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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

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FORM 10-Q

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(Mark One)

⌧ QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended April 2, 2022

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or

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◻ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from _____ to _____

Commission file number: 001-33170

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(949) 435-0025

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes ⌧    No ◻

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ⌧    No ◻

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ◻

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).  Yes ◻   No ⌧

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As of May 03, 2022, there were 231,028,600 outstanding shares of the registrant’s common stock.

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NETLIST, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

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Form 10-Q

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For the Quarter Ended April 2, 2022

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See accompanying Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Statements.

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See accompanying Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Statements

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See accompanying Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Statements.

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NETLIST, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

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Recently Issued Accounting Guidance

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In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity. This ASU amends the guidance on convertible instruments and the derivatives scope exception for contracts in an entity's own equity, and also improves and amends the related earnings per share guidance for both Subtopics. The ASU was effective for the three months ended April 2, 2022. The adoption of this ASU did not have an impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements as the Company paid off its convertible debt in December 2021.

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The table below shows potentially dilutive weighted average common share equivalents, consisting of shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options and warrants using the treasury stock method, shares issuable upon conversion feature of a convertible note using the “if-converted” method, and the shares vesting of issuable upon the RSAs and RSUs. These potential weighted average common share equivalents have been excluded from the diluted net loss per share calculations above as their effect would be anti-dilutive (in thousands):

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to 85% of eligible accounts receivable, subject to certain adjustments, and 50% of eligible inventory. The maximum amount available for borrowing was increased to $10.0 million and the maturity date to April 28, 2023.

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The SVB Credit Agreement requires letters of credit to be secured by cash, which is classified as restricted cash in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. As of April 2, 2022 and January 1, 2022, (i) outstanding letters of credit were $20.8 million and $10.8 million, respectively, (ii) outstanding borrowings were $4.7 million and $7.0 million, respectively, and (iii) availability under the revolving line of credit was $0.1 million and none, respectively.

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For the three months ended April 2, 2022, and April 3, 2021, finance lease costs and cash flows from finance lease were immaterial.

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Supplemental balance sheet information related to leases was as follows (in thousands):

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The following table includes supplemental information:

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Maturities of lease liabilities as of April 2, 2022, were as follows (in thousands):

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Note 7 – Commitments and Contingencies

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Contingent Legal Expenses

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We may retain the services of law firms that specialize in patent licensing and enforcement and patent law in connection with our licensing and enforcement activities. These law firms may be retained on a contingent fee basis

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whereby such law firms are paid on a scaled percentage of any negotiated fee, settlements or judgments awarded based on how and when the fees, settlements or judgments are obtained.

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Litigation and Patent Reexaminations

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We own numerous patents and continue to seek to grow and strengthen our patent portfolio, which covers various aspects of our innovations and includes various claim scopes. We plan to pursue avenues to monetize our intellectual property portfolio, in which we would generate revenue by selling or licensing our technology, and we intend to vigorously enforce our patent rights against alleged infringers of such rights. We dedicate substantial resources to protecting and enforcing our intellectual property rights, including with patent infringement proceedings we file against third parties and defense of our patents against challenges made by way of reexamination and review proceedings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”). We expect these activities to continue for the foreseeable future, with no guarantee that any ongoing or future patent protection or litigation activities will be successful, or that we will be able to monetize our intellectual property portfolio. We are also subject to litigation based on claims that we have infringed on the intellectual property rights of others.

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Any litigation, regardless of its outcome, is inherently uncertain, involves a significant dedication of resources, including time and capital, and diverts management’s attention from our other activities. As a result, any current or future infringement claims or patent challenges by or against third parties, whether eventually decided in our favor or settled, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, the outcome of pending or future litigation and related patent reviews and reexaminations, as well as any delay in their resolution, could affect our ability to continue to sell our products, protect against competition in the current and expected markets for our products or license or otherwise monetize our intellectual property rights in the future.

