Item
8.01 Other Events.
As
previously disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, on August 1, 2016, Fifty-Six Hope Road Music
Limited (“
56 Hope Road
”) and Hope Road Merchandising, LLC (“
HRM
”) filed a complaint against
us in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles, Central Division (Case No. BC628981). The complaint
(a) sought a declaratory judgment relating to the termination by 56 Hope Road and HRM of the licenses which owned to use certain
“
Marley Coffee
” trademarks, (b) sought damages for our alleged (i) breaches of the licenses, (ii) tortious
interference with 56 Hope Road’s and HRM’s economic relationships with licenses and prospective licensees, and (iii)
trademark infringement; (c) requested an accounting of our books and records; and (d) requested punitive and exemplary damages
in connection with allegations of fraud and misrepresentation.
On August 4, 2016, we filed (a) a notice of removal with the court,
requesting the case be removed from state court to the United States District Court for the Central District of California; (b)
a request for a temporary restraining order requesting the court to reinstate the short-term license until a final decision on
the pending lawsuit is determined; and (c) an answer to the complaint denying the allegations of 56 Hope Road and HRM, including
certain affirmative defenses, and pleading counterclaims against (i) 56 Hope Road for breach of contract and breach of implied
covenants of good faith and fair dealing, (ii) 56 Hope Road and HRM for intentional and negligent interference
with prospective economic advantage and intentional and negligent misrepresentation, and (iii) breach of fiduciary duty against
Rohan Marley, our former Chairman, and seeking that the court enter judgment in favor of us on all claims alleged by 56 Hope Road
and HRM and further seeking economic damages, punitive and exemplary damages, pre-and-post judgment interest and court costs from
56 Hope Road, HRM and Mr. Marley.
The
case was then removed to the United States District Court of California Western Division (Case No. 2:16-cv-05810-SVW-MRW). 56
Hope Road and HRM subsequently amended their Complaint to seek damages for alleged breach of contract in connection with the licenses,
declaratory relief in connection with the licenses (i.e., that such agreements had been effectively terminated by us), interference
with prospective economic advantage, trademark infringement, accountings, fraud, and indemnity. We denied the allegations, asserted
certain several affirmative defenses and filed counterclaims against Rohan Marley, our former director, for breach of fiduciary
duty and civil conspiracy, which claims 56 Hope Road, HRM and Mr. Marley moved to be dismissed.
Subsequently,
on February 17, 2017, we filed a motion, which has been approved by the court, to dismiss all of our claims against 56 Hope Road,
HRM and Rohan Marley. The decision was made after we lost a motion for summary judgement against 56 Hope Road, which represented
the most substantial legal claims for intellectual property and damages. Though we vigorously disagree with the court’s
decision on granting the motion for summary judgement, given our resources at this point in time, we believe that it is not in
our best business interests to continue contesting the remaining claims in the lawsuit. In our best estimation, the remaining
claims were not enough to provide a return for the amount of resources required to prosecute the claims to judgment. We believe
our limited resources are better spent to grow our business lines and not in pursuing the litigation.
On
February 22, 2017, the court granted the plaintiff’s summary judgment against us in connection with the plaintiff’s
termination of the short-term license for the Marley Coffee trademarks and that such termination was valid July 21, 2016, and
requires us to pay $371,324 in unpaid royalties.
Notwithstanding
the above, there are still some pending motions open relating to the case, of which we cannot predict the outcome. We are currently
in negotiations with 56 Hope Road regarding a settlement structure that will allow us to move forward, though no assurances can
be made on whether or not settlement terms can be reached, or if reached, whether they will be favorable to us.