XERI Xeriant Inc (QB)

Item 1A. Risk Factors

An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Before making an investment decision, you should give careful consideration to the following risk factors, in addition to the other information included in this prospectus, including our financial statements and related notes, before deciding whether to invest in shares of our common stock. The occurrence of any of the adverse developments described in the following risk factors could materially and adversely harm our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

RISKS RELATING TO OUR FINANCIAL POSITION AND CAPITAL NEEDS

We are in our development stage and have limited operating history.

We are a development-stage enterprise with a limited operating history with no sales, and operating losses since its inception. We will need to continue building our organization and team to competently evaluate and secure business opportunities for the development of sophisticated technologies. As an early-stage business we will likely encounter unforeseen costs, expenses, competition and other problems to which such businesses are often subject. Our likelihood of success will depend on the problems, uncertainties, unexpected costs, difficulties, complications and delays frequently encountered in developing and expanding a new business and the competitive environment in which we plan to operate. If we fail to successfully address these risks, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be materially harmed.

We anticipate operating losses to continue into the foreseeable future and substantial additional capital may be required that may not be available on acceptable terms.

Currently, there is no revenue being generated and the Company has significant operating losses that are expected to continue into the foreseeable future.  There is no assurance that the Company will be able to raise the capital that will be required to sustain operations and execute its business plan, which involves raising capital for acquisitions as well as developing and commercializing technologies.  We are especially focused on exploitation of its green advanced chemicals business, namely the Retacell^® technology, which may require setting up a manufacturing operation.  Additionally, the joint venture agreement with Movychem requires us to fund $25,000 per month through April 2024, and invest $2,000,000 in the joint venture, Ebenberg, LLC, within five business days of the closing of a financing in which Xeriant receives net proceeds of at least $3,000,000, to acquire 50% ownership of the Movychem patents and intellectual property.

We expect capital outlays and operating expenditures to increase as we expand our product offerings and marketing activities. Our business or operations may change in a manner that would consume available funds more rapidly than anticipated, and substantial additional funding may be required to maintain operations, fund expansion, develop new or enhanced products or services, acquire complementary products, businesses or technologies or otherwise respond to competitive pressures and opportunities. Furthermore, any equity or debt financings, if available at all, may be on terms which are not favorable to the Company (and therefore its shareholders) and, in the case of a new equity offering by the Company, existing shareholders will be diluted unless they purchase their proportionate share of the equity offering. If adequate capital is not available on economically viable terms and conditions, the Company’s business, operating results and financial condition may be materially adversely affected.

We will require additional capital to satisfy our commitments in the Ebenberg, LLC joint venture.

The joint venture with Movychem, s.r.o., requires Xeriant to fund $2,000,000 by September 30, 2022 or six months from the effective date of the joint venture agreement.  Xeriant has a 30-day automatic extension and can pay Movychem a $100,000 fee to extend the Joint Venture Agreement for another 30 days, assuming there are no defaults from Movychem.  If Xeriant does not extend the joint venture or otherwise make arrangements with Movychem to extend this provision, Xeriant would risk dissolution of the joint venture by Movychem, which could negatively affect the value of the Company.

We will need to meet the obligations required by the Auctus Fund, LLC Senior Secured Note and the Amendment to the Note.

The Senior Secured Note and its Amendment have a November 1, 2022 maturity.  One of the obligations of the Company is to uplist to a major exchange.  If Xeriant does not perform under the Note, the Company could experience substantial dilution if Auctus Fund, LLC converts the note balance owed into common shares.

Not obtaining sufficient financing will jeopardize our operations and the ability to execute our business plan.

In addition to the projected proceeds from this offering, we will continue to attempt to raise additional debt and/or equity financing to fund future operations and to provide additional working capital. However, there is no assurance that such financing will be consummated or obtained in sufficient amounts necessary to meet the Company’s needs. If cash resources are insufficient to satisfy the Company’s on-going cash requirements, the Company will be required to scale back or discontinue its product development programs or obtain funds if available (although there can be no certainties) through strategic alliances that may require the Company to relinquish rights to its technology, substantially reduce or discontinue its operations entirely. No assurance can be given that any future financing will be available or, if available, that it will be on terms that are satisfactory to the Company. Even if the Company is able to obtain additional financing, it may contain undue restrictions on our operations, in the case of debt financing, or cause substantial dilution for our stockholders, in the case of equity financing. As a result, we can provide no assurance as to whether or if we will ever be profitable. If we are not able to achieve and maintain profitability, the value of our company and our common stock could decline significantly.

Our recurring operating losses have raised substantial doubt regarding our ability to continue as a going concern.

Our recurring operating losses raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. This condition is expected to continue for the foreseeable future until we can produce sufficient revenues to cover our costs. as we seek to raise funding and invest in our operations as well as our sales and marketing efforts. Given this financial situation, no assurances can be given that we will be able to raise capital in the future on acceptable terms, or at all.  As a result, our independent registered public accounting firm included an explanatory paragraph in its report in our financial statements for the most recent fiscal years with respect to this uncertainty. The perception of our ability to continue as a going concern may make it more difficult for us to obtain financing for the continuation of our operations and could result in the loss of confidence by investors, partners and employees.

RISKS RELATING TO OUR BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND MANAGEMENT

There is no assurance that we or our affiliates will be able to accomplish the design and engineering needed to demonstrate that the technologies that are undertaken, will perform or operate as planned.

Because of unanticipated technological hurdles or the inability to assemble a qualified team to address these challenges, we may not be able to meet the technology development and performance objectives that are needed to be competitive in the various targeted markets.

The development timeline for the development of certain technologies could expand.

