As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 16, 2009

Registration No. 333-153645

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

 

 

Amendment No. 7
to

Form S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

 

 

VirnetX Holding Corporation

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

(Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number,

Including Area Code, of Registrant’s Principal Executive Offices)

 

 

 

 

Kendall Larsen

Chief Executive Officer

VirnetX Holding Corporation

5615 Scotts Valley Drive, Suite 110

Scotts Valley, California 95066

(831) 438-8200

(Name, Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent for Service)

 

Copies to:

 

 

 

 

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public:  From time to time after the effective date of this Registration Statement.

 

If the only securities being registered on this Form are being offered pursuant to dividend or interest reinvestment plans, please check the following box:  o

 

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, other than securities offered only in connection with dividend or interest reinvestment plans, check the following box:  þ

 

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering:  o

 

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering:  o

 

If this Form is a registration statement pursuant to General Instruction I.D. or a post-effective amendment thereto that shall become effective upon filing with the Commission pursuant to Rule 462(e) under the Securities Act, check the following box:  o

 

If this Form is a post-effective amendment to a registration statement filed pursuant to General Instruction I.D. filed to register additional securities or additional classes of securities pursuant to Rule 413(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box:  o

 

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

(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)

 

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE REGISTRANT HEREBY AMENDS THIS REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON SUCH DATE OR DATES AS MAY BE NECESSARY TO DELAY ITS EFFECTIVE DATE UNTIL THE REGISTRANT SHALL FILE A FURTHER AMENDMENT WHICH SPECIFICALLY STATES THAT THIS REGISTRATION STATEMENT SHALL THEREAFTER BECOME EFFECTIVE IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 8(A) OF THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR UNTIL THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE ON SUCH DATE AS THE COMMISSION, ACTING PURSUANT TO SAID SECTION 8(A), MAY DETERMINE.

 

 

 

3,000,000 Shares of Common Stock

Warrants to Purchase 4,500,000 Shares of Common Stock

 

VIRNETX HOLDING CORPORATION

 

We are offering 3,000,000 shares of our common stock, warrants to purchase 1,500,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $2.00 per share, warrants to purchase 1,500,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $3.00 per share, and warrants to purchase 1,500,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $4.00 per share. This prospectus also covers the offer and sale of 4,500,000 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants offered hereby.

 

Our common stock is currently listed on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol “VHC.” We do not intend to apply for listing of the warrants on any securities exchange. On January 14, 2009, the last reported sales price of our common stock as reported on the American Stock Exchange was $1.49 per share.

 

 

Our business and an investment in our common stock and warrants involve significant risks. These risks are described under the caption “Risk Factors” beginning on page 8 of this prospectus.

 

 

Gilford Securities Incorporated has agreed to act as the underwriter in connection with this offering.

 

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of the offered securities or passed on the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gilford Securities Incorporated

 

 

 

 

          , 2009

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

This prospectus does not contain all of the information set forth in the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, as permitted by the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. For additional information regarding us and the offered securities, please refer to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. Before purchasing any of the offered securities, you should carefully read this prospectus, together with the additional information described under the section of this prospectus titled “Where You Can Find More Information” on page 68. In particular, you should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described under the section titled “Risk Factors” in this prospectus starting on page 7 before you decide whether to purchase any of the offered securities. These risks and uncertainties, together with those not known to us or those that we may deem immaterial, could impair our business and ultimately affect the price of our common stock.

 

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. We have not authorized any other person to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. No offers are being made hereby in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date on the cover. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date.

 

PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

	•	Automatic and seamless to the user.  After a one-time registration, users connect securely on a “zero-click” or “single-click” basis.
	•	Secure data communications.  Users create secure networks with people they trust and communicate over a secure channel.
	•	Control of data at all times.  Users can secure and customize their unified communication and collaboration applications such as file sharing and remote desktop with policy-based access and secure presence information.
	•	Authenticated users.  Users know they are communicating with authenticated users with secure domain names.

	•	Application-agnostic technology.  Our solution provides security at the IP layer of the network by using patented techniques for automated DNS lookup mechanisms to make connections between secure domain names, thereby obviating the need to provide application specific security.

	•	Unique patented technology.  We are focused on developing innovative technology for securing real-time communications over the Internet, and establishing the exclusive secure domain name registry in the United States and other key markets around the world. Our unique solutions combine industry standard encryption methods and communication protocols with our patented techniques for automated DNS lookup mechanisms. Our technology and patented approach enables users to create a secure communication link by generating secure domain names. We have a strong portfolio comprised of 11 patents in the United States and eight international patents, as well as several pending U.S. and foreign patent applications. Our portfolio includes patents and pending patent applications in the United States and other key markets that support our secure domain name registry service for the Internet.
	•	Scalable licensing business model.  Our intellectual property portfolio is the foundation of our business model. We are actively engaged in commercializing our intellectual property portfolio by pursuing licensing agreements with OEMs, service providers and system integrators within the IP-telephony, mobility, fixed-mobile convergence and unified communications end-markets. We have engaged ipCapital Group to accelerate our patent and technology licensing program with customers and to expand the depth of our intellectual property portfolio, and we are actively pursuing our first licensing agreements. We believe that our licensing business model is highly scalable and has the potential to generate strong margins once we achieve significant revenue growth.
	•	Highly experienced research and development team.  Our research and development team is comprised of nationally recognized network security and encryption technology scientists and experts that have worked together as a team for over ten years and, collectively, have over 120 years of experience in the field. During their careers, this team has developed several cutting-edge technologies for U.S. national defense, intelligence and civilian agencies, many of which remain critical to our national security today. Prior to joining VirnetX, our team worked for SAIC during which time they invented the technology that is the foundation of our patent portfolio, technology, and software. Based on the collective knowledge and experience of our development team, we believe that we have one of the most experienced and sophisticated groups of security experts researching vulnerability and threats to real-time communication over the Internet and developing solutions to mitigate these problems.

