellectual Property
Rights” means all rights of a Person in, to, or arising out
of: (i) any United States, international or foreign
patent or any application therefor and any and all reissues,
divisions, continuations, renewals, extensions and
continuations-in-part thereof; (ii) inventions (whether
patentable or not in any country), invention disclosures,
improvements, trade secrets, proprietary information, know-how,
Technology and technical data; (iii) copyrights, copyright
registrations, mask works, mask work registrations and applications
therefor in the United States or any foreign country, and all other
rights corresponding thereto throughout the world;
(iv) Trademarks, Trademark registrations and applications
therefor in the United States or any foreign country;
(v) trade secrets; and (vi) any other proprietary rights
in Technology anywhere in the world.
1.15.
“MathStar Common Stock”
means the common stock of MathStar, $0.01 par value per
share.
1.16.
“MathStar Personnel”
means MathStar employees, agents and subcontractors and the
employees and agents of any such subcontractors directly or
indirectly supplied or otherwise used hereunder by
MathStar.
1.17.
“MathStar Technology”
shall mean Technology, including FPOAs, owned by or licensed to
MathStar and provided to VTI hereunder, but excluding VTI
Technology.
1.18.
“Person” means any
individual or entity including, without limitation, any
corporation, company, partnership, joint venture, association,
joint stock company, trust, unincorporated association, limited
liability corporation, limited liability partnership, firm,
governmental entity or other person or entity of similar
nature.
1.19.
“Revenues” means all
revenues as recognized at any time by VTI in accordance with United
States generally accepted accounting principles, consistently
applied, from all sales, licenses, rentals, leases, subscriptions
and any other dispositions of VTI Products, less actual
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returns, discounts and rebates, and from
maintenance and support services rendered by or on behalf of VTI
with respect to the VTI Products.
1.20.
“Software” means all
tangible and intangible information in object code form
constituting one or more computer or apparatus programs and the
informational content of such programs including, without
limitation, associated data files, data (including image and sound
data), design tools, user interfaces, templates, menus, buttons and
icons, together with all related Documentation.
1.21.
“Specifications” means
the specifications as set forth in Exhibit A to this
Agreement and any amendments or changes to such specifications made
in accordance with this Agreement.
1.22.
“Statement of Work”
means a written document that is mutually agreed upon by the
Parties setting forth the requirements for the development of VTI
Products and FPOAs and Enhancements to VTI Products and
FPOAs. Each Statement of Work shall be effective only when
signed by the Parties. Once agreed upon and executed by the
Parties, a Statement of Work shall be deemed incorporated into and
shall become a part of this Agreement.
1.23.
“Technology” means all
technology, including all know-how, show-how, techniques, design
rules, trade secrets, inventions (whether or not patented or
patentable), algorithms, routines and Software and associated
Documentation, files, data-bases, works of authorship, processes,
devices and hardware.
1.24.
“Trademarks” means all
trademarks, trade names, service marks, logos, trade dress or the
like, now owned or hereafter acquired by either Party, and all
other trademarks, trade names, service marks and logos identifying
or used in connection with their respective Technology, whether or
not registered in any jurisdiction.
1.25.
“VTI Personnel” means
VTI employees, agents and subcontractors and the employees and
agents of any such subcontractors directly or indirectly supplied
or otherwise used hereunder by VTI, including Petrole.
1.26.
“VTI Technology” shall
mean Technology owned by or licensed to VTI and used hereunder to
develop the VTI Products, but excluding MathStar
Technology.
SECTION 2
DEVELOPMENT, MARKETING AND
RELATED OBLIGATIONS
2.1.
Development
.
2.1.1.
Development of VTI
Products . During the period beginning
September 1, 2004 and through and including the date one year
from the effective date, using the FPOAs and other MathStar
Technology licensed to VTI hereunder, VTI shall expend at least Two
Million and 00/100 Dollars ($2,000,000.00) on the development of
the VTI Products in accordance with the Specifications and
Development Schedule set forth in Exhibit A , as
such Specifications and Development Schedule may be amended or
modified by
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Statements of Work. Of the
$2,000,000.00, at least One Hundred Thousand and 00/100 Dollars
($100,00.00) will be spent on MathStar development tools, including
development software. As reasonably requested by VTI,
MathStar shall assist VTI in such development and shall allow VTI
access to the source code and related Documentation including,
without limitation, all updates, Enhancements and new versions
(collectively, the “Source Materials”) for the FPOAs
for the purpose of VTI undertaking such development. As
reasonably requested by MathStar, VTI shall allow MathStar access
to the Source Materials for the VTI Products for the purpose of
MathStar assisting VTI in such development.
