NETWORK-1 TECHNOLOGIES INC

Our operations and financial results are subject to various material risks and uncertainties, including those described below, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flow, and the trading price of our common stock. You should carefully consider the material risks and uncertainties described below in addition to the other information set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including, but not limited to, the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” The material risks described below are not the only risks we face. Additional risks that we do not know of or that we currently believe are immaterial may also impair our business operations. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow could be materially adversely affected, and the trading price of our common stock could decline significantly.

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Risks Related to Our Business

Our revenue is uncertain as it is dependent upon litigation outcomes involving our patents which we cannot predict.

Our revenue is dependent upon our litigation outcomes. We currently have pending litigation involving our Cox Patent Portfolio and Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio as well as our Remote Power Patent (see “Legal Proceedings” at pages 19 - 21 hereof). Patent litigation is inherently risky and uncertain and we cannot assure you that any of our current or future litigation will result in a favorable outcome for us. Accordingly, our revenue is uncertain.

If we are unable to protect our patents, our business would be negatively impacted.

We believe our patents are valid, enforceable and valuable. Despite this belief, third parties typically defend assertion of our patents by asserting defenses, among others, of non-infringement and invalidity. In addition, in the future certain of our patents may be subject to USPTO post-grantinter partes review proceedings (IPRs) which could result in all or a part of our patents being invalidated or the claims being limited. Unfavorable outcomes in our litigation or IPRs may reduce our ability to enforce our patents or have other adverse consequences. If we are unable to protect our patents or otherwise realize value for them, our business would be negatively impacted.

The outcome of our substantial investment in ILiAD is uncertain.

To date we have invested $7,000,000 in ILiAD, a privately held clinical stage biotechnology company, with focus on validating its proprietary intranasal vaccine (BPZE1) for the prevention of pertussis (whopping cough). Notwithstanding the aforementioned, ILiAD still faces material risks going forward. Accordingly, our investment in ILiAD remains subject to substantial risks.

We have been dependent upon our Remote Power Patent for a significant portion of our revenue and we may not be able to generate future revenue from our other patents.

Our Remote Power Patent has generated revenue for us in excess of $188,000,000 from May 2007 through December 31, 2023. Revenue from our Remote Power Patent constituted 100% of our revenue ($2,601,000) for 2023. We had no revenue in 2022 and revenue from our Remote Power Patent constituted 100% of our revenue for 2021 ($36,029,000), 2020 ($4,403,000) and 2019 ($3,037,000). As a result of the expiration of our Remote Power Patent on March 7, 2020, we no longer receive revenue from such patent for any period subsequent to the expiration date. Our failure to successfully monetize our other patents would have a negative impact on our business, financial condition and operating results.

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We may not achieve successful outcomes of our pending or future litigation which would have a negative impact on our business.

We are currently enforcing certain patents within our Cox Patent Portfolio against Google and YouTube, who are challenging these patents and we are also asserting our Remote Power Patent against Ubiquity Inc. and Honeywell International Inc. We have appealed to the Federal Circuit the District Court decision granting Facebook (Meta Platforms, Inc.), summary judgment of non-infringement and dismissing our case involving certain patents within our Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio (see “Legal Proceedings” at pages 19 - 20 hereof). In addition, our M2M/IoT Patent Portfolio and HFT Patent Portfolio are not currently being asserted. We may not have success in enforcing or defending our patents, which would have a negative impact on our business.

We may not be able to capitalize in the future on our strategy to acquire high quality patents with significant licensing opportunities or enter into strategic relationships with third parties to license or otherwise monetize their intellectual property.

Based upon the success we achieved from licensing our Remote Power Patent (twenty-eight (28) license agreements and in excess of $188,000,000 of revenue through December 31, 2023), the revenue we generated from our Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio ($47,150,000) and establishing a patent portfolio currently consisting of one hundred (100) U.S. patents and fifteen (15) foreign patents as well as our cash position, we believe we have the expertise and sufficient capital to compete in the patent monetization market and to enter strategic relationships with third parties to develop, commercialize, license or otherwise monetize their patents. Our strategy is to focus on acquiring high quality patent assets which management believes have the potential for significant licensing opportunities. However, we may not be able to acquire such additional high quality patents or, if acquired, we may not achieve material revenue or profit from such patents. Acquisitions of patent assets are competitive, time consuming, complex and costly to consummate. High quality patents with significant licensing opportunities are difficult to find and are often very competitive to acquire. In addition, such acquisitions present material risks. Even if we acquire such additional patent assets, we may not be able to achieve significant licensing revenue or even generate sufficient revenue related to such patent assets to offset the acquisition costs and the legal fees and expenses which may be incurred to enforce, license or otherwise monetize such patents. In addition, we may not be able to enter into strategic relationships with third parties to license or otherwise monetize their intellectual property and, even if we consummate such strategic relationships, we may not achieve material revenue or profit from such relationships.

The patent monetization cycle is long, costly and unpredictable.

There is generally a significant time lag between acquiring a patent portfolio and recognizing revenue from those patent assets. During this time lag, significant costs are likely to be incurred which may have a negative impact on our results of operations, cash flow and financial position. Furthermore, the outcome of our efforts to monetize our patents is uncertain and we may not be successful.

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Our quarterly and annual operating and financial results, including our revenue, are difficult to predict and are likely to fluctuate significantly in future periods.

Our quarterly and annual operating and financial results are difficult to predict and may fluctuate significantly from period to period. In 2023, we had revenue of $2,601,000 and incurred a net loss of $1,457,000. In 2022, we had no revenue and incurred a net loss of $2,326,000. We had revenue of $36,029,000 and net income of $14,281,000 for 2021, as compared to revenue of $4,403,000 and a net loss of $1,709,000 for 2020. Accordingly, our revenue, net income and results of operations may widely fluctuate as a result of a variety of factors that are outside our control including the timing and our ability to achieve successful outcomes from current and future patent litigation, our ability and timing in consummating future license agreements for our intellectual property assets, the timing and extent of payments received by us from licensees, whether we will achieve a successful outcome of our investment in ILiAD, and the timing and our ability to achieve revenue from future strategic relationships.

In the future we could be classified as a Personal Holding Company resulting in a 20% tax on our PHC Income that we do not distribute to our shareholders.

The personal holding company (“PHC”) rules under the Internal Revenue Code impose a 20% tax on a PHC’s undistributed personal holding company income (“UPHCI”), which means, in general, taxable income subject to certain adjustments and reduced by certain distributions to shareholders. For a corporation to be classified as a PHC, it must satisfy two tests: (1) that more than 50% in value of its outstanding shares must be owned directly or indirectly by five or fewer individuals at any time during the second half of the year (after applying constructive ownership rules to attribute stock owned by entities to their beneficial owners and among certain family members and other related parties) (the “Ownership Test”) and (2) at least 60% of its adjusted ordinary gross income for a taxable year consists of dividends, interest, royalties, annuities and rents (the “Income Test”). During the second half of 2023, based on available information concerning our shareholder ownership, we did not satisfy the Ownership Test. In addition, we did not satisfy the Income Test for 2023. Thus, we were not a PHC for 2023. However, we may be determined to be a PHC in the future. If we were determined to be a PHC in 2024 or any future year, we would be subject to an additional 20% tax on our UPHCI. In such event, we may issue a special cash dividend to our shareholders in an amount equal to the UPHCI rather than incur the 20% tax.

We are dependent upon our CEO and Chairman.

Our success is largely dependent upon the personal efforts of Corey M. Horowitz, our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of our Board of Directors. On March 22, 2022, we entered into a new four year employment agreement with Mr. Horowitz pursuant to which he continues to serve as our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The loss of the services of Mr. Horowitz would have a material adverse effect on our business and prospects. We do not maintain key-man life insurance on the life of Mr. Horowitz.

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Cash dividends may not be continued to be paid.

Our dividend policy consists of semi-annual cash dividends of $0.05 per share ($0.10 per share annually) which have been paid in March and September of each year. We have paid such semi-annual dividends since our dividend policy was enacted in December 2016. At this time, we anticipate continuing to pay dividends consistent with our policy. However, our dividend policy undergoes a periodic review by our Board of Directors and is subject to change at any time depending upon our earnings, financial requirements and other factors existing at the time. We may not be in a position to continue to pay dividends in the future.

Legislation, regulations, court rulings and actions by the USPTO have materially increased the risk and cost of enforcement of patents and may continue to do so in the future.

Legislation, regulations, court rulings and actions by the USPTO have materially increased the risk and cost of enforcing patents. U.S. patent laws were amended by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, referred to as the America Invents Act, which became effective on March 16, 2013. The America Invents Act included a number of significant changes to U.S. patent law. In general, it addressed issues surrounding the enforceability of patents and the increase in patent litigation by, among other things, established new procedures for patent litigation and new administrative post-grant review procedures to challenge the patentability of issued patents outside of litigation, includingInter PartesReview (IPR) proceedings, which provide third parties a timely, cost effective alternative to district court litigation to challenge the validity of an issued patent. In addition, the America Invents Act changed the way that parties may be joined in patent infringement actions, and increased the likelihood that such actions will need to be brought against individual parties allegedly infringing by their respective individual actions or activities. The America Invents Act and its implementation also increased the uncertainties and costs surrounding the enforcement of patent rights, which have made it more difficult to successfully prosecute our patents.

The increasing development of artificial intelligence could materially impact our business.

Our patents are central to our business strategy of licensing our intellectual property rights or enforcing such rights against those that we believe are infringing. However, rapid advancements in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have the potential to disrupt our current business model in various ways. AI technologies are increasingly capable of developing solutions that either design around existing patents or create alternative technologies that may not infringe on our intellectual property. As AI evolves, it may accelerate the pace at which our patents become obsolete or irrelevant, reducing our ability to monetize our patent portfolio effectively. Furthermore, the proliferation of AI may lead to the emergence of new market participants with innovative solutions that challenge our patents' validity or enforceability. Such challenges could result in lengthy legal battles or the invalidation of our patents, thereby impacting our potential future revenue.

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AI driven legal analytics tools can also empower potential infringers with sophisticated insights into the strengths and weaknesses of our patent claims, potentially reducing our leverage in litigation and licensing negotiations. The integration of AI technologies into the products and services of the companies we may assert claims against could also complicate infringement analyses and legal arguments, potentially affecting the outcomes of our enforcement actions. Investors are advised that our financial results could be adversely affected if we are unable to adapt to the rapid changes brought about by AI and ML technologies, and our ability to enforce our patent rights is consequently diminished.

Changes in patent law could adversely impact our business.

Patent laws may continue to change and may alter the protections afforded to owners of patent rights. Such changes may not be advantageous to us and may make it more difficult to obtain adequate patent protection to enforce our patents. Increased focus on the growing number of patent lawsuits, particularly by non-practicing entities (NPEs), may result in further legislative changes which increase the risk and costs of asserting patent litigation.

Our pending patent infringement litigations are time consuming and costly.

We have pending litigations involving our Cox Patent Portfolio, Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio (pending appeal to the Federal Circuit of dismissal of our Facebook (Meta Platforms, Inc.) litigation) and Remote Power Patent (see “Legal Proceedings” at pages 19 - 21 of this Annual Report). While we have contingent legal fee arrangements, or a contingency plus a fixed cash amount arrangement, with our patent litigation counsel in each litigation, we are responsible for all or a portion of the expenses which are anticipated to be material. In addition, the time and effort required of our management to effectively pursue these litigations is likely to be significant and it may adversely affect other business opportunities.

We face intense competition to acquire intellectual property and enter into strategic relationships.

With respect to our ability to acquire additional intellectual property or enter into strategic relationships with third parties to monetize their intellectual property, we face considerable competition from other companies, many of which have significantly greater financial and other resources than we have. We face a number of competitors in the patent licensing and enforcement business seeking to acquire intellectual property rights from third parties. Many of these competitors have significantly more financial and human resources than us.

We may also compete with strategic corporate buyers, litigation funding firms, venture capital firms and hedge funds for intellectual property acquisitions and licensing opportunities. Many of these competitors have greater financial resources and human resources than us.

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Our markets are subject to rapid technological change and our technologies face potential technology obsolescence.

The markets covered by our intellectual property are characterized by rapid technological changes, changing customer requirements, frequent new product introductions and enhancements, and evolving industry standards. The introduction of products embodying new technologies and the emergence of new industry standards may render our technologies obsolete or less marketable.

In addition, other companies may develop competing technologies that offer better or less expensive alternatives to the technologies covered by our intellectual property. Moreover, technological advances or entirely different approaches developed by other companies or adopted by various standards groups could render our patents obsolete, less marketable or unenforceable.

The burdens of being a public company may adversely affect us including our ability to pursue litigation.

As a public company, our management must devote substantial time, attention and financial resources to comply with U.S. securities laws. This may have a material adverse effect on management's ability to effectively and efficiently pursue its business. In addition, our disclosure obligations under U.S. securities laws require us to disclose information publicly that will be available to litigation opponents. We may, from time to time, be required to disclose information that may have a material adverse effect on our litigation strategies. This information may enable our litigation opponents to develop effective litigation strategies that are contrary to our interests.

General Risk Factors

Investors may have limited influence on stockholder decisions because ownership of our common stock is concentrated.

As of February 15**,** 2024, our executive officers and directors beneficially owned 32% of our outstanding common stock. As a result, these stockholders may be able to exercise substantial control over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions, such as a merger or other sale of our company or its assets. This concentration of ownership will limit other stockholders' ability to influence corporate matters and may have the effect of delaying or preventing a third party from acquiring control over us.

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Our common stock may be delisted from the NYSE American exchange if we fail to comply with continued listing standards.

Our common stock is currently traded on the NYSE American exchange under the symbol “NTIP”. If we fail to meet any of the continued listing standards of the NYSE American exchange, our common stock could be delisted. Such delisting could adversely affect the price and trading (including liquidity) of our common stock.

There are inherent uncertainties involved in estimates, judgments and assumptions used in the preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Any changes in estimates, judgments and assumptions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States involves making estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect reported amounts of assets (including intangible assets), liabilities and related reserves, revenues, expenses, and income. Estimates, judgments, and assumptions are inherently subject to change in the future, and any such changes could result in corresponding changes to the amounts of assets, liabilities, expenses, and income. Any such changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.

Provisions in our corporate charter, by-laws and in Delaware law could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, discourage a takeover and adversely affect existing stockholders.

Our certificate of incorporation authorizes the Board of Directors to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock. The preferred stock may be issued in one or more series, the terms of which may be determined at the time of issuance by our Board of Directors, without further action by stockholders, and may include, among other things, voting rights (including the right to vote as a series on particular matters), preferences as to dividends and liquidation, conversion and redemption rights, and sinking fund provisions, any of which could adversely affect holders of our common stock. Although there are currently no shares of preferred stock outstanding, future holders of preferred stock may have rights superior to our common stock and such rights could also be used to restrict our ability to merge with or sell our assets to third parties.

We are also subject to the “anti-takeover” provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which could prevent us from engaging in a “business combination” with a 15% or greater stockholder for a period of three years from the date such person acquired that status unless appropriate board or stockholder approvals are obtained.

In addition, our By-laws contain advance notice requirements for director nominations and for new business to be brought up at stockholder meetings. Stockholders wishing to submit director nominations or raise matters to a vote of stockholders must provide notice to us within specified date windows and in very specific forms in order to have that matter voted on at a stockholders meeting.

The aforementioned provisions could deter unsolicited takeovers or delay or prevent changes in our control or management, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares over the then current market price. These provisions may also limit the ability of stockholders to delay, deter or prevent a change of control, or approve transactions that they may deem to be in their best interests.

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Our stock price may be volatile.

The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile and could fluctuate widely in price in response to various factors, many of which are beyond our control, including, but not limited to, the following:

In addition, the securities markets have from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that are unrelated to the operating performance ofparticular companies. These market fluctuations may also have a material and adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.

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