	•	Implement a patent and technology licensing program to commercialize our intellectual property, including our GABRIEL Connection Technologytm.
	•	Establish VirnetX as the exclusive universal registry of secure domain names and to enable our customers to act as registrars for their users and broker secure communication between users on different registries.
	•	Leverage our patent portfolio, technology and software to develop a suite of products that can be sold directly to end-user enterprises.

Securities offered:		3,000,000 shares of our common stock and warrants to purchase 4,500,000 shares of our common stock (as described in more detail below).
Offering price:		We anticipate that the offering price of each share of our common stock and associated warrants will be $     .

Description of the warrants:		We are offering three types of warrants for each share of our common stock offered hereby. The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agency agreement between Corporate Stock Transfer, Inc., as warrant agent, and us. The three types of warrants have similar terms but are exercisable at different prices. For each share purchased at the closing of the offering, an investor will receive a warrant to purchase 0.5 shares of our common stock at $2.00 per share, 0.5 shares of our common stock at $3.00 per share and 0.5 shares of our common stock at $4.00 per share (fractional shares will be rounded up). All warrants will be exercisable on or after the applicable closing date of this offering through and including the 18-month anniversary of the first closing date. All warrants will also include a call feature that gives us the right to require the holder of the warrant to exercise the warrant when our average closing stock price over five consecutive trading days is equal to or exceeds two times the applicable warrant’s purchase price, failing which the warrant will terminate.

Common stock outstanding before the offering:		34,899,985 shares of our common stock.
Common stock outstanding after the offering:		37,899,985 shares of our common stock.

Use of proceeds:		To fund product development, pursue our litigation strategy and for general working capital needs. We anticipate that our existing cash and cash equivalents, together with net proceeds from this offering, at an assumed public offering price of $1.75 per share and associated warrants and assuming no warrants are exercised, may only be sufficient to fund our operations for the next five months. See the “Liquidity and Capital Resources” section in this prospectus for additional information.

Amex symbol:		VHC
Risk factors:		See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 7 of this prospectus and the other information in this prospectus for a discussion of factors you should consider before you decide to invest in our securities.

	•	is based on 34,899,985 shares of common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2008;
	•	assumes no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option;
	•	assumes no exercise of the warrants to purchase 4,500,000 shares of our common stock offered hereby;
	•	assumes no exercise of the 300,000 shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrant to be issued to the underwriter at the closing of this offering;
	•	excludes 300,000 shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrant issued to the underwriter in connection with our previous public offering which closed on December 31, 2007; and
	•	excludes 4,318,596 shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of stock options outstanding as of December 31, 2008.

																		For the Period
		Nine Months				Nine Months												August 2, 2005
		Ended				Ended				Year Ended				Year Ended				(Date of Inception)
		September 30,				September 30,				December 31,				December 31,				to December 31,
		2008				2007				2007				2006				2005
Revenue:		$	107,955			$	46,664			$	74,866			$	—			$	—
Total operating expenses:			9,253,611				4,571,749				8,725,210				1,407,675				882,478
Total other income (expenses), net:			142,454				(23,111	)			(41,820	)			6,336				—
Net loss:		$	(9,003,202	)		$	(4,548,196	)		$	(8,692,164	)		$	(1,401,339	)		$	(882,478	)

		As of				As of				As of				As of
		September 30,				December 31,				December 31,				December 31,
		2008				2007				2006				2005
Cash and cash equivalents:		$	2,260,170			$	8,589,447			$	139,997			$	86,552
Total assets:			3,079,152				9,279,166				195,123				147,722
Accounts payable and accrued expenses:			1,467,412				531,790				87,386				—
Total stockholders’ equity (deficit):		$	1,407,740			$	8,495,376			$	107,737			$	(82,278	)

 

You should carefully consider the following material risks in addition to the other information set forth in this prospectus before making any investment in the offered securities. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial may also adversely affect our business. If any of these risk factors occurs, you could lose substantial value or your entire investment in the offered securities.

 

Risks Related To Existing and Future Litigation

 

We have commenced legal proceedings against Microsoft, and we expect such litigation to be time-consuming and costly, which may adversely affect our financial condition and our ability to operate our business.

 

On February 15, 2007, we initiated a lawsuit by filing a complaint against Microsoft in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, pursuant to which we allege that Microsoft infringes two of our patents regarding the creation of virtual private networks, or VPNs. We seek damages and injunctive relief. On April 5, 2007, we filed an amended complaint, pursuant to which we allege that Microsoft infringes a third patent. We anticipate that these legal proceedings may continue for several years and may require significant expenditures for legal fees and other expenses. The time and effort required of our management to effectively pursue the Microsoft lawsuit may adversely affect our ability to operate our business, since time spent on matters related to the lawsuit will take away from the time spent on managing and operating our business. Microsoft has counterclaimed for declarations that the three patents are not infringed, are invalid and are unenforceable. If Microsoft’s counterclaims are successful, they may preclude our ability to commercialize our initial products. Additionally, we anticipate that our legal fees will be material and will negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations and may result in our inability to continue our business.