2.1.2.
Ownership of Intellectual
Property Rights in VTI Products . The Parties agree that VTI shall
own all Intellectual Property Rights contained in the VTI
Products. Notwithstanding such rights, the Parties agree that
MathStar shall retain exclusive ownership of all Intellectual
Property Rights contained in or related to the FPOAs. The
Parties shall cooperate with each other to register and enforce
against third parties all Intellectual Property Rights that the
Parties mutually agree should be registered and enforced with
respect to the VTI Products and the FPOAs.
2.1.3.
Planning Committee
. The Parties shall
appoint employees from each Party to a planning committee (the
“Planning Committee”). The Planning
Committee’s responsibilities shall include, but not be
limited to, planning and monitoring development activities,
scheduling, marketing, pricing conditions and other matters
relating to the Parties’ obligations under this
Agreement. The Parties agree that the Planning
Committee’s membership can be changed from time to time to
properly staff the Planning Committee to address relevant
issues. The Planning Committee shall be responsible
for: (i) deciding on and approving specifications for
the VTI Products; (ii) coordinating and disseminating all
development schedules; and (iii) coordinating joint marketing
efforts.
2.2.
Subcontracting
. Either Party may
subcontract the performance of any portion of the development to be
performed under this Agreement to any third party subject to the
other Party’s prior consent, which consent shall not be
unreasonably withheld. The Parties agree that no
subcontracting to a direct or indirect competitor of either Party
will occur hereunder. Each Party shall provide the other
Party with the names of any third parties to whom the
subcontracting party subcontracts the performance of any portion of
the development under this Agreement, along with proof of receipt
of written assurances and warranties by such third party
contractors regarding ownership of all resulting Intellectual
Property Rights by MathStar and VTI jointly, indemnification and
confidentiality. Notwithstanding any such subcontracting,
unless otherwise agreed by the Parties in writing, each Party shall
in any event and at all times remain liable for performance of its
obligations under this Agreement.
2.3.
No Limitation of Other
Rights . The
acceptance by either Party of any Deliverable from the other Party
pursuant to this Agreement shall not limit in any manner the
accepting Party’s rights pursuant to any other provision of
this Agreement including, without limitation, any warranty granted
hereunder.
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2.4.
Marketing Activities
. During the Term,
MathStar and VTI shall jointly market the VTI Products, which
marketing activities may include, but may not be limited to, the
following:
(i)
promoting, distributing, soliciting
and obtaining orders for the VTI Products;
(ii)
demonstrating the VTI
Products’ utility for distributors, potential resellers,
customers and potential customers;
(iii)
publishing information about the VTI
Products, including electronically and on the Parties’
respective websites;
(iv)
demonstrating the VTI Products for
industry analysts;
(v)
including the VTI Products in trade
shows, conferences and other marketing events;
(vi)
determining the packaging, branding
and/or any advertising campaigns and promotions for the VTI
Products; and
(vii)
determining pricing for the VTI
Products.
Each of MathStar and VTI shall bear its own
expenses in connection with the marketing activities set forth in
this Section 2.4.
2.5.
Services of Petrole
. During the period
ending twelve (12) months from the Effective Date, VTI shall
provide MathStar with the services of Petrole, who shall promote
the use of FPOAs in the military and space industries and secure
Design Wins for the FPOAs on behalf of MathStar. Petrole
shall remain an employee of VTI for all purposes and shall not
become an employee of MathStar.
2.5.1.
Fee Paid to VTI
. In consideration of VTI
providing Petrole’s services to MathStar as provided in the
foregoing paragraph, MathStar shall pay to VTI the amount of Twelve
Thousand Five Hundred and 00/100 Dollars ($12,500.00) per calendar
month. Such payment shall be made with respect to services
rendered in each calendar month on or before the fifteenth (15th)
calendar day of the next calendar month. By way of example,
and not by way of limitation, for services rendered by Petrole in
January 2005, MathStar is to pay to VTI $12,500.00 on or
before February 15, 2005.
2.5.2.