Due to unexpected challenges, the length of time to develop certain technologies, may become expanded, causing cost overruns and potentially demanding the infusion of large amounts of capital and other financing, which may not be available. Because of the long timeline, there is also uncertainty regarding the uniqueness or advantages of the technologies at the time they are introduced into the market.

Some technologies are still being developed and specific market applications have not been finalized.

Because some of the anticipated technologies will be in an early stage of development, there is no certainty as to which market applications will be prioritized and targeted as well as the associated timelines and costs involved when the Company reaches that point of determination after a technology has been proven. There is no assurance that the required selling price of our technologies will be competitive.

The Company will face significant industry competition.

Most of the targeted technologies will face significant competition from industry leaders or from well-funded entrants in the marketplace. We could face significant competition from companies who have developed or are developing alternative technologies that could render acquired technologies less competitive than planned. Many existing potential competitors are well-established, have or may have longer-standing relationships with customers and potential business partners, have or may have greater name recognition, and have or may have access to substantially greater financial, technical and marketing resources.

If we are unable to effectively manage our growth, our ability to implement our business strategy and our operating results will likely be materially adversely affected.

Implementation of our business plan will likely place a significant strain on our management who must develop administrative, operating and financial infrastructures. To manage our business and planned growth effectively, we must successfully develop, implement, maintain and enhance our financial and accounting systems and controls, identify, hire and integrate new personnel and manage expanded operations. Salary and benefits of additional personnel can be expected to place significant stress on our financial condition, and the availability of such qualified personnel may be limited. There is no assurance that we will be able to manage the operational requirements related to implementing our business strategy

We are dependent on key personnel.

Our success depends on our ability to identify, hire, train and retain highly qualified, specialized and experienced management and technical personnel. In addition, as we enter new areas of technology, we will need to hire additional highly skilled personnel. Competition for personnel with the required knowledge, skill and experience may be significant, and the Company may not be able to attract, assimilate or retain such personnel. The inability to attract and retain the necessary managerial and technical personnel could have a material adverse effect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Operations could be adversely affected by interruptions from suppliers of components that are beyond our control.

Our technology, product development and sales could be adversely affected by interruptions in the supply of necessary components which are sourced from a variety of domestic and international vendors, suppliers and distributors. We are also dependent upon third parties to timely deliver supplies that meet our specifications at competitive prices. Shortages or interruptions in the supply of these items, including raw materials and chemicals could adversely affect the availability, quality and cost of items we sell. If such shortages result in increased cost of our supplies, we and may not be able to pass along all of such increased costs to our customers. Such shortages or disruptions could be caused by transportation issues, inclement weather, natural disasters, increased demand, problems in production or distribution, restrictions on imports or exports, the inability of vendors to obtain credit, political instability in the countries in which suppliers and distributors are located, the financial instability of suppliers and distributors, suppliers’ or distributors’ failure to meet our standards, product quality issues, inflation, the price of gasoline, other factors relating to the suppliers and distributors and the countries in which they are located, safety regulations, warnings or advisories or the prospect of such pronouncements, the cancellation of supply or distribution agreements or an inability to renew such arrangements or to find replacements on commercially reasonable terms, or other conditions beyond our control. A shortage or interruption in the availability of certain chemicals, raw materials or supplies could increase costs and limit the availability of products critical to our operations, which in turn could lead to a significant    reduction in our revenue.

Changes in the economy could have a detrimental impact on the Company.

Changes in the general economic climate could have a detrimental impact on our revenue. It is possible that recessionary pressures and other economic factors (such as declining incomes, future potential rising interest rates, higher unemployment and tax increases) may adversely affect the Company. A worsening economy such as we are currently experiencing due to the Covid-19 pandemic may have a material adverse effect on our financial results and on your investment.

Our business, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely impacted by the recent COVID-19 or other significant public health conditions.

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the U.S. and global economy over the past two years, resulting in significant travel restrictions, including mandated closures and orders to “shelter-in-place,” and created significant disruption of supply chains and the financial markets. The extent to which our operations may be impacted by the COVID-19 or other public health conditions cannot be accurately predicted, including actions by government authorities to contain an outbreak or treat its impact. We may experience materially adverse impacts to our business due to a number of potential economic conditions. The impact of significant public health conditions may also exacerbate other risks discussed in these risk factors, any of which could have a material effect on us.

Our success is dependent upon our keeping pace with the advances in technology.

We are positioned as a technology company. Some of our initiatives will be dependent on the technology of other companies. Systems and components may be impacted by rapid changes in technology, including the emergence of new industry standards and practices that could require the Company to make modifications to its platform. Our performance will depend, in part, on our ability to continue to enhance our existing technology or develop new technology that addresses the increasingly sophisticated and varied needs of the market, license leading technologies and respond to technological advances and emerging industry standards and practices on a timely and cost-effective basis. The development of our proprietary technology entails significant technical as well as business risks. We may be unsuccessful in using new technologies effectively or adapting its systems or other proprietary technology to the requirements of emerging industry standards. If we are unable to adapt to these changes and demands, our results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

We could face liability or disruption from security breaches.

Our technology and development process involves the storage of critical, secure and proprietary information. Our communications and computer infrastructure is potentially vulnerable to both physical and electronic invasions, such as cyberattacks and security breaches. We may be required to expend significant capital and other resources to defend against and lessen or correct the adverse effects of these invasions. Any such invasion could result in significant damage to the Company. A person who is able to circumvent the security measures employed by the Company could capture proprietary information; alter or destroy the information of the Company; or cause interruptions of the operations of the Company.

Misappropriation of our intellectual property and proprietary rights could impair our competitive position.

Our success of will depend to some extent upon our proprietary patented technology. The legal protections available to the Company can afford only limited protection, and these means of protecting the intellectual property of the Company may be inadequate. The Company relies and will continue to rely on patent, trademark, trade secret and copyright laws, confidentiality agreements, employment agreements, work for hire agreements, and technical measures to protect its intellectual property. The Company cannot assure that the steps taken by it will prevent misappropriation of its technology or that the agreements entered into for that purpose will be enforceable. Effective trademark, service mark, copyright and trade secret protection may not be available in every jurisdiction in which the Company’s products and services are made available online. The intellectual property of the Company may be subject to even greater risk in foreign jurisdictions, as the laws of many countries do not protect intellectual property to the same extent as the laws of the United States. As part of its confidentiality procedures, the Company generally will enter into agreements with its employees and consultants and limit access to its trade secrets and technology. The Company cannot assure or assume, however, that former employees will not seek to start or enhance other competing products or services to the detriment of the Company, its business, results of operations and financial condition. Nevertheless, management believes that the technical and creative skills of its personnel, continued development of its proprietary systems and technology, as well as brand name recognition and development are more essential in establishing and maintaining a competitive market position.

Despite efforts to protect its proprietary rights, unauthorized persons may attempt to copy aspects of its products or services or to obtain and use information that the Company regards as proprietary. Policing unauthorized use of its proprietary rights is difficult and requires constant attention. The Company may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and police its intellectual property rights. The Company may not be able to detect infringement and may lose its competitive position in the market before it is able to ascertain any such infringement. In addition, competitors may design around the Company’s proprietary technology or develop competing technologies.

Intellectual property litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce the intellectual property rights of the Company, to protect its trade secrets, to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others or to defend against claims of infringement by the Company. Other companies, including competitors, may obtain patents or other proprietary rights that would prevent, limit or interfere with the ability of the Company to make, use or sell its products and services. Any such litigation by or against the Company, whether the claims are valid or not, could result in the Company incurring substantial costs and diversion of resources, including the attention of senior management. If the Company is unsuccessful in such legal proceedings, the Company could be subjected to significant damages; be required to license technology that is critical to the operations of the Company, if a license is available at a cost which the Company can pay; or be required to develop replacement technologies at substantial cost to the Company in money and time. Any of these results could materially and adversely affect the business, results of operations and financial condition of the Company.

The Company has broad discretion in the use of capital.

The Company has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of capital. There can be no assurance that determinations made by the Company relating to the specific allocation of capital will permit the Company to achieve its business objectives.

Many of the regulations involving Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), including VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) aircraft and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are still being established

The USDOT, FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and other agencies at the federal, state and local levels are beginning to address some of the numerous certification, regulatory and legal challenges associated with AAM, including VTOL aircraft, UAV and unmanned aerial systems (UAS). A comprehensive set of standards and enforcement procedures for these new transport systems will need to be developed. New aircraft and their operators must undergo rigorous testing and certification, which may require new or modified airworthiness certification standards. These aircraft will also need to comply with existing regulations or be the subject of new regulations to cover their activities. Current regulations govern operating BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight), passenger transport, operating over people and public streets, privacy, transporting commercial cargo across state lines and instrument-based flight. The integration of UAS and UAM into the National Airspace System and air traffic management is a critical factor, requiring a remote identification process for these aircraft. The FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Pilot Program (IPP) will provide certification necessary to operate UAVs for certain applications. It is uncertain how new or changed laws and regulations will affect the introduction of new aerial platforms into the marketplace. The time and costs involved in obtaining these certifications and regulatory compliance may adversely impact the development process.

We do not intend to pay cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.

We currently anticipate that we will retain all future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business and do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Any payment of cash dividends will depend upon our financial condition, capital requirements, earnings and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors.

Our stock may be subject to certain risks associated with low-priced stocks.

Our common stock is expected to continue to trade on the over-the-counter (OTC) market in the near future. The Company is a development stage company with no present revenues, so the trading price of our common stock may remain below $5.00. So long as our common stock trades below $5.00 per share, the stock will be treated as a “penny stock.” Broker-dealers who sell penny stocks to their established customers must deliver a disclosure schedule explaining the penny stock market and the risks associated with investing in penny stocks prior to any transaction. Additional restrictions apply to broker-dealers who sell penny stocks to persons other than established customers and accredited investors (generally defined as an investor with a net worth in excess of $1,000,000 or annual income exceeding $200,000 individually or $300,000 together with a spouse). For these types of transactions, the broker-dealer must make a special suitability determination for the purchaser and have received the purchaser’s written consent to the transaction prior to the sale. The broker-dealer also must disclose the commissions payable to the broker-dealer, current bid and offer quotations for the penny stock and, if the broker-dealer is the sole market-maker, the broker-dealer must disclose this fact and the broker-dealer’s presumed control over the market. Such information must be provided by the broker-dealer to the customer orally or in writing before or with the written confirmation of trade sent to the customer. Monthly statements must be sent disclosing recent price information for the penny stock held in the account and information on the limited market in penny stocks. Broker-dealers may be discouraged from dealing with our common stock if they have to bear these additional burdens, which could severely limit the market liquidity of the common stock and the ability of our stockholders to sell their shares.  

Litigation may adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

From time to time in the normal course of our business operations, we may become subject to litigation that may result in liability material to our financial statements as a whole or may negatively affect our operating results if changes to our business operations are required. The cost to defend such litigation may be significant and may require a diversion of our resources. There also may be adverse publicity associated with litigation that could negatively affect customer perception of our business, regardless of whether the allegations are valid or whether we are ultimately found liable. Insurance may not be available at all or in sufficient amounts to cover any liabilities with respect to these or other matters. A judgment or other liability in excess of our insurance coverage for any claims could adversely affect our business and the results of our operations.

Our insurance coverage may be inadequate to cover all significant risk exposures.

While we intend to maintain insurance for certain risks, the amount of our insurance coverage may not be adequate to cover all claims or liabilities, and we may be forced to bear substantial costs resulting from risks and uncertainties of our business. It is also not possible to obtain insurance to protect against all operational risks and liabilities. The failure to obtain adequate insurance coverage on terms favorable to us, or at all, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We do not have any business interruption insurance. Any business disruption could result in substantial costs and diversion from the Company executing its business plan.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR DEPENDENCE ON THIRD PARTIES

We may fail to retain or recruit necessary personnel, and we may be unable to secure the services of consultants.

As of the date of this filing, most of our management team of five people is currently paid as consultants or independent contractors. Keith Duffy, CEO, has an Employment Agreement, but is also paid as a contractor through his entity, Ancient Investments, LLC.  We also have engaged and plan to continue to engage outside consultants called Senior Advisors to advise us and have been and will be required to retain additional consultants and employees. Our future performance will depend in part on our ability to successfully integrate newly hired officers into our management team and our ability to develop an effective working relationship among senior management.

Certain of our directors, officers, advisors, and consultants serve as officers, directors, advisors, or consultants of other companies that might be developing competitive products. Other than corporate opportunities, none of our directors are obligated under any agreement or understanding with us to make any additional products or technologies available to us. Similarly, we can give no assurances, and we do not expect, and stockholders should not expect, that any product or technology identified by any of our directors or affiliates in the future would be made available to us other than corporate opportunities. We can give no assurances that any such other companies will not have interests that are in conflict with its interests.

Losing key personnel or failing to recruit necessary additional personnel would impede our ability to attain our development objectives. There is intense competition for qualified personnel in the technology field, and we may not be able to attract and retain the qualified personnel we need to develop our business.

We rely on independent organizations, advisors and consultants to perform certain services for us, including handling substantially all aspects of regulatory approval, manufacturing, marketing, and sales. We expect that this will continue to be the case. Such services may not always be available to us on a timely basis.

We may be subject to claims that our consultants or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of their other clients or former employers to us.

As is common in the technology industry, we engage the services of consultants to assist in the development of our products. Many of these consultants were previously employed at or may have previously been or are currently providing consulting services to, other technology companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. We may become subject to claims that we or our consultants have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of our former employers or their former or current customers. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

We rely on patents and patent applications and various regulatory exclusivities to protect some of our product candidates, and our ability to compete may be limited or eliminated if we are not able to protect our products.

The patent positions of companies such as ours are uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions. We may incur significant expenses in protecting our intellectual property and defending or assessing claims with respect to intellectual property owned by others. Any patent or other infringement litigation by or against us could cause us to incur significant expenses and divert the attention of our management.

Others may file patent applications or obtain patents on similar technologies that compete with our products or those of our joint ventures. We cannot predict how broad the claims in any such patents or applications will be and whether they will be allowed. Once claims have been issued, we cannot predict how they will be construed or enforced. We and/or our joint ventures may infringe upon intellectual property rights of others without being aware of it. If another party claims we are infringing their technology, we could have to defend an expensive and time-consuming lawsuit, pay a large sum if we are found to be infringing, or be prohibited from selling or licensing our products unless we obtain a license or redesign our products, which may not be possible.

We and/or our joint ventures also rely on trade secrets and proprietary know-how to develop and maintain our or our joint venture’s competitive position. Some of our current or former employees, consultants, scientific advisors, contractors, current or prospective corporate collaborators, may unintentionally or willfully disclose our confidential information to competitors or use our proprietary technology for their own benefits. Furthermore, enforcing a claim alleging the infringement of our trade secrets would be expensive and difficult to prove, making the outcome uncertain. Our competitors may also independently develop similar knowledge, methods, and know-how or gain access to our proprietary information through some other means.

We may incur substantial costs as a result of litigation or other proceedings relating to patent and other intellectual property rights, as well as costs associated with lawsuits.

If any other person filed patent applications, or is issued patents, claiming technology also claimed by us, we may be required to participate in interference or derivation proceedings in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to determine priority and/or ownership of the invention. Our licensors or we may also need to participate in interference proceedings involving issued patents and pending applications of another entity.

The intellectual property environment in our industry is particularly complex, constantly evolving and highly fragmented. Other companies and institutions have issued patents and have filed or will file patent applications that may issue into patents that cover or attempt to cover products, processes or technologies similar to us. We have not conducted freedom-to-use patent searches on all aspects of our product candidates or potential product candidates and may be unaware of relevant patents and patent applications of third parties. In addition, the freedom-to-use patent searches that have been conducted may not have identified all relevant issued patents or pending patent applications. We cannot provide assurance that our proposed products in this area will not ultimately be held to infringe one or more valid claims owned by third parties which may exist or come to exist in the future or that in such case we will be able to obtain a license from such parties on acceptable terms.

We cannot guarantee that our technologies will not conflict with the rights of others. In some foreign jurisdictions, we could become involved in opposition proceedings, either by opposing the validity of others’ foreign patents or by persons opposing the validity of our foreign patents.

We may also face frivolous litigation or lawsuits from various competitors or from litigious securities attorneys. The cost of any litigation or other proceeding relating to these areas, even if deemed frivolous or resolved in our favor, could be substantial and could distract management from its business. Uncertainties resulting from initiation and continuation of any litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue our operations.

If we infringe the rights of others, we could be prevented from selling products or forced to pay damages.

If our products, methods, processes, and other technologies are found to infringe the rights of other parties, we could be required to pay damages, or may be required to cease using the technology or to license rights from the prevailing party. Any prevailing party may be unwilling to offer us a license on commercially acceptable terms.

We cannot be certain we will be able to obtain patent protection to protect our product candidates and technology.

We cannot be certain that all patents applied for will be issued. If a third party has also filed a patent application relating to an invention claimed by us or one or more of our licensors, we may be required to participate in an interference or derivation proceeding declared or instituted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, which could result in substantial uncertainties and cost for us, even if the eventual outcome is favorable to us. The degree of future patent protection for our product candidates and technology is uncertain. For example:

If we fail to comply with our obligations in the agreements under which we or our joint venture partners may license intellectual property rights from third parties or otherwise experience disruptions to our business relationships with our licensors, we could lose rights that are important to our business.

We have entered and may be required to enter into agreements that are important to our business, including our joint venture agreements with XTI Aircraft Company and Movychem s.r.o. These agreements have imposed various diligence, milestone payment, royalty and other obligations on us. For example, if we enter into exclusive agreements with various third parties (for example, universities and research institutions), we may be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to engage in various development and commercialization activities with respect to licensed products and may need to satisfy specified milestones and royalty payment obligations. If we fail to comply with any obligations under our agreements with any of these licensors, we may be subject to termination of the license agreements in whole or in part; increased financial obligations to our licensors or loss of exclusivity in a particular field or territory, in which case our ability to develop or commercialize products covered by the license agreements will be impaired.

In addition, disputes may arise regarding intellectual property subject to a license agreement, including:

If disputes over the intellectual property that we have licensed prevent or impair our ability to maintain our current licensing arrangements on acceptable terms, we may be unable to successfully develop and commercialize the affected product candidates.

We may need to obtain licenses from third parties to advance our research to allow commercialization of our product candidates. We may fail to obtain any of these licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, if at all. In that event, we would be unable to further develop and commercialize one or more of our product candidates, which could harm our business significantly.

We may infringe the intellectual property rights of others, which may prevent or delay our product development efforts and stop us from commercializing or increase the costs of commercializing our product candidates.

Our success will depend in part on our ability to operate without infringing the proprietary rights of third parties. We cannot guarantee that our products or product candidates, or manufacture or use of our products or product candidates, will not infringe third-party patents. Furthermore, a third party may claim that we are using inventions covered by the third party’s patent rights and may go to court to stop us from engaging in our normal operations and activities, including making or selling our product candidates or products. These lawsuits are costly and could affect our results of operations and divert the attention of managerial and scientific personnel. Some of these third parties may be better capitalized and have more resources than us. There is a risk that a court would decide that we are infringing the third party’s patents and would order us to stop the activities covered by the patents. In that event, we may not have a viable way to get around the patent and may need to halt commercialization of the relevant product candidate(s) or product(s). In addition, there is a risk that a court will order us to pay the other party damages for having violated the other party’s patents. In addition, we may be obligated to indemnify our licensors and collaborators against certain intellectual property infringement claims brought by third parties, which could require us to expend additional resources. The aerospace and technology industries have produced a proliferation of patents, and it is not always clear to industry participants, including us, which patents cover various types of products or methods. The coverage of patents is subject to interpretation by the courts, and the interpretation is not always uniform.

If we are sued for patent infringement, we would need to demonstrate that our products or methods either do not infringe the claims of the relevant patent or that the patent claims are invalid or unenforceable, and we may not be able to do this. Proving invalidity is difficult. For example, in the United States, proving invalidity requires a showing of clear and convincing evidence to overcome the presumption of validity enjoyed by issued patents. Even if we are successful in these proceedings, we may incur substantial costs and divert management’s time and attention in pursuing these proceedings, which could have a material adverse effect on us. If we are unable to avoid infringing the patent rights of others, we may be required to seek a license, which may not be available, and then we will have to defend an infringement action or challenge the validity of the patent in court. Patent litigation is costly and time consuming. We may not have sufficient resources to bring these actions to a successful conclusion. In addition, if we do not obtain a license, fail to develop or obtain non-infringing technology, fail to defend an infringement action successfully or have infringed patents declared invalid or unenforceable, we may incur substantial monetary damages, encounter significant delays in bringing our product candidates to market and be precluded from manufacturing or selling our product candidates.

We cannot be certain that others have not filed patent applications for technology covered by our pending applications, or that we were the first to invent the technology, because:

Our competitors may have filed, and may in the future file, patent applications covering technology similar to ours. Any such patent applications may have priority over our patent applications, which could further require us to obtain rights to issued patents covering such technologies. If another party has filed US patent applications on inventions similar to ours that claims priority to any applications filed prior to the priority dates of our applications, we may have to participate in an interference proceeding declared or a derivation proceed instituted by the USPTO to determine priority of invention in the United States. The costs of these proceedings could be substantial, and it is possible that such efforts would be unsuccessful if, unbeknownst to us, the other party had independently arrived at the same or similar inventions prior to our own inventions, resulting in a loss of our U.S. patent position with respect to such inventions. Other countries have similar laws that permit secrecy of patent applications, and thus the third party’s patent or patent application may be entitled to priority over our applications in such jurisdictions.

Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of complex patent litigation more effectively than we can because they have substantially greater resources. In addition, any uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our operations.

We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets.

As is common in the aerospace and technology industries, we may employ individuals who were previously employed at aerospace and technology companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees, consultants and independent contractors do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that we or our employees, consultants or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former employers. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we could lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel, which could adversely impact our business. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.

Our intellectual property may not be sufficient to protect our products from competition, which may negatively affect our business as well as limit our partnership or acquisition appeal.

We may be subject to competition despite the existence of intellectual property we license, or we or our joint ventures own. We can give no assurances that our intellectual property will be sufficient to prevent third parties from designing around the patents we own or license and developing and commercializing competitive products. The existence of competitive products that avoid our intellectual property could materially adversely affect our operating results and financial condition. Furthermore, limitations, or perceived limitations, in our intellectual property may limit the interest of third parties to partner, collaborate or otherwise transact with us, if third parties perceive a higher than acceptable risk to commercialization of our products or future products.

Our approach involves filing patent applications covering new methods of use and/or new formulations of previously known, studied and/or marketed devices. Although the protection afforded by patents issued from our patent applications may be significant, when looking at our patents’ ability to block competition, the protection offered by our patents may be, to some extent, more limited than the protection provided by patents claiming the composition of matter previously unknown. If a competitor were able to successfully design around any method of use and formulation patents we may have in the future, our business and competitive advantage could be significantly affected.

We may elect to sue a third party, or otherwise make a claim, alleging infringement or other violation of patents, trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, trade secrets, domain names or other intellectual property rights that we either own or license. If we do not prevail in enforcing our intellectual property rights in this type of litigation, we may be subject to:

A third party may also challenge the validity, enforceability or scope of the intellectual property rights that we license or own; and, the result of these challenges may narrow the claim scope of or invalidate patents that are integral to our product candidates in the future. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully defend patents we own or licensed in an action against third parties due to the unpredictability of litigation and the high costs associated with intellectual property litigation, amongst other factors.

The laws of some jurisdictions do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws or rules and regulations in the United States and Europe, and many companies have encountered significant difficulties in protecting and defending such rights in such jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents, trade secrets and other intellectual property protection, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights generally. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in other jurisdictions, whether or not successful, could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated, rendered unenforceable or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing, and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate, and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license. Furthermore, while we intend to protect our intellectual property rights in our expected significant markets, we cannot ensure that we will be able to initiate or maintain similar efforts in all jurisdictions in which we may wish to market our products or product candidates. Accordingly, our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights in such countries may be inadequate, which may have an adverse effect on our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates in all of our expected significant foreign markets. If we or our licensors encounter difficulties in protecting, or are otherwise precluded from effectively protecting, the intellectual property rights important for our business in such jurisdictions, the value of these rights may be diminished, and we may face additional competition from others in those jurisdictions.

Changes to patent law, for example the Leahy-Smith America Invests Act, AIA or Leahy-Smith Act, of 2011 and the Patent Reform Act of 2009 and other future article of legislation in the U.S., may substantially change the regulations and procedures surrounding patent applications, issuance of patents, prosecution of patents, challenges to patent validity, and patent enforcement. We can give no assurances that our patents and those of our licensor(s) can be defended or will protect us against future intellectual property challenges, particularly as they pertain to changes in patent law and future patent law interpretations.

In addition, enforcing and maintaining our intellectual property protection depends on compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment and other requirements imposed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and courts, and foreign government patent agencies and courts, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for non-compliance with these requirements.

If we are not able to protect and control our unpatented trade secrets, know-how and other technological innovation, we may suffer competitive harm.

We also rely on proprietary trade secrets and unpatented know-how to protect our research and development activities, particularly when we do not believe that patent protection is appropriate or available. However, trade secrets are difficult to protect. We will attempt to protect our trade secrets and unpatented know-how by requiring our employees, consultants, collaborators, and advisors to execute a confidentiality and non-use agreement. We cannot guarantee that these agreements will provide meaningful protection, that these agreements will not be breached, that we will have an adequate remedy for any such breach, or that our trade secrets will not otherwise become known or independently developed by a third party. Our trade secrets, and those of our present or future collaborators that we utilize by agreement, may become known or may be independently discovered by others, which could adversely affect the competitive position of our product candidates.

We may incur substantial costs enforcing our patents, defending against third-party patents, invalidating third-party patents or licensing third-party intellectual property, as a result of litigation or other proceedings relating to patent and other intellectual property rights.

We may be unaware of or unfamiliar with prior art and/or interpretations of prior art that could potentially impact the validity or scope of our patents, pending patent applications, or patent applications that we will file. We may have elected, or elect now or in the future, not to maintain or pursue intellectual property rights that, at some point in time, may be considered relevant to or enforceable against a competitor.

We take efforts and enter into agreements with employees, consultants, collaborators, and advisors to confirm ownership and chain of title in intellectual property rights. However, an inventorship or ownership dispute could arise that may permit one or more third parties to practice or enforce our intellectual property rights, including possible efforts to enforce rights against us.

We may not have rights under some patents or patent applications that may cover technologies that we use in our research, product candidates and particular uses thereof that we seek to develop and commercialize, as well as synthesis of our product candidates. Third parties may own or control these patents and patent applications in the United States and elsewhere. These third parties could bring claims against us or our collaborators that would cause us to incur substantial expenses and, if successful against us, could cause us to pay substantial damages. Further, if a patent infringement suit were brought against us or our collaborators, we or they could be forced to stop or delay research, development, manufacturing or sales of the product or product candidate that is the subject of the suit. We or our collaborators therefore may choose to seek, or be required to seek, a license from the third-party and would most likely be required to pay license fees or royalties or both. These licenses may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all. Even if we or our collaborators were able to obtain a license, the rights may be nonexclusive, which would give our competitors access to the same intellectual property. Ultimately, we could be prevented from commercializing a product or product candidate or forced to cease some aspect of our business operations, as a result of patent infringement claims, which could harm our business.

There has been substantial litigation and other legal proceedings regarding patent and other intellectual property rights in the broad technology industry. Although we are not currently a party to any patent litigation or any other adversarial proceeding, including any interference or derivation proceeding declared or instituted before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, regarding intellectual property rights with respect to our products, product candidates and technology, it is possible that we may become so in the future. We are not currently aware of any actual or potential third-party infringement claim involving our product candidates. The cost to us of any patent litigation or other proceeding, even if resolved in our favor, could be substantial. The outcome of patent litigation is subject to uncertainties that cannot be adequately quantified in advance, including the demeanor and credibility of witnesses and the identity of the adverse party, especially in the aerospace and technology related patent cases that may turn on the testimony of experts as to technical facts upon which experts may reasonably disagree. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their substantially greater financial resources. If a patent or other proceeding is resolved against us, we may be enjoined from researching, developing, manufacturing or commercializing our products or product candidates without a license from the other party and we may be held liable for significant damages. We may not be able to obtain any required license on commercially acceptable terms or at all.

Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could harm our ability to compete in the marketplace. Patent litigation and other proceedings may also absorb significant management time.

If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, our competitors may develop and market products with similar features that may reduce demand for our potential products.

The following factors are important to our success:

We will be able to protect our intellectual property rights in patents and trade secrets from unauthorized use by third parties only to the extent that such intellectual property rights are covered by valid and enforceable patents or are effectively maintained as trade secrets.

Because issues of patentability involve complex legal and factual questions, the issuance, scope and enforceability of patents cannot be predicted with certainty. Patents may be challenged, invalidated, found unenforceable, or circumvented. United States patents and patent applications may be subject to interference and derivation proceedings, United States patents may also be subject to post grant proceedings, including re-examination, derivation, Inter Partes Review and Post Grant Review, in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and foreign patents may be subject to opposition or comparable proceedings in corresponding foreign patent offices, which could result in either loss of the patent or denial of the patent application or loss or reduction in the scope of one or more of the claims of the patent or patent application. In addition, such interference, derivation, post grant and opposition proceedings may be costly. Thus, any patents that we own or license from others may not provide any protection against competitors. Furthermore, an adverse decision in an interference or derivation proceeding can result in a third-party receiving the patent rights sought by us, which in turn could affect our ability to market a potential product to which that patent filing was directed. Our pending patent applications, those that we may file in the future, or those that we may license from third parties may not result in patents being issued. If issued, they may not provide us with proprietary protection or competitive advantages against competitors with similar technology. Furthermore, others may independently develop similar technologies or duplicate any technology that we have developed. Many countries, including certain countries in Europe, have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to third parties. For example, compulsory licenses may be required in cases where the patent owner has failed to “work” the invention in that country, or the third-party has patented improvements. In addition, many countries limit the enforceability of patents against government agencies or government contractors. In these countries, the patent owner may have limited remedies, which could materially diminish the value of our patents. Moreover, the legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection, which makes it difficult to stop infringement.

In addition, our ability to enforce our patent rights depends on our ability to detect infringement. It is difficult to detect infringers who do not advertise or otherwise promote the compositions that are used in their products. Any litigation to enforce or defend our patent rights, even if we prevail, could be costly and time-consuming and would divert the attention of management and key personnel from business operations.

We will also rely on trade secrets, know-how and technology, which are not protected by patents, to maintain our competitive position. We will seek to protect this information by entering into confidentiality agreements with parties that have access to it, such as strategic partners, collaborators, employees, contractors and consultants. Any of these parties may breach these agreements and disclose our confidential information or our competitors might learn of the information in some other way. If any trade secret, know-how or other technology not protected by a patent were disclosed to, or independently developed by, a competitor, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

RISKS RELATED TO OWNING OUR COMMON STOCK

If we are unable to establish appropriate internal financial reporting controls and procedures, it could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, result in the restatement of our financial statements, harm our operating results, subject us to regulatory scrutiny and sanction, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and have a negative effect on the market price for shares of our Common Stock.

Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and to effectively prevent fraud. We maintain a system of internal control over financial reporting, which is defined as a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, or persons performing similar functions, and effected by our Board of Directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

As a public company, we have significant additional requirements for enhanced financial reporting and internal controls. We are required to document and test our internal control procedures in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. The process of designing and implementing effective internal controls is a continuous effort that requires us to anticipate and react to changes in our business and the economic and regulatory environments and to expend significant resources to maintain a system of internal controls that is adequate to satisfy our reporting obligations as a public company.

We cannot assure you that we will, in the future, identify areas requiring improvement in our internal control over financial reporting. We cannot assure you that the measures we will take to remediate any areas in need of improvement will be successful or that we will implement and maintain adequate controls over our financial processes and reporting in the future as we continue our growth. If we are unable to establish appropriate internal financial reporting controls and procedures, it could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, result in the restatement of our financial statements, harm our operating results, subject us to regulatory scrutiny and sanction, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and have a negative effect on the market price for shares of our Common Stock.

The market price of our Common Stock may be volatile.

The market price of our Common Stock may be highly volatile. Some of the factors that may materially affect the market price of our Common Stock are beyond our control, such as changes in financial estimates by industry and securities analysts, conditions or trends in the industry in which we operate or sales of our Common Stock, as well as other factors, such as investor perceptions of the prospects for the advanced materials and technology industry. These factors may materially adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock, regardless of our performance. In addition, public stock markets have experienced extreme price and trading volume volatility. This volatility has significantly affected the market prices of securities of many companies for reasons frequently unrelated to the operating performance of the specific companies. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock.

Our directors and executive officers can exert significant control over our business and affairs and have actual or potential interests that may depart from those of investors in the subsequent financings.

The interests of our directors and officers may differ from the interests of our other stockholders, including purchasers of our securities, in future financings. As a result, based on their board seats and offices, such persons will have significant influence over and control all corporate actions requiring stockholder approval, irrespective of how the Company’s other stockholders, may vote, including the following actions:

This concentration of ownership by itself may have the effect of impeding a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business consolidation, or discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer for the Common Stock which in turn could reduce our stock price or prevent our stockholders from realizing a premium over our stock price.

We may issue more shares in a future financing or pursuant to existing agreements which will result in substantial dilution.

Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation authorizes the issuance of a maximum of 5,000,000,000 shares of Common Stock and a maximum of 100,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock. Any future merger or acquisition effected by us would result in the issuance of additional securities without stockholder approval and the substantial dilution in the percentage of our Common Stock held by our then existing stockholders. Moreover, the Common Stock issued in any such merger or acquisition transaction may be valued on an arbitrary or non-arm’s-length basis by our management, resulting in an additional reduction in the percentage of Common Stock held by our then existing stockholders. Additionally, we expect to seek additional financing in order to provide working capital to the operating business. Our Board of Directors has the power to issue any or all of such authorized but unissued shares without stockholder approval. To the extent that additional shares of Common Stock or Preferred Stock are issued in connection with and following a business combination or otherwise, dilution to the interests of our stockholders will occur and the rights of the holders of Common Stock might be materially and adversely affected.

Our Board of Directors is authorized to issue Preferred Stock without obtaining shareholder approval.

Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 100,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock with designations, rights and preferences determined from time to time by the Board of Directors. Accordingly, our Board of Directors is empowered, without stockholder approval, to issue Preferred Stock with dividend, liquidation, conversion, voting, or other rights which could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the holders of the Common Stock. In the event of issuance, the Preferred Stock could be utilized, under certain circumstances, as a method of discouraging, delaying or preventing a change in control of the Company. Although we have no present intention to issue any shares of Preferred Stock, there can be no assurance that the Company will not do so in the future. 

Market and economic conditions may negatively impact our business, financial condition and share price.

Concerns over medical epidemics, energy costs, geopolitical issues, the U.S. mortgage market and a deteriorating real estate market, unstable global credit markets and financial conditions, and volatile oil prices have led to periods of significant economic instability, diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence and discretionary spending, diminished expectations for the global economy and expectations of slower global economic growth, increased unemployment rates, and increased credit defaults in recent years. Our general business strategy may be adversely affected by any such economic downturns (such as the recent downturn related to the COVID-19 pandemic), volatile business environments and continued unstable or unpredictable economic, market, and geopolitical conditions, such as the current situation in the Ukraine. If these conditions continue to deteriorate or do not improve, it may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult to complete, more costly, and more dilutive. Failure to secure any necessary financing in a timely manner and on favorable terms could have a material adverse effect on our growth strategy, financial performance, and share price and could require us to delay or abandon development or commercialization plans.

Future sales and issuances of our common stock could result in additional dilution of the percentage ownership of our stockholders and could cause our share price to fall.

We expect that significant additional capital will be needed in the future to continue our planned operations, including increased marketing, hiring new personnel, commercializing our product, and continuing activities as an operating public company. To the extent we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities, our stockholders may experience substantial dilution. We may sell common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities in one or more transactions at prices and in a manner, we determine from time to time. If we sell common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities in more than one transaction, investors may be materially diluted by subsequent sales. Such sales may also result in material dilution to our existing stockholders, and new investors could gain rights superior to our existing stockholders.

We do not intend to pay cash dividends on our shares of common stock so any returns will be limited to the value of our shares.

We currently anticipate that we will retain future earnings for the development, operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. Any return to stockholders will therefore be limited to the increase, if any, of our share price.

Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and our Amended and Restated Bylaws, and Nevada law may have anti-takeover effects that could discourage, delay or prevent a change in control, which may cause our stock price to decline.

Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and our Amended and Restated Bylaws, and Nevada law could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if closing such a transaction would be beneficial to our stockholders. We are authorized to issue up to 100,000,000 shares of preferred stock. This 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. The terms of any series of preferred stock may include voting rights (including the right to vote as a series on particular matters), preferences as to dividend, liquidation, conversion and redemption rights and sinking fund provisions. The issuance of any preferred stock could materially adversely affect the rights of the holders of our common stock, and therefore, reduce the value of our common stock. In particular, specific rights granted to future holders of preferred stock could be used to restrict our ability to merge with, or sell our assets to, a third party and thereby preserve control by the present management.

Provisions of our Certificate of Incorporation and our Amended and Restated Bylaws and Nevada law also could have the effect of discouraging potential acquisition proposals or making a tender offer or delaying or preventing a change in control, including changes a stockholder might consider favorable. Such provisions may also prevent or frustrate attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our management. In particular, the certificate of incorporation and bylaws and Nevada law, as applicable, among other things:

Financial reporting obligations of being a public company in the U.S. are expensive and time-consuming, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to compliance matters.

As a publicly traded company we incur significant additional legal, accounting and other expenses. The obligations of being a public company in the U.S. require significant expenditures and will place significant demands on our management and other personnel, including costs resulting from public company reporting obligations under the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations regarding corporate governance practices, including those under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the listing requirements of the stock exchange on which our securities are listed. These rules require the establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and procedures, internal control over financial reporting and changes in corporate governance practices, among many other complex rules that are often difficult to implement, monitor and maintain compliance with. Moreover, despite recent reforms made possible by the JOBS Act, the reporting requirements, rules, and regulations will make some activities more time-consuming and costly, particularly after we are no longer an “emerging growth company.” In addition, we expect these rules and regulations to make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to ensure that we comply with all of these requirements and to keep pace with new regulations, otherwise we may fall out of compliance and risk becoming subject to litigation or being delisted, among other potential problems.

There will be a substantial number of common shares eligible for future sale from the conversion of Series A Preferred shares.

There were 780,132 shares of our Series A Preferred Stock outstanding as of June 30, 2022. Each preferred share is convertible into 1,000 common shares. Once converted, these shares are eligible for resale under Rule 144. The sale, or availability for sale, for the foregoing shares could adversely affect the market price of our common stock or impair our ability to raise capital through future sales of our common stock.