 

While we believe Microsoft infringes our patents, we can provide no assurance that we will be successful in our lawsuit.

 

We believe that Microsoft infringes on three of our patents, but obtaining and collecting a judgment against Microsoft may be difficult or impossible. Patent litigation is inherently risky and the outcome is uncertain. Microsoft is a large, well-financed company with substantially greater resources than us. We believe that Microsoft will devote a substantial amount of resources in an attempt to prove that either their products do not infringe our patents or that our patents are not valid and are unenforceable. At this time, we cannot predict the outcome of this litigation.

 

We are devoting a substantial amount of our financial and management resources to the Microsoft litigation, and if we are unsuccessful in this lawsuit, our financial condition may be so adversely affected, we may not survive.

 

Currently, we are devoting substantial time, effort and financial resources to our lawsuit against Microsoft. We are a development stage company with no finished product, and, although our business strategy is focused primarily on bringing patented products to market, our business strategy also depends greatly on obtaining a judgment in our favor from the courts and collecting such judgment before our financial resources are depleted. In the event we are not awarded and do not subsequently obtain monetary and injunctive relief, we may not have enough financial resources to continue our operations.

 

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

 

As a public company, our management must devote substantial time, attention and financial resources to comply with U.S. securities laws. This may have a material adverse affect on management’s ability to effectively pursue the Microsoft litigation as well as our other business initiatives. In addition, our disclosure obligations under U.S. securities laws require us to disclose information publicly that will be available to

Microsoft as well as any other future litigation opponents. We may, from time to time, be required to disclose information that will have a material adverse affect on our litigation strategies. This information may enable our litigation opponents to develop effective litigation strategies that are contrary to our interests.

 

We may commence additional legal proceedings against third parties who we believe are infringing on our intellectual property rights, and if we are forced to litigate to defend our intellectual property rights, or to defend claims by third parties against us relating to intellectual property rights, legal fees and court injunctions could adversely affect our financial condition or end our business.

 

Disputes regarding the ownership of technologies and intellectual property rights are common and we may have intellectual property infringement claims against other parties in addition to our claims against Microsoft. If we decide to commence actions against any additional parties, doing so may be expensive and time-consuming, which may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, there can be no assurance that we would be successful in these additional legal proceedings and the existence and outcome of any such litigation could harm our business. In addition, commencing lawsuits may lead to potential counterclaims which may preclude our ability to develop and commercialize our initial products.

 

Risks Related to Our Business and Our Industry

 

We are a development stage company with virtually no revenues.

 

We are a development stage company with a very small amount of revenue and do not expect to generate additional revenues unless and until after our patent portfolio, or part of it, is commercialized. We do not anticipate launching any new products into the market until the first quarter of 2009, at the earliest. We will need to raise additional capital to fund our operations and our litigation against Microsoft and there can be no assurance that we will be successful in doing so on acceptable terms or at all. We anticipate that our existing cash and cash equivalents, together with net proceeds from this offering, at an assumed public offering price of $1.75 per share and associated warrants and assuming no warrants are exercised, may only be sufficient to fund our operations for the next five months. See the “Liquidity and Capital Resources” section in this prospectus for additional information.

 

We anticipate incurring operating losses and negative cash flows for the foreseeable future resulting in uncertainty of future profitability and limitations on our operations.

 

We anticipate that we will incur operating losses and negative cash flows in the foreseeable future, and we will accumulate increasing deficits as we increase our expenditures for:

 

 

We need to significantly increase our revenue if we are to attain profitability and there is no assurance that we will be able to do so. In the event that we are unable to achieve profitability or raise sufficient funding to cover our losses, we may not be able to meet our obligations as they come due, raising substantial doubts as to our ability to continue as a going concern.

Our business plan for commercializing our patents and technology is new and unproven, and therefore we can provide no assurance that we will be successful in pursuing it.

 

We intend to develop products to provide a security platform for real-time communications; however, this is not a defined market. We expect to depend on our intellectual property licensing fees for the majority of our revenues. Our ability to generate licensing fees is highly dependent on mainstream market adoption of real-time communications based on SIP or using DNS lookup protocols as well as customer adoption of our GABRIEL Communication Technology^tm and our secure domain name registry. We cannot assure you that customers will adopt our products and services, or that we will succeed in building a profitable business based on our business plan.

 

We may or may not be able to capitalize on potential market opportunities related to our licensing strategy or our patent portfolio.

 

Our business strategy calls for us to enter into licensing relationships with the leading companies in our target market in order to reach a larger end-user base than we could reach through direct sales and marketing efforts. We have engaged ipCapital Group to help develop our licensing strategy and to introduce the Company to five potential strategic licensees of the Company’s technology. In connection with this engagement, we agreed to pay ipCapital Group 10% of the royalties of each resulting licensing arrangement, up to an aggregate maximum of $2 million per licensee, or $10 million in the aggregate. There can be no assurance that we will be able to capitalize on the potential market opportunity. Our inability to generate licensing revenues associated with the potential market opportunity could result from a number of factors, including, but not limited to:

 

 

We will need additional capital to pursue our litigation strategy, conduct our operations and develop our products, and our ability to obtain the necessary funding is uncertain.