Expense Reimbursement
. MathStar shall
reimburse VTI for all normal, reasonable business travel expenses
incurred by VTI with respect to Petrole rendering the services as
provided in this Section 2.5. MathStar shall reimburse
VTI within thirty (30) calendar days after receiving reasonable
proof of the incurrence and amount of such expenses; provided, that
MathStar shall not be obligated to make such reimbursement payment
more often than once every calendar month. Expenses of
greater that $1,000 shall receive the prior approval of
MathStar’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing. In the case
of travel expenses, the purpose of which is to benefit both VTI and
MathStar, VTI and MathStar shall agree on the proper allocation of
expenses between the Parties.
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2.6.
Technical Training
. At each Party’s
reasonable request to the other Party, and upon at least ten
(10) days’ written notice by such requesting Party to
the other Party, the Party receiving the notice will provide the
other Party with technical training for personnel selected by the
requesting Party at such times and locations as shall be mutually
agreed to by the Parties. Each Party shall bear its own
expenses in connection with complying with this
Section 2.6.
2.7.
Maintenance and Support
Services . VTI
shall be principally responsible under this Agreement for providing
maintenance and support services to customers and other end-users
of the VTI Products with respect to the VTI Products. As
reasonably requested by VTI, MathStar shall assist VTI in rendering
such services. Each Party shall bear its own expenses in
complying with this Section 2.7.
SECTION 3
OTHER AGREEMENTS
3.1.
Warrants to Purchase MathStar
Common Stock .
3.1.1.
VTI Warrants and VTI Employee
Warrants . On
the Effective Date, MathStar shall issue to VTI warrants to
purchase a total of 250,000 shares of MathStar Common Stock (the
“VTI Warrants”). Within twelve months (12) after
the Effective Date, MathStar shall issue to individuals who are key
employees of VTI (the “VTI Employees”), and who are
identified in written notices given by VTI to MathStar as
hereinafter provided from time to time during the twelve (12)-month
period described in the foregoing sentence, warrants to purchase a
total of five hundred thousand (500,000) shares of MathStar Common
Stock (the “VTI Employee Warrants”). The VTI
Warrants and the VTI Employee Warrants shall have a term of ten
(10) years from the Effective Date, shall have an initial
exercise price of $2.00 per share, shall vest as to one-third of
the shares subject to the VTI Warrants and the VTI Employee
Warrants on each of the first, second and third anniversary dates
of the Effective Date, provided that the Agreement is then in
effect, and shall otherwise be in the form attached hereto as
Exhibit B . During the twelve (12)-month period
described in the first sentence of this Section 3.1.1, VTI
shall identify in written notices to MathStar the identities,
addresses and Social Security numbers of the VTI Employees and the
number of VTI Employee Warrants each VTI Employee is to
receive. MathStar shall not have any obligation to issue any
VTI Employee Warrants after the expiration of the twelve (12)-month
period described in the first sentence of this
Section 3.1.1. In addition, and notwithstanding the
foregoing, MathStar will not be obligated to issue the VTI Employee
Warrants to the VTI Employees if MathStar determines, in its sole
discretion, that such transfers would be in violation of applicable
securities laws. The VTI Warrants and the VTI Employee
Warrants shall terminate and be of no further force or effect with
respect to any portion thereof that has not vested upon the
termination or expiration of this Agreement.
3.1.2.
Petrole Warrants
. Upon the execution of
this Agreement, MathStar shall issue to Petrole warrants to
purchase a total of two hundred fifty thousand (250,000) shares of
MathStar Common Stock (the “Petrole
* Confidential Treatment has been requested, the
portion indicated has been redacted and the redacted portion has
been separately filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
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Warrants”). The Petrole
Warrants shall have a term of five (5) years from the
Effective Date, shall have an initial exercise price of $2.00 per
share, shall vest as to 50,000 shares of MathStar Common Stock upon
the achievement of each Design Win, and shall otherwise be in the
form attached hereto as Exhibit C . The Petrole
Warrants shall terminate and be of no further force or effect with
respect to any portion thereof that has not vested on or before the
first anniversary date of the Effective Date.
3.2.
MathStar Option
. VTI hereby grants to
MathStar an option (the “MathStar Option”) to purchase
a number of shares of VTI’s capital stock equal to ten
percent (10%) of VTI’s shares of capital stock on a Fully
Diluted Basis as of the date of exercise of the MathStar Option,
after taking into account the shares subject to the MathStar
Option, for a total purchase price of one million and 00/100
Dollars ($1,000,000.00). The MathStar Option shall vest as to
100% of the shares of capital stock subject to the MathStar Option
immediately after VTI becomes a Subchapter C corporation under
the Code or upon the termination or expiration of this Agreement,
whichever occurs first. The MathStar Option shall have a term
of ten (10) years from the Effective Date.