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Google Litigation

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On December 4, 2009, Netlist filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Google, Inc. (“Google”) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (the “NDCA”), seeking damages and injunctive relief based on Google’s alleged infringement of our U.S. Patent No. 7,619,912 (the “‘912 patent”) which relates generally to technologies to implement rank multiplication. The NDCA case was stayed, pending challenges to the ‘912 patent before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Eventually, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit confirmed the ‘912 patent’s validity on June 15, 2020, and the NDCA case stay was lifted. the case proceeded before Senior Judge Armstrong, where the parties entered cross motions for summary judgment. Of the issues in play, the parties contested the application of the defense of intervening rights to the claims at issue in the case. Afterward, the NDCA case was re-assigned to Chief Judge Seeborg of the NDCA, and the hearing for the parties’ cross motions took place on March 3, 2022. On May 5, 2022, Chief Judge Seeborg entered an Order granting Netlist, Inc.’s Motion for Summary Judgement that Claim 16 of the ‘912 patent is not subject to Google’s pleaded defense of Intervening Rights, while also entering orders on other issues, including setting a remote case management conference for June 23, 2022 at 10:00am pacific time.

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Micron Litigation

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On April 28, 2021, Netlist filed a complaint for patent infringement against Micron Technology, Inc. (“Micron”) in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Waco Division (Case No. 6:21-cv00431 & Case No. 6:21-cv-00430) These proceedings are based on the alleged infringement by Micron’s load reduced dual in line memory modules (“LRDIMM”) and Micron’s non-volatile dual in line memory modules (“NVDIMM”) enterprise memory modules under four U.S. patents – US Pat. No. 10,489,314; US Pat. No. 9,824,035; US Pat. No. 10,268,608; & US Pat. No. 8,301,833. As of the reporting date, the case has been assigned to Hon. Judge Lee Yeakel, and the parties completed briefing on their claim construction arguments. The matter is set for a Claim Construction hearing on May 12, 2022.

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In parallel, Micron filed requests to bring Inter Partes Review (“IPR”) proceedings against all four asserted patents: U.S. Patents 8,301,833, 9,854,035, 10,268,608, and 10,489,314. As of the reporting date, the PTAB has not made a decision with respect any of these IPR requests.

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Samsung Litigations

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On May 28, 2020, Netlist filed a complaint against Samsung in the United States District Court for the Central District of California for Samsung’s breach of the parties’ JDLA. On July 22, 2020, Netlist amended its complaint to seek a Declaratory Judgment that it properly terminated the JDLA in light of Samsung’s material breaches. On October 14, 2021, the Court entered summary judgment in Netlist’s favor and confirmed Netlist properly terminated the JDLA as of July 15, 2020. On February 15, 2022, the Court entered a Final Judgment in favor of Netlist on each of its three claims and confirmed conclusively that all licenses granted under the JDLA were terminated. On February 25, 2022, Samsung filed a Notice of Appeal, and the Federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a Time Schedule Order on February 28, 2022, setting Samsung’s deadline to file an opening appeal brief as June 6, 2022. Netlist noticed its intention to file a cross-appeal and the Ninth Circuit confirmed a contemporaneous briefing deadline of June 6, 2022, for the same.

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On October 15, 2021, Samsung filed a declaratory judgement action against Netlist in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (“DDE”), requesting in relevant part that the Delaware District Court declare that Samsung does not infringe Netlist’s U.S. Patent Nos. 7,619,912, 9,858,218, 10,217,523, 10,474,595, 10,860,506, 10,949,339, and 11,016,918. As of the reporting date, Samsung seeks leave to add U.S. Pat. 11,232,054 (issued Jan. 25, 2022) to the action. Netlist believes Samsung’s claims levied in the DDE action meritless, and the relief Samsung requests unjustified. As of the reporting date, Netlist filed a motion seeking dismissal of Samsung’s DDE complaint, and an opposition contesting the inclusion of U.S. Pat. 11,232,054 as part of a second amended complaint filing. The matter is fully briefed, and Netlist awaits an order from the Court.

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On November 19, 2021, Samsung filed IPR proceedings contesting the validity of U.S. Patents 9,858,218 (the “’218 patent”), 10,474,595 (the “’595 patent”), and 10,217,523 (the “’523 patent”). Netlist filed its initial responses to Samsung’s petitions on February 18, 2022, contesting the institution of any IPR on the grounds propounded. As of the reporting date, the PTAB has not yet made decision with respect to the IPR requests related to the ‘218 or ‘595 patents, but did enter an order instituting IPR proceedings for the ‘523 patent on May 5, 2022. On February 17, 2022, Samsung filed a separate IPR request contesting the validity of only claim 16 within Netlist’s U.S. Patent 7,619,912. The PTAB issued a filing date for this challenge of the ‘912 patent, making Netlist’s Patent Owner Preliminary Response due on July 21, 2022. As of the reporting date, Samsung has filed two additional IPR proceedings contesting the validity of Netlist’s U.S. Patents 10,860,506 and 10,949,339. The PTAB issued filing dates for both, making Netlist’s deadline to file its Preliminary Responses to each on July 21, 2022 and July 28, 2022, respectively,