 

We expect to utilize a substantial portion of the proceeds of this offering to finance our litigation with Microsoft. We will require significant additional capital from sources including equity and/or debt financings, license arrangements, grants, collaborative research arrangements and/or other sources in order to develop and commercialize our products and continue operations. If we are not able to raise additional capital when needed, our business will fail. We anticipate that our existing cash and cash equivalents, together with net proceeds from this offering, at an assumed public offering price of $1.75 per share and associated warrants and assuming no warrants are exercised, may only be sufficient to fund our operations for the next five months. There can be no assurance that we will be able to close this offering on acceptable terms or at all, especially in the current capital markets environment.

 

Our business greatly depends on the growth of IM, VoIP, mobile services, streaming video, file transfer and remote desktop and other next-generation Internet-based applications.

 

We cannot assure you that next-generation Internet-based applications such as instant messaging, or IM, voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, mobile services, streaming video, file transfer and remote desktop will continue to gain widespread market acceptance. The Internet may ultimately prove not to be a viable commercial marketplace for such applications for a number of reasons, including:

 

 

 

If the market for IM, VoIP, mobile services, streaming video, file transfer and remote desktop does not grow as anticipated, our business would be adversely affected.

 

The success of our products that secure IM, VoIP, mobile services, streaming video, file transfer and remote desktop, among other real-time communications applications, depends on the growth in the number of users, which in turn depends on the Internet gaining more widespread acceptance as the basis for these real-time communications applications. These real-time communications applications are still in early stages of market acceptance and we cannot assure you that they will continue to develop a broader audience. For example, potential new users may view VoIP as unattractive relative to traditional telephone services for a number of reasons, including the need to purchase computer headsets or the perception that the price advantage for VoIP is insufficient to justify the perceived inconvenience.

 

While the use of IM and other next-generation Internet-based applications has grown rapidly in personal and professional use, there can be no assurance that users will pay to secure their use of such applications.

 

Many services such as Microsoft, Yahoo! and America Online offer IM free of charge. However, security solutions for these services are not free, and OEMs may not want to adopt such security solutions if users of IM do not see the value and do not want to pay for such security solutions. If personal and professional users of IM and other next-generation Internet-based solutions do not want to pay for the security solutions, we will have difficulty marketing and selling our products and technologies.

 

We expect that we will experience long and unpredictable sales cycles, which may impact our quarterly operating results.

 

We expect that our sales cycles will be long and unpredictable due to a number of uncertainties such as:

 

 

We expect that we will be substantially dependent on a concentrated number of customers. If we are unable to establish, maintain or replace our relationships with customers and develop a diversified customer base, our revenues may fluctuate and our growth may be limited.

 

We expect that for the foreseeable future, a significant portion of our revenues will be generated from a limited number of customers. There can be no guarantee that we will be able to obtain such customers, or if we do so, to sustain our revenue levels from these customers. If we cannot establish, maintain or replace the limited group of customers that we anticipate will generate a substantial majority revenues, or if they do not generate revenues at the levels or at the times that we anticipate, our ability to maintain or grow our revenues will be adversely affected.

If we do not successfully develop our planned products and services in a cost-effective manner to customer demand in the rapidly evolving market for Internet and IP-based communications services, our business may fail.

 

The market for communications services is characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards, changes in customer needs and frequent new service and product introductions. We are currently focused on developing products to provide security solutions for real-time communications. Our future success will depend, in part, on our ability to use new technologies effectively, to continue to develop our technical expertise, to enhance our existing services and to develop new services that meet changing customer needs on a timely and cost-effective basis. We may not be able to adapt quickly enough to changing technology, customer requirements and industry standards. If we fail to use new technologies effectively, to develop our technical expertise and new services, or to enhance existing services on a timely basis, either internally or through arrangements with third parties, our product and service offerings may fail to meet customer needs, which would adversely affect our revenues and prospects for growth.

 

In addition, if we are unable, for technological, legal, financial or other reasons, to adapt in a timely manner to changing market conditions or customer requirements, we could lose customers, strategic alliances and market share. Sudden changes in user and customer requirements and preferences, the frequent introduction of new products and services embodying new technologies and the emergence of new industry standards and practices could render our existing products, services and systems obsolete. The emerging nature of products and services in the technology and communications industry and their rapid evolution will require that we continually improve the performance, features and reliability of our products and services. Our success will depend, in part, on our ability to:

 

 

The development of our planned products and services and other patented technology involves significant technological and business risks and requires substantial expenditures and lead time. We may be unable to use new technologies effectively. Updating our technology internally and licensing new technology from third-parties may also require us to incur significant additional expenditures.

 

If our products do not gain market acceptance, we may not be able to fund future operations.

 

A number of factors may affect the market acceptance of our planned products or any other products we develop or acquire, including, among others:

 

 

If our products do not gain market acceptance, we may not be able to fund future operations, including the development of new products and/or our sales and marketing efforts for our current products, which inability would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

 

Our products are highly technical and may contain undetected errors, which could cause harm to our reputation and adversely affect our business.