3.3.
Right of First Refusal
. Until three years after
the Effective Date, if VTI proposes to enter into a Change of
Control, MathStar shall have the exclusive right of first refusal
(the “Right of First Refusal”) to acquire all shares of
VTI capital stock then outstanding in cash for a purchase price
that is equivalent to the purchase price to be paid in the Change
of Control transaction (whether the consideration involved in such
Change of Control transaction consists of cash, securities and/or
other property). When VTI has knowledge of a potential Change
of Control transaction involving VTI, it shall notify MathStar in
writing within five (5) calendar days of obtaining such
knowledge. MathStar then shall have thirty (30) calendar days
after receiving the written notice from VTI to exercise its Right
of First Refusal hereunder, and it shall exercise such Right of
First Refusal by giving written notice to VTI within such thirty
(30) day period. The closing of the exercise by MathStar of
the Right of First Refusal the shall occur on such time and date
and at such place as shall be mutually agreed upon by the
Parties. Petrole hereby agrees for himself individually and
the shares of VTI capital stock beneficially owned by him that he
shall be bound by the terms of this Section 3.3.
3.4.
Independent
Contractors .
3.4.1.
The relationship of the Parties
hereunder shall be that of independent contractors.
Accordingly, and without modification of any obligations of either
Party under this Agreement, each Party will provide day-to-day
management and supervision of the development and marketing tasks
for which it is responsible under the terms of this Agreement
including, without limitation, determining the time, scheduling,
manner, method and place of performance.
3.4.2.
VTI represents and warrants that
pursuant to the Code, the regulations promulgated thereunder and
applicable provisions of common law, all VTI Personnel will be
independent contractors in relation to MathStar. Accordingly,
VTI will file any and all required forms and necessary payments
appropriate to the status of VTI Personnel as independent
contractors in relation to MathStar. If such independent
contractor status is
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denied or changed and any VTI
Personnel are declared to have “employee” status with
respect to MathStar, VTI agrees to hold MathStar harmless from and
against all costs, including any interest, penalties and legal
fees, which MathStar may incur as the result of such change in
status.
3.5.
Personnel Taxes and
Benefits . Each Party shall be responsible for
all employee-related benefits applicable to its personnel
performing development, marketing or other activities under this
Agreement. Neither Party shall be obligated to provide the
other Party’s personnel with employee benefits of any type
unless otherwise required by law. Each Party is responsible
for withholding its portion of Federal Insurance Contributions Act
(“FICA”) taxes and for withholding income taxes for
federal and state income tax purposes in the manner required by
law. Each Party will, in a timely manner, pay over all
amounts withheld to the Internal Revenue Service or to the
appropriate state or foreign government authorities, as the case
may be, and will timely pay its share of all FICA and Federal
Unemployment Tax Act taxes for all of its personnel performing work
under this Agreement. Each Party shall be indemnified and
held harmless by the other Party from any liability, cost or
expense, including any interest, penalties and legal fees, that may
be assessed against or incurred by the other Party’s failure
to make any such payment.
3.6.
Nonsolicitation
. During the Term and for
a period of twelve (12) months thereafter, neither Party will
directly or indirectly solicit for employment any employees of the
other Party; provided, however, that this Section 3.6 shall
not be construed as precluding either Party from hiring any Person
that seeks employment or responds to a general
advertisement.
3.7.
Competing Products
. Without
MathStar’s express written consent, VTI shall not reproduce
FPOAs or related Documentation, in whole or in part, in any form or
medium, except as permitted under this Agreement. Except as
provided in this Agreement, VTI shall not engage, directly or
indirectly, or in concert with any Person, in the distribution or
sale of any platform chips or other products competitive with FPOAs
during the Term and for a period of two (2) years
thereafter. Without VTI’s express written consent,
MathStar shall not reproduce VTI Products or related Documentation,
in whole or in part, in any form or medium, except as permitted
under this Agreement. Except as provided in this Agreement,
MathStar shall not directly engage in the distribution or sale of
any products competitive with VTI Products during the Term and for
a period of two (2) years thereafter.
3.8.
Communication
. During the Term,
MathStar and VTI will communicate regularly with each other as
appropriate on issues relating to the development, marketing and
distribution of the VTI Products and FPOAs. Each Party agrees
to use reasonable efforts to ensure that all actions and statements
made by its employees about VTI Products and FPOAs do not adversely
affect the other Party’s goodwill, reputation or
products.
3.9.
Royalty; Reports and Audit
Rights . During the Term, VTI shall pay to
MathStar a royalty (the “Royalty”) equal to * of all
Revenues derived from the Hardware Products and, in connection
therewith, the parties agree to the following
provisions:
* Confidential Treatment has been requested, the
portion indicated has been redacted and the redacted portion has
been separately filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
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3.9.1.
Reports . Within ten (10) days after the
last day of each calendar quarter, VTI shall deliver to MathStar a
report showing, in reasonable detail, the types and sources of
Revenues recognized by VTI during each calendar month in such
calendar quarter, the number of VTI Products generating such
Revenues and the total amount of all Revenues. All Revenues
shall be recorded on the reports in United States Dollars.
Any monetary conversions required to make the report shall be
calculated based on the exchange rate reported by The Wall Street
Journal on the last business day of the calendar month for which
the Revenues are reported.
3.9.2.
Audit Rights
. Upon reasonable prior
notice, MathStar shall have the right to appoint an independent
accounting firm or other agent reasonably acceptable to VTI to
examine such financial books, records and accounts during
VTI’s normal business hours to verify the information
contained in any of the reports provided by VTI pursuant to
Section 3.9.1, subject to the execution of VTI’s
standard confidentiality agreement by the accounting firm or agent;
provided, however, that execution of such agreement will not
preclude such firm from reporting its audit results to
MathStar. If such audit discloses an underreporting of
Revenues of 5% or more, VTI will bear all costs associated with any
such audit. In every other case, MathStar shall bear such
costs. In no event will VTI be subject to more than two
audits per year unless the audit for the prior year or other period
disclosed an underreporting of Revenues of 5% or more.
3.9.3.
Payment of Revenues
. Within fifteen (15)
calendar days after the end of each calendar quarter, VTI shall pay
to MathStar, by wire transfer or other immediately available funds,
the Royalty for such calendar quarter.
3.10.
Costs and Expenses
. Unless expressly
provided otherwise in this Agreement, each Party shall be
responsible for paying its own costs and expenses of performing its
obligations and duties under this Agreement.
3.11.
Conflicting Agreements
. During the Term and for
a period of twelve (12) months thereafter, and except for this
Agreement:
(i)
MathStar shall not enter into an
agreement or arrangement with any other Person which involves the
use of FPOAs by such Person or such Person’s Affiliates in
the development of single board computers and, in addition,
involves the issuance of MathStar Common Stock to such Person or
such Person’s Affiliates; and
(ii)
VTI shall not enter into an
agreement or arrangement with any other Person which involves the
use of such other Person’s integrated circuits in the
development or production of single board computers by VTI or its
Affiliates and, in addition, involves the issuance of VTI’s
capital stock to such Person or such Person’s
Affiliates.
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SECTION 4
LICENSES AND PROPRIETARY
RIGHTS
4.1.
VTI Technology
. VTI shall own all
rights, title and interest in and to all VTI Technology and any
Derivative Works thereof, including all Intellectual Property
Rights therein and thereto.
4.2.
MathStar Technology
. MathStar shall retain
exclusive ownership of all rights, title and interest in and to all
MathStar Technology and any Derivative Works thereof, including all
Intellectual Property Rights therein and thereto.
4.3.
Prohibitions Against
Modifications . Except as may otherwise be provided
in this Agreement, during the Term, neither Party shall:
(i) modify, adapt, translate, localize, distribute or create
Derivative Works of the VTI Products or FPOAs except with the prior
written consent of the Other Party; (ii) decompile,
disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise reduce the VTI Products
or FPOAs to human perceptible form; (iii) remove or allow to
be removed the other Party’s copyright, Trademark, trade
secrets or other proprietary rights notice from any unit of VTI
Products or FPOAs; or (iv) make copies of the VTI Products or
FPOAs or related documentation except for back copies if needed for
such Party to fulfill its obligations under this
Agreement.
4.4.
Disclosure of Third Party
Materials . Each Party shall promptly disclose
to the other party the extent to which any Deliverable, or any
portion thereof, uses, incorporates or is dependent upon Technology
owned by or licensed from third parties, and the disclosing Party
shall obtain for the other Party, at no cost to the other Party,
any license rights to any Intellectual Property Rights embodied in
any Deliverable necessary or appropriate to the other Party’s
right to use such Deliverable.
4.5.
Trademark License
. Each Party authorizes
the other Party to use its current and future Trademarks solely in
connection with the marketing and distribution of VTI Products and
FPOAs pursuant to this Agreement. Each Party shall use the
Trademarks of the other Party solely in accordance with the quality
control requirements from the other Party and agrees that the other
Party may, from time to time, revise these quality control
requirements for the purpose of protecting the standards of quality
established for that Party’s goods and services sold under
the Trademarks and protecting that Party’s rights in the
Trademarks.
4.6.
No Other Licenses
. Except as expressly
set forth in this Agreement, nothing contained in this Agreement
shall be construed as granting or conferring, by implication,
estoppel or otherwise, any license or right under any Intellectual
Property Rights, whether now existing or hereafter obtained, and no
such license or other right shall arise from this Agreement or from
any acts or omissions in connection with the execution of this
Agreement or the performance of the obligations of the Parties
hereunder.
4.7.
Tangible Property
. Unless otherwise
agreed to in writing, any tangible property including, but not
limited to, Documentation and equipment or material of every
description furnished by one Party to the other Party hereunder, is
and shall main the property of the furnishing Party. The
Parties shall not use such property except in performing its
obligations under this Agreement. All such property shall be
returned to the furnishing Party upon the
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earlier of either the furnishing Party’s
request, the completion or termination of the relevant services or
the expiration or termination of this Agreement.
4.8.
Access . Throughout the Term of this
Agreement, both Parties shall have access to the Intellectual
Property of the other to the extent required to fulfill their
obligations under this Agreement.
4.9.
Bankruptcy Event
. If a Bankruptcy Event
occurs with respect to either Party, or if either Party terminates
this Agreement under Section 9.2 or Section 9.3, the
other Party shall forthwith be entitled to a complete duplicate of
(or complete access to, as appropriate) any Technology licensed to
it hereunder and all embodiments of such Technology and the same,
if not already in such Party’s possession, shall be delivered
to the Party upon that Party’s written request. In any
of such events, the Party entitled to the Technology shall have the
non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free right to fully
exploit in any manner all such Technology and Intellectual Property
Rights and to perform any and all of the other Party’s
obligations hereunder.
SECTION 5
REPRESENTATIONS AND
WARRANTIES
5.1.
VTI Representations and
Warranties . As an inducement to MathStar
entering into this Agreement, VTI represents and warrants to
MathStar on the Effective Date and on an ongoing basis as
follows:
5.1.1.
Organization Representations;
Enforceability . VTI is duly organized, validly
existing and in good standing under the laws of the State of
Pennsylvania. The execution and delivery of this Agreement by
VTI and the transactions contemplated hereunder have been duly and
validly authorized by all necessary action on the part of
VTI. This Agreement constitutes a valid and binding
obligation of VTI enforceable in accordance with its terms, except
as such enforcement may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency,
reorganization, moratorium or other similar laws affecting
enforcement of creditors’ rights generally and by general
principles of equity (whether applied at law or in
equity).
5.1.2.
No Conflict
. The entering into and
performance of this Agreement by VTI does not and will not violate,
conflict with or result in a material default under any other
contract, agreement, indenture, decree, judgment, undertaking,
conveyance, lien or encumbrance to which VTI is a party or by which
it or any of its properties is or may become subject or
bound. VTI will not grant any rights under any future
agreement, nor will it permit or suffer any lien, obligation or
encumbrance, that will conflict with the full enjoyment by MathStar
of MathStar’s rights under this Agreement.
5.1.3.
Right to Make Full
Grant . VTI
has and shall have all requisite ownership, rights, licenses,
capital structure and corporate authority to perform its
obligations under this Agreement fully as contemplated hereby and
to grant to MathStar all rights with respect to the VTI Technology,
Deliverables, VTI Products, the MathStar Option, the Right of First
Refusal and Intellectual Property Rights purported to be granted by
VTI to MathStar hereunder, free and clear of any and all
agreements, liens, adverse claims, encumbrances
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and interests of any Person
including, without limitation, VTI’s employees, agents and
contractors and such contractors’ employees and agents who
have provided, are providing or will provide services with respect
to the development of the Deliverables.
5.1.4.
Noninfringement
. Nothing contained in
the VTI Technology or contained or to be contained in the VTI
Products will infringe, violate or misappropriate any Intellectual
Property Right of any third party, and no characteristic of the VTI
Technology contained or to be contained in the VTI Products does or
will cause manufacturing, using, licensing, maintaining or selling
the VTI Products to infringe, violate or misappropriate any
Intellectual Property Right of any third party.
5.1.5.
No Harmful Code or
Viruses . To
VTI’s knowledge, the VTI Products will contain no matter
which is injurious to end-users or their property, “booby
traps,” “time bombs” or other programming that
may interfere with the normal functioning of the VTI Products or
the end-user’s equipment, programs or data. To
VTI’s knowledge, the VTI Products will be free from computer
viruses.
5.1.6.
Performance
. VTI represents and
warrants to MathStar that the VTI Products will substantially
perform in accordance with the Specifications therefor.
5.1.7.
Indemnity . VTI shall be responsible for,
indemnify and hold MathStar harmless from, any damages, costs,
liabilities and/or expenses (including, without limitation,
reasonable attorneys’ fees), arising out of the breach of the
foregoing Sections 5.1.1 through 5.1.6
(inclusive).
5.2.
MathStar’s Representations
and Warranties . As an inducement to VTI entering
into this Agreement, MathStar represents and warrants to VTI on the
Effective Date and on an ongoing basis as follows:
5.2.1.
Organization Representations;
Enforceability . MathStar is duly organized, validly
existing and in good standing under the laws of the State of
Minnesota. The execution and delivery of this Agreement by
MathStar and the transactions contemplated hereunder have been duly
and validly authorized by all necessary action on the part of
MathStar. This Agreement constitutes a valid and binding
obligation of MathStar enforceable in accordance with its terms,
except as such enforcement may be limited by bankruptcy,
insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other similar laws
affecting enforcement of creditors’ rights generally and by
general principles of equity (whether applied at law or in
equity).
5.2.2.
No Conflict
. The entering into and
performance of this Agreement by MathStar does not and will not
violate, conflict with or result in a material default under any
other contract, agreement, indenture, decree, judgment,
undertaking, conveyance, lien or encumbrance to which MathStar is a
party or by which it or any of its properties is or may become
subject or bound. MathStar will not grant any rights under
any future agreement, nor will it permit or suffer any lien,
obligation or encumbrance, that will conflict with the full
enjoyment by VTI of VTI’s rights under this
Agreement.
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5.2.3.
Right to Make Full
Grant . MathStar has and shall have all
requisite ownership, rights and licenses to perform its obligations
under this Agreement fully as contemplated hereby and to grant to
VTI all rights with respect to the MathStar Technology, FPOAs, VTI
Warrants, VTI Employee Warrants, Petrole Warrants, and Intellectual
Property Rights purported to be granted by MathStar to VTI
hereunder, free and clear of any and all agreements, liens, adverse
claims, encumbrances and interests of any Person including, without
limitation, MathStar’s employees, agents and contractors and
such contractors’ employees and agents who have provided, are
providing or will provide services with respect to the development
of the Deliverables.
5.2.4.
Noninfringement
. Nothing contained in
the MathStar Technology contained or to be contained in the FPOAs
will infringe, violate or misappropriate any Intellectual Property
Right of any third party, and no characteristic of the FPOAs
contained or to be contained in the VTI Products does or will cause
manufacturing, using, licensing, maintaining or selling the VTI
Products to infringe, violate or misappropriate any Intellectual
Property Right of any third party.
5.2.5.
No Harmful Code or
Viruses . To
MathStar’s knowledge, the FPOAs to be delivered by MathStar
to VTI for use in the VTI Products will contain no matter which is
injurious to end-users or their property, “booby
traps,” “time bombs” or other programming that
may interfere with the normal functioning of the VTI Products or
the end-user’s equipment, programs or data. To
MathStar’s knowledge, such FPOAs will be free from computer
viruses.
5.2.6.
Performance
. MathStar represents and
warrants to VTI that the FPOAs will substantially perform in
accordance with the Specifications therefor.
5.2.7.
Indemnity . MathStar shall be responsible for,
indemnify and hold VTI harmless from, any damages, costs,
liabilities, and/or expenses (including, without limitation,
reasonable attorneys’ fees), arising out of the breach of the
foregoing Sections 5.2.1 through 5.2.6
(inclusive).
5.3.
Warranty Disclaimer
. EXCEPT AS SET FORTH IN
THIS AGREEMENT AND IN A