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On December 20, 2021, Netlist filed for a complaint for patent infringement against Samsung in the United States Court for the Eastern District of Texas (Case No. 2:21-cv-463) under US Pat. No. 10,860,506; US Pat. No. 10,949,339; & US Pat. No. 11,016,918. Samsung responded to Netlist’s complaint on April 12, 2022, and Judge Gilstrap ordered a scheduling conference be set for May 18, 2022. On May 3, 2022, Netlist entered a First Amended Complaint pursuant to FRCP Rule 15, adding claims for infringement under three additional patents: U.S. Patents 8,787,060, 9,318,160, and 11,232,054. On May 4, 2022, Netlist complied with the EDTX local patent rules and served its preliminary infringement contentions on Samsung. As of the reporting date, Netlist awaits its opportunity to appear in Judge Gilstrap’s ordered case management conference.

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Other Contingent Obligations

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In the ordinary course of our business, we have made certain indemnities, commitments and guarantees pursuant to which we may be required to make payments in relation to certain transactions. These include, among others: (i) intellectual property indemnities to our customers and licensees in connection with the use, sale and/or license of our products; (ii) indemnities to vendors and service providers pertaining to claims based on our negligence or willful misconduct; (iii) indemnities involving the accuracy of representations and warranties in certain contracts; (iv) indemnities to our directors and officers to the maximum extent permitted under the laws of the State of Delaware; (v) indemnities to SVB pertaining to all obligations, demands, claims, and liabilities claimed or asserted by any other party in connection with transactions contemplated by the applicable investment or loan documents, as applicable; and (vi) indemnities or other claims related to certain real estate leases, under which we may be required to indemnify property

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owners for environmental and other liabilities or may face other claims arising from our use of the applicable premises. The duration of these indemnities, commitments and guarantees varies and, in certain cases, may be indefinite. The majority of these indemnities, commitments and guarantees do not provide for any limitation of the maximum potential for future payments we could be obligated to make. Historically, we have not been obligated to make significant payments as a result of these obligations, and no liabilities have been recorded for these indemnities, commitments and guarantees in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

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Note 8—Stockholders’ Equity

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Serial Preferred Stock

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The Company’s authorized capital stock includes 10,000,000 shares of serial preferred stock, with a par value of $0.001 per share. No shares of preferred stock were outstanding as of April 2, 2022 or January 2, 2022.

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On April 17, 2017, the Company entered into a rights agreement (as amended from time to time, the “Rights Agreement”) with Computershare Trust Company, N.A., as rights agent. In connection with the adoption of the Rights Agreement and pursuant to its terms, the Company’s board of directors authorized and declared a dividend of one right (each, a “Right”) for each outstanding share of the Company’s common stock to stockholders of record at the close of business on May 18, 2017 (the “Record Date”), and authorized the issuance of one Right for each share of the Company’s common stock issued by the Company (except as otherwise provided in the Rights Agreement) between the Record Date and the Distribution Date (as defined below).

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Each Right entitles the registered holder, subject to the terms of the Rights Agreement, to purchase from the Company, when exercisable and subject to adjustment, one unit consisting of one one-thousandth of a share (a “Unit”) of Series A Preferred Stock of the Company (the “Preferred Stock”), at a purchase price of $6.56 per Unit, subject to adjustment. Subject to the provisions of the Rights Agreement, including certain exceptions specified therein, a distribution date for the Rights (the “Distribution Date”) will occur upon the earlier of (i) 10 business days following a public announcement that a person or group of affiliated or associated persons (an “Acquiring Person”) has acquired or otherwise obtained beneficial ownership of 15% or more of the then-outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock, and (ii) 10 business days (or such later date as may be determined by the Company’s board of directors) following the commencement of a tender offer or exchange offer that would result in a person or group becoming an Acquiring Person. The Rights are not exercisable until the Distribution Date and, unless earlier redeemed or exchanged by the Company pursuant to the terms of the Rights Agreement (as amended on April 16, 2018, April 16, 2019 and August 14, 2020) will expire on the close of business on April 17, 2024.