 

Our products are highly technical and complex and, when deployed, may contain errors or defects. In addition, we rely on third parties for software development and technology services, and there may be errors in the development processes used by our third party counterparts that may adversely affect our end products.

Despite testing, some errors in our products may only be discovered after a product has been installed and used by customers. Any errors or defects discovered in our products after commercial release could result in failure to achieve market acceptance, loss of revenue or delay in revenue recognition, loss of customers and increased service and warranty cost, any of which could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, we could face claims for product liability, tort or breach of warranty, including claims relating to changes to our products made by our channel partners. The performance of our products could have unforeseen or unknown adverse effects on the networks over which they are delivered as well as on third-party applications and services that utilize our services, which could result in legal claims against us, harming our business. Furthermore, we expect to provide implementation, consulting and other technical services in connection with the implementation and ongoing maintenance of our products, which typically involves working with sophisticated software, computing and communications systems. We expect that our contracts with customers will contain provisions relating to warranty disclaimers and liability limitations, which may not be upheld. Defending a lawsuit, regardless of its merit, is costly and may divert management’s attention and adversely affect the market’s perception of us and our products. In addition, if our business liability insurance coverage proves inadequate or future coverage is unavailable on acceptable terms or at all, our business, operating results and financial condition could be adversely impacted.

 

Malfunctions of third-party communications infrastructure, hardware and software exposes us to a variety of risks we cannot control.

 

In addition, our business will also depend upon the capacity, reliability and security of the infrastructure owned by third parties that we will use to deploy our offerings. We have no control over the operation, quality or maintenance of a significant portion of that infrastructure or whether or not those third parties will upgrade or improve their equipment. We depend on these companies to maintain the operational integrity of our connections. If one or more of these companies is unable or unwilling to supply or expand its levels of service to us in the future, our operations could be severely interrupted. Also, to the extent the number of users of networks utilizing our future products suddenly increases, the technology platform and secure hosting services which will be required to accommodate a higher volume of traffic may result in slower response times or service interruptions. System interruptions or increases in response time could result in a loss of potential or existing users and, if sustained or repeated, could reduce the appeal of the networks to users. In addition, users depend on real-time communications; outages caused by increased traffic could result in delays and system failures. These types of occurrences could cause users to perceive that our solution does not function properly and could therefore adversely affect our ability to attract and retain licensees, strategic partners and customers.

 

System failure or interruption or our failure to meet increasing demands on our systems could harm our business.

 

The success of our license and service offerings will depend on the uninterrupted operation of various systems, secure data centers and other computer and communication networks that we establish. To the extent the number of users of networks utilizing our future products suddenly increases, the technology platform and hosting services which will be required to accommodate a higher volume of traffic may result in slower response times, service interruptions or delays or system failures. Our systems and operations will also be vulnerable to damage or interruption from:

 

 

System interruptions or failures and increases or delays in response time could result in a loss of potential or existing users and, if sustained or repeated, could reduce the appeal of the networks to users. These types of

occurrences could cause users to perceive that our solution does not function properly and could therefore adversely affect our ability to attract and retain licensees, strategic partners and customers.

 

Any significant problem with our systems or operations could result in lost revenue, customer dissatisfaction or lawsuits against us. A failure in the operation of our secure domain name registration system could result in the inability of one or more registrars to register and maintain secure domain names for a period of time. A failure in the operation or update of the master directory that we plan to maintain could result in deletion or discontinuation of assigned secure domain names for a period of time. The inability of the registrar systems we establish, including our back office billing and collections infrastructure, and telecommunications systems to meet the demands of an increasing number of secure domain name requests could result in substantial degradation in our customer support service and our ability to process registration requests in a timely manner.

 

If we experience security breaches, we could be exposed to liability and our reputation and business could suffer.

 

We will retain certain confidential customer information in our secure data centers and secure domain name registry. It will be critical to our business strategy that our facilities and infrastructure remain secure and are perceived by the marketplace to be secure. Our secure domain name registry operations will also depend on our ability to maintain our computer and telecommunications equipment in effective working order and to reasonably protect our systems against interruption, and potentially depend on protection by other registrars in the shared registration system. The secure domain name servers that we will operate will be critical hardware to our registry services operations. Therefore, we expect to have to expend significant time and money to maintain or increase the security of our facilities and infrastructure.

 

Security technologies are constantly being tested by computer professionals, academics and “hackers.” Advances in the techniques for attacking security solutions could make some or all of our products obsolete or unmarketable. Likewise, if any of our products are found to have significant security vulnerabilities, then we may need to dedicate engineering and other resources to eliminate the vulnerabilities and to repair or replace products already sold or licensed to our customers. Despite our security measures, our infrastructure may be vulnerable to physical break-ins, computer viruses, attacks by hackers or similar disruptive problems. It is possible that we may have to expend additional financial and other resources to address such problems. Any physical or electronic break-in or other security breach or compromise of the information stored at our secure data centers and domain name registration systems may jeopardize the security of information stored on our premises or in the computer systems and networks of our customers. In such an event, we could face significant liability and customers could be reluctant to use our services. Such an occurrence could also result in adverse publicity and therefore adversely affect the market’s perception of the security of electronic commerce and communications over IP networks as well as of the security or reliability of our services.

 

We may incur significant expenses and damages because of liability claims.

 

An actual or perceived breach of our security solutions could result in a product liability claim against us. A substantial product liability claim against us could harm our operating results and financial condition. In addition, any actual or perceived breach of our security solution, whether or not caused by the failure of one of our products, could hurt our reputation and cause potential customers to turn to our competitors’ products.

 

Our ability to sell our solutions will be dependent on the quality of our technical support, and our failure to deliver high-quality technical support services could have a material adverse effect on our sales and results of operations.

 

If we do not effectively assist our customers in deploying our products, succeed in helping our customers quickly resolve post-deployment issues and provide effective ongoing support, or if potential customers perceive that we may not be able achieve to the foregoing, our ability to sell our products would be adversely affected, and our reputation with potential customers could be harmed. In addition, as we expand our

operations internationally, our technical support team will face additional challenges, including those associated with delivering support, training and documentation in languages other than English. As a result, our failure to deliver and maintain high-quality technical support services to our customers could result in customers choosing to use our competitors’ products instead of ours in the future.

 

There has been increased competition for security solutions in the real-time communications industry, as more companies seek to provide products and services similar to our proposed products and services, and because larger and better-financed competitors may affect our ability to operate our business and achieve profitability, our business may fail.

 

We expect competition for our products and services to be intense. We expect to compete directly against other companies offering similar security products and services that will compete directly with our proposed products and services. We also expect that we will compete against established vendors within the IP-telephony, mobility, fixed-mobile convergence and unified communications markets. These companies may incorporate other competitive technologies into their product offerings, whether developed internally or by third parties. For the foreseeable future, substantially all of our competitors are likely to be larger, better-financed companies that may develop products superior to our proposed products, which could create significant competitive advantages for those companies. Our future success depends on our ability to compete effectively with our competitors. As a result, we may have difficulty competing with larger, established competitor companies. Generally, these competitors have:

 

 

These competitors are likely to command a larger market share than us, which may enable them to establish a stronger competitive position, in part, through greater marketing opportunities. Further, our competitors may be able to respond more quickly to new or emerging technologies and changes in user preferences and to devote greater resources to developing and operating networks of affinity websites. These competitors may develop products or services that are comparable or superior. If we fail to address competitive developments quickly and effectively, we may not be able to remain a viable entity.

 

If we are not able to adequately protect our patented rights, our operations would be negatively impacted.

 

Our ability to compete largely depends on the superiority, uniqueness and value of our technology and intellectual property. To protect our intellectual property rights, we rely on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws, confidentiality agreements with our employees and third parties, and protective contractual provisions. Further, we can give no assurances that infringement or invalidity claims (or claims for indemnification resulting from infringement claims) will not be asserted or prosecuted against us or that any such assertions or prosecutions will not materially adversely affect our business. Regardless of whether any such claims are valid or can be successfully asserted, defending against such claims could cause us to incur significant costs and could divert resources away from our other activities. In addition, assertion of infringement claims could result in injunctions that prevent us from distributing our products. Despite these efforts, any of the following may reduce the value of our intellectual property:

 

 

 

In addition, we may not be able to effectively protect our intellectual property rights in certain foreign countries where we may do business in the future or from which competitors may operate. While we have numerous pending international patents, obtaining such patents will not necessarily protect our technology or prevent our international competitors from developing similar products or technologies. Our inability to adequately protect our patented rights would have a negative impact on our operations and revenues.

 

In addition, legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability, and scope of protection of intellectual property rights in Internet-related businesses are uncertain and still evolving. Because of the growth of the Internet and Internet related businesses, patent applications are continuously and simultaneously being filed in connection with Internet-related technology. There are a significant number of U.S. and foreign patents and patent applications in our areas of interest, and we believe that there has been, and is likely to continue to be, significant litigation in the industry regarding patent and other intellectual property rights.

 

If we fail to meet our obligations to SAIC, we may lose our rights to key technologies on which our business depends.

 

Our business depends on our rights to and under the patents we obtained from SAIC. Our agreements with SAIC impose various obligations on us, including payment obligations and minimum royalties that we must pay to SAIC. If SAIC believes that we have failed to meet these obligations, SAIC could seek to limit or reacquire the assigned patent rights, which could lead to costly and time-consuming litigation and, potentially, a loss of our rights in these patents. During the period of any such litigation, our ability to carry out the development and commercialization of potential products could be significantly and negatively affected. The loss or restriction of our rights in our patents would result in our inability to continue our business.

 

When we attempt to implement our secure domain name registry services business, we may be subject to government and industry regulation and oversight which may impede our ability to achieve our business strategy.

 

The U.S. government has historically controlled the authoritative domain name system, or DNS, root server since the inception of the Internet. On July 1, 1997, the President of the United States directed the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to privatize the management of the domain name system in a manner that increases competition and facilitates international participation in its management.

 

On September 29, 2006, the U.S. Department of Commerce extended its delegation of authority by entering into a new agreement with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, a California non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina Del Rey, California. ICANN is responsible for managing the accreditation of registry providers and registrars that manage the assignment of top level domain names associated with the authoritative DNS root directory. Although other DNS root directories are possible to create and manage privately without accreditation from ICANN, the possibility of conflicting name and number assignments makes it less likely that users would widely adopt a top level domain name associated with an alternative DNS root directory provided by a non-ICANN-accredited registry service.