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In connection with the adoption of the Rights Agreement, the Company’s board of directors approved a Certificate of Designation of the Series A Preferred Stock (the “Certificate of Designation”) designating 1,000,000 shares of its serial preferred stock as Series A Preferred Stock and setting forth the rights, preferences and limitations of the Preferred Stock. The Company filed the Certificate of Designation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on April 17, 2017.

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Common Stock

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September 2021 Lincoln Park Purchase Agreement

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On September 28, 2021, the Company entered into a purchase agreement (the “September 2021 Purchase Agreement”) with Lincoln Park, pursuant to which the Company has the right to sell to Lincoln Park up to an aggregate of $75 million in shares of its common stock subject to the conditions and limitations set forth in the September 2021 Purchase Agreement. Concurrent with the execution of the September 2021 Purchase Agreement, the Company also entered into a registration rights agreement with Lincoln Park relating to the Company’s common stock to be sold to Lincoln Park. As consideration for entering into the September 2021 Purchase Agreement, the Company issued to Lincoln Park 218,750 shares of its common stock as initial commitment shares in a noncash transaction on September 28, 2021 and will issue up to 143,750 additional shares of its common stock as additional commitment shares on a pro

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rata basis in connection with any additional purchases. The Company will not receive any cash proceeds from the issuance of these additional commitment shares.

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Pursuant to the September 2021 Purchase Agreement, on any business day and as often as every other business day over the 36-month term of the September 2021 Purchase Agreement, the Company has the right, from time to time, at its sole discretion and subject to certain conditions, to direct Lincoln Park to purchase up to 750,000 shares of its common stock, provided Lincoln Park’s obligation under any single such purchase will not exceed $4.0 million, unless the Company and Lincoln Park mutually agree to increase the maximum amount of such single regular purchase. If the Company directs Lincoln Park to purchase the maximum number of shares of common stock it then may sell in a regular purchase, then in addition to such regular purchase, and subject to certain conditions and limitations in the September 2021 Purchase Agreement, the Company may direct Lincoln Park to purchase an additional amount of common stock that may not exceed the lesser of (i) 300% of the number of shares purchased pursuant to the corresponding regular purchase or (ii) 30% of the total number of shares of its common stock traded during a specified period on the applicable purchase date as set forth in the September 2021 Purchase Agreement. Under certain circumstances and in accordance with the September 2021 Purchase Agreement, the Company may direct Lincoln Park to purchase shares in multiple accelerated purchases on the same trading day.

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The Company controls the timing and amount of any sales of its common stock to Lincoln Park. There is no upper limit on the price per share that Lincoln Park must pay for the Company’s common stock under the September 2021 Purchase Agreement, but in no event will shares be sold to Lincoln Park on a day the closing price is less than the floor price specified in the September 2021 Purchase Agreement. In all instances, the Company may not sell shares of its common stock to Lincoln Park under the September 2021 Purchase Agreement if that would result in Lincoln Park beneficially owning more than 9.99% of its common stock.

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The September 2021 Purchase Agreement does not limit the Company’s ability to raise capital from other sources at the Company’s sole discretion, except that, subject to certain exceptions, the Company may not enter into any Variable Rate Transaction (as defined in the September 2021 Purchase Agreement, including the issuance of any floating conversion rate or variable priced equity-like securities) during the 36 months after the date of the September 2021 Purchase Agreement. The Company has the right to terminate the September 2021 Purchase Agreement at any time, at no cost to the Company.

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During 2021, Lincoln Park purchased an aggregate of 1,550,000 shares of our common stock for a net purchase price of $10.9 million under the September 2021 Purchase Agreement. In connection with the purchases, we issued to Lincoln Park an aggregate of 20,809 shares of our common stock as additional commitment shares in noncash transactions. During the first quarter of 2022, Lincoln Park purchased an aggregate of 300,000 shares of our common stock for a net purchase price of $1.8 million under the September 2021 Purchase Agreement. In connection with the purchases, we issued to Lincoln Park an aggregate of 3,387 shares of our common stock as additional commitment shares in noncash transactions.

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Note 9—Stock-Based Awards

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As of April 2, 2022, the Company had 487,512 shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under its Amended and Restated 2006 Incentive Plan (“Amended 2006 Plan”). Stock options granted under the Amended 2006 Plan generally vest at a rate of at least 25% per year over four years and expire 10 years from the grant date. RSUs granted for employees and consultants generally vest in equal installments annually and fully vest over a four-year term from the grant date.

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As of April 2, 2022, the Company had approximately $8.0 million, net of estimated forfeitures, of unearned stock-based compensation, which it expects to recognize over a weighted-average period of approximately 3.4 years.

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Overview

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Netlist provides high-performance solid state drives and modular memory solutions to enterprise customers in diverse industries. Our NVMe SSDs in various capacities and form factors and the line of custom and specialty memory products bring industry-leading performance to server and storage appliance customers and cloud service providers. Netlist licenses its portfolio of intellectual property including patents, in server memory, hybrid memory and storage class memory, to companies that implement Netlist’s technology.

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During the first quarter of 2022, we recorded net sales of $50.2 million, gross margin of $3.4 million and net loss of $5.9 million. We have historically financed our operations primarily with proceeds from issuances of equity and debt securities and cash receipts from revenues. We have also funded our operations with a revolving line of credit and term loans under a bank credit facility. See “Recent Developments” and “Liquidity and Capital Resources” below for more information.

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Recent Developments

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SK hynix License Agreement and Supply Agreement

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On April 5, 2021, we entered into a Strategic Product Supply and License Agreement (the “License Agreement”) and Product Purchase and Supply Agreement with SK hynix, Inc., a South Korean memory semiconductor supplier (“SK hynix”). Both agreements have a term of 5 years. Under the License Agreement, (a) we have granted to SK hynix fully paid, worldwide, non-exclusive, non-assignable licenses to certain of our patents covering memory technologies and (b) SK hynix has granted to us fully paid, worldwide, non-exclusive, non-assignable licenses to its patent portfolio. In addition, the License Agreement provided for the settlement of all intellectual property proceedings between us and SK hynix and a settlement fee of $40 million paid to us by SK hynix. In addition, the parties have agreed to collaborate on certain technology development activities.

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Amendment to SVB Credit Agreement

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On October 31, 2009, we entered into the SVB Credit Agreement, which provides for a revolving line of credit of up to $5.0 million. The borrowing base is limited to 85% of eligible accounts receivable, subject to certain adjustments as set forth in the SVB Credit Agreement. On April 9, 2021, we entered into an amendment to the SVB Credit Agreement to accrue interest on advances at a per annum rate equal to the greater of 2.25% above the Prime Rate or 5.50% and to extend the maturity date to December 30, 2021. The amount available for borrowing may be increased to $7.0 million and the maturity date will be extended to April 29, 2022 upon our request, if we meet certain conditions.

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On April 29, 2022, we entered into an amendment to the SVB Credit Agreement to accrue interest on advance at a per annum rate equal to the greater of 0.75% above the Prime Rate or 4.25%. The borrowing base is limited to 85% of eligible accounts receivable, subject to certain adjustments, and 50% of eligible inventory. The maximum amount available for borrowing was increased to $10.0 million and the maturity date to April 28, 2023.

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As of April 2, 2022, the outstanding borrowings under the SVB Credit Agreement were $4.7 million with additional borrowing availability of $0.1 million. During the three months ended April 2, 2022, we made net payments of $2.3 million under the SVB Credit Agreement.

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September 2021 Lincoln Park Purchase Agreement

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On September 28, 2021, we entered into a purchase agreement (the “Second 2021 Purchase Agreement”) with Lincoln Park, pursuant to which we have the right to sell to Lincoln Park up to an aggregate of $75 million in shares of our common stock over the 36-month term of the Second 2021 Purchase Agreement subject to the conditions and limitations set forth in the Second 2021 Purchase Agreement.

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During 2021, Lincoln Park purchased an aggregate of 1,550,000 shares of our common stock for a net purchase price of $10.9 million under the Second 2021 Purchase Agreement. In connection with the purchases, we issued to

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Lincoln Park an aggregate of 20,809 shares of our common stock as additional commitment shares in noncash transactions. During the first quarter of 2022, Lincoln Park purchased an aggregate of 300,000 shares of our common stock for a net purchase price of $1.8 million under the Second 2021 Purchase Agreement. In connection with the purchases, we issued to Lincoln Park an aggregate of 3,387 shares of our common stock as additional commitment shares in noncash transactions

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Economic Conditions, Challenges and Risks

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Our performance, financial condition and prospects are affected by a number of factors and are exposed to a number of risks and uncertainties. We operate in a competitive and rapidly evolving industry in which new risks emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of the risks we may face, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor or combination of factors could cause actual results to differ from our expectations. See the discussion of certain risks that we face under “Risk Factors” in Part II, Item 1A of this report.

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Impact of COVID-19 on our Business

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The impact of the coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”) pandemic will have on our consolidated results of operations is uncertain. Although we initially observed demand increases in our products, we anticipate that the global health crisis caused by COVID-19 may negatively impact business activity across the globe. We will continue to actively monitor the situation and may take further actions altering our business operations that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, customers, suppliers, and stakeholders, or as required by federal, state, or local authorities. It is not clear what the potential effects of such alterations or modifications may have on our business, consolidated results of operations, financial condition, and liquidity.

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Net Sales

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Net sales include resales of component products including DIMMs, SSDs, and dynamic random access memory (“DRAM ICS” OR DRAM) products, and sales of our high-performance memory subsystems.

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Net product sales increased by approximately $35.3 million during the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same quarter of 2021, primarily as a result of a $35.2 million increase in re-sale of SK Hynix products and a $1.1 million increase in sale of Netlist’s flash and SSD products, offset by a $1.0 million decrease in sales of low profile memory subsystem products.

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Gross Margin

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Product gross profit increased during the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same periods of 2021 due primarily to higher sales across all product groups. Product gross margin percentage decreased between the periods as a result of the change in our product mix and increased component product resales as a percentage of revenue.

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Research and Development

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Research and development expenses increased during the first quarter 2022 compared to the same period of 2021 due primarily to an increase in employee headcount, related overhead and new product research.

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Intellectual Property Legal Fees

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Intellectual property legal fees consist of legal fees incurred for patent filings, protection and enforcement. Although we expect intellectual property legal fees to generally increase over time as we continue to protect, defend and enforce and seek to expand our patent portfolio, these increases may not be linear but may occur in lump sums depending on the due dates of patent filings and their associated fees and the arrangements we may make with our legal advisors in connection with enforcement proceedings, which may include fee arrangements or contingent fee arrangements in which we would pay these legal advisors on a scaled percentage of any negotiated fees, settlements or judgments awarded to us based on if, how and when the fees, settlements or judgments are obtained. See Note 7 to the condensed consolidated financial statements included in Part I, Item 1 of this report for further discussion.

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Intellectual property legal fees increased during the first quarter 2022 compared to the same period of 2021 primarily due to our continued efforts to defend and enforce our patent portfolio.

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Selling, General and Administrative

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Selling, general and administrative expenses increased during the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021 due primarily to an increase in employee headcount and overhead and outside services. As a result of the significant increase in the value of our non-affiliate public float in recent periods, we are a “large accelerated filer” as of the end of fiscal year ended January 2, 2022 which means that we need to file our quarterly and annual reports on an accelerated basis and that we are required to have our independent registered public accounting firm audit and attest to our internal control over financial reporting. Complying with these requirements requires us to invest a material amount in enhancing our financial reporting infrastructure that will cause our selling, general and administrative expenses to increase in future periods.

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Interest expense, net, in 2021 consisted primarily of interest expense on the $15 million secured convertible note issued to SVIC in November 2015 and a revolving line of credit under the SVB Credit Agreement, along with the accretion of debt discounts and amortization of debt issuance costs on the SVIC Note. The SVIC note was paid off in the fourth quarter of 2021 resulting in a decrease in interest expense for the first quarter of 2022. During the first quarter of 2022, other expense was consistent compared with the same quarter of 2021.

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

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Our primary sources of cash are historically proceeds from issuances of equity and debt securities and receipts from revenues. In addition, we have received proceeds from non-recurring engineering and licensing of our patent portfolio, including as a result of our entry into the SK hynix License Agreement, which we use to support our operations. We have also funded our operations with a revolving line of credit under a bank credit facility, and to a lesser extent, equipment leasing arrangements.

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The following tables present selected financial information as of April 2, 2022, and January 1, 2022 and for the first three months of 2022 and 2021 (in thousands):

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