 

On June 26, 2008, ICANN announced that it will be relaxing its prior position and will begin to issue generic top level domain names, or gTLDs, more broadly than it had previously. ICANN expects to begin to take applications for gTLDs in April or May of 2009 with an application fee of $100,000 or more per application. ICANN expects the first of these customized gTLDs to be issued in the fourth quarter of 2009.

 

We are currently evaluating whether we will apply to become an ICANN-accredited registry provider with respect to one or more customized gTLDs, or create our own alternative DNS root directory to manage the assignment of non-standard secure domain names. We have not yet begun discussions with ICANN and we cannot assure you that we will be successful in obtaining ICANN accreditation for our registry service on terms acceptable to us or at all. Whether or not we obtain accreditation from ICANN, we will be subject to

the ongoing risks arising out of the delegation of the U.S. government’s responsibilities for the domain name system to the U.S. Department of Commerce and ICANN and the evolving government regulatory environment with respect to domain name registry services.

 

The laws governing online secure communications are largely unsettled, and if we become subject to various government regulations, costs associated with those regulations may materially adversely affect our business.

 

The current regulatory environment for our services remains unclear. We can give no assurance that our planned product offerings will be in compliance with local, state and/or U.S. federal laws or other laws. Further, we can give no assurance that we will not unintentionally violate such laws or that such laws will not be modified, or that new laws will be enacted in the future which would cause us to be in violation of such laws.

 

VoIP services are not currently subject to all of the same regulations that apply to traditional telephony. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has imposed some traditional telephony requirements on VoIP such as disability access requirements and other obligations. It is possible that federal and state legislatures may seek to impose increased fees and administrative burdens on VoIP, data and video providers. Such regulations could result in substantial costs depending on the technical changes required to accommodate the requirements, and any increased costs could erode the pricing advantage over competing forms of communication and adversely affect consumer adoption of VoIP products generally.

 

The use of the Internet and private IP networks to provide voice, video and other forms of real-time, two-way communications services is a relatively recent development. Although the provisioning of such services is currently permitted by U.S. law and is largely unregulated within the United States, several foreign governments have adopted laws and/or regulations that could restrict or prohibit the provisioning of voice communications services over the Internet or private IP networks. More aggressive domestic or international regulation of the Internet in general, and Internet telephony providers and services specifically, may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and future prospects, particularly if increased numbers of governments impose regulations restricting the use and sale of IP telephony services.

 

In addition to regulations addressing Internet telephony and broadband services, other regulatory issues relating to the Internet in general could affect our ability to provide our planned security solutions. Congress has adopted legislation that regulates certain aspects of the Internet, including online content, user privacy, taxation, liability for third-party activities and jurisdiction. In addition, a number of initiatives pending in Congress and state legislatures would prohibit or restrict advertising or sale of certain products and services on the Internet, which may have the effect of raising the cost of doing business on the Internet generally.

 

Telephone carriers have petitioned governmental agencies to enforce regulatory tariffs, which, if granted, would increase the cost of online communication, and such increase in cost may impede the growth of online communication and adversely affect our business.

 

The growing popularity and use of the Internet has burdened the existing telecommunications infrastructures, and many high traffic areas have begun to experience interruptions in service. As a result, certain local telephone carriers have petitioned governmental agencies to enforce regulatory tariffs on IP telephony traffic that crosses over the traditional telephone networks. If any of these petitions or the relief that they seek is granted, the costs of communicating via online could increase substantially, potentially adversely affecting the growth in the use of online secure communications. Any of these developments could have an adverse effect on our business.

 

The departure of Kendall Larsen, our Chief Executive Officer and President, and/or other key personnel could compromise our ability to execute our strategic plan and may result in additional severance costs to us.

 

Our success largely depends on the skills, experience and efforts of our key personnel, including Kendall Larsen, our Chief Executive Officer and President. We have no employment agreements with any of our key

executives that prevent them from leaving us at any time. In addition, we do not maintain key person life insurance for any of our officers or key employees. The loss of Mr. Larsen, or our failure to retain other key personnel, would jeopardize our ability to execute our strategic plan and materially harm our business.

 

We will need to recruit and retain additional qualified personnel to successfully grow our business.

 

Our future success will depend in part on our ability to attract and retain qualified operations, marketing and sales personnel as well as engineers. Inability to attract and retain such personnel could adversely affect our business. Competition for engineering, sales, marketing and executive personnel is intense, particularly in the technology and Internet sectors and in the regions where our facilities are located. We can provide no assurance that we will attract or retain such personnel.

 

Growth of internal operations and business may strain our financial resources.

 

We intend to significantly expand the scope of our operating and financial systems in order to build our business. Our growth rate may place a significant strain on our financial resources for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to, the following:

 

 

The addition of new infrastructure services, networks, vertical categories and affinity websites and the attention they demand, on top of the attention demanded by our pending litigation with Microsoft, may also strain our management resources. We cannot give you any assurance that we will adequately address these risks and, if we do not, our ability to successfully expand our business could be adversely affected.

 

If we expand into international markets, our inexperience outside the United States would increase the risk that our international expansion efforts will not be successful, which would in turn limit our prospects for growth.

 

We may explore expanding our business to outside the United States. Expansion into international markets requires significant management attention and financial resources. In addition, we may face the following risks associated with any expansion outside the United States:

 

 

These risks could harm our international expansion efforts, which would in turn harm our business prospects.

 

We will continue to incur significant costs as a result of being a public company.

 

As a public company, we will continue to incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that VirnetX did not incur as a private company. We expect the laws, rules and regulations governing public

companies to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make some activities more time-consuming and costly, and these costs could be material to us.

 

In connection with audits of our financial statements, our independent auditors identified material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting.

 

During the course of their audit of our 2007 financial statements, our independent auditors concluded that our internal controls over financial reporting suffered from certain “material weaknesses” as defined in standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

 

Farber Hass Hurley LLP noted the following matters involving our internal control over financial reporting that are considered to be material weaknesses in connection with their audit of our 2007 financial statements:

 

 

Prior to becoming our subsidiary, VirnetX was a development stage, privately held company that historically did not formalize or document internal controls over financial reporting, utilized the cash basis of accounting and was not required to have its financial statements audited or reviewed. Prior to becoming our subsidiary, VirnetX engaged independent auditors to audit its financial statements for certain prior periods. During the course of that audit, VirnetX’s independent auditors concluded that VirnetX’s internal controls over financial reporting suffered from certain “material weaknesses” and “significant deficiencies” over its internal controls over financial reporting as defined in standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Because VirnetX is now our wholly-owned subsidiary, the material weaknesses in VirnetX’s internal controls over financial reporting have resulted in our having material weaknesses and significant deficiencies in our internal controls over financial reporting. We have commenced a process of developing, adopting and implementing policies and procedures to address such material weaknesses, and management believes it has addressed the material weaknesses identified by Farber Hass Hurley LLP in the course of the audit of our 2007 financial statements. However, that process has been and may continue to be time consuming and costly and there can be no assurance that our audit firm will not continue to identify these and other material weaknesses and significant deficiencies in the course of the audit of our 2008 financial statements.

 

Our inability to become compliant with the internal controls requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act could negatively affect our stock price and limit our ability to raise additional financing.

 

Burr, Pilger & Mayer LLP, the independent audit firm retained to audit the 2005 and 2006 financial statements for our principal operating subsidiary resigned on October 26, 2007. The reason for the resignation was concern that we would not become compliant with the internal controls requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act by December 31, 2007 due to an insufficient quantity of experienced resources involved with the financial reporting and period closing process. Our management has concluded that, as of December 31, 2007, we were not compliant with these internal control requirements and, although we are pursuing compliance, there can be no assurance we will be successful in becoming compliant in future periods. Our lack of compliance with internal controls requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act could negatively affect our stock price, make us less attractive to our stockholders, jeopardize our listing status and limit our ability to raise additional financing.

Our ability to sell our solutions will be dependent on the quality of our technical support, and our failure to deliver high-quality technical support services could have a material adverse effect on our sales and results of operations.

 

If we do not effectively assist our customers in deploying our products, succeed in helping our customers quickly resolve post-deployment issues and provide effective ongoing support, or if potential customers perceive that we may not be able achieve the foregoing, our ability to sell our products would be adversely affected, and our reputation with potential customers could be harmed. In addition, as we expand our operations internationally, our technical support team will face additional challenges, including those associated with delivering support, training and documentation in languages other than English. As a result, our failure to deliver and maintain high-quality technical support services to our customers could result in customers choosing to use our competitors’ products instead of ours in the future.

 

Risks Related to Our Stock

 

Trading in our common stock is limited and the price of our common stock may be subject to substantial volatility.

 

Our common stock is listed on the American Stock Exchange, or AMEX, but its daily trading volume has been limited and sporadic. Also, there can be no assurance that we will remain listed on the AMEX. In the past several months, the market price of our common stock has experienced significant fluctuation. Between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008, the reported last sale price for our common stock has ranged from $7.06 to $0.89 per share. We expect the price of our common stock to continue to be volatile as a result of a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the following:

 

 

Purchasers in this offering will immediately experience substantial dilution in net tangible book value and may experience further dilution.

 

The public offering price of our common stock is substantially higher than $0.03, the net tangible book value per share of our common stock as of September 30, 2008. Therefore, if you purchase our common stock in this offering, and assuming no warrants are exercised, you will incur an immediate dilution of $1.60 in net tangible book value per share from the price you paid, based on an assumed public offering price of $1.75 per share.

 

The exercise of outstanding options to purchase shares of our common stock at a weighted average exercise price of $3.54 per share will result in further dilution.

 

Because ownership of our common shares is concentrated, you and other investors will have minimal influence on stockholder decisions.

 

As of December 31, 2008, our officers and directors beneficially owned an aggregate of 9,385,618 shares, or 26.16% of our outstanding common stock. In addition, a group of stockholders that, as of December 31, 2007, held 4,766,666 shares, or 13.7% of our outstanding common stock, have entered into a voting agreement with us that requires them to vote all of their shares of our voting stock in favor of the director nominees approved by our Board of Directors at each director election going forward, and in a manner that is proportional to the votes cast by all other voting shares as to any other matters submitted to the stockholders

for a vote. As a result, our existing officers and directors could significantly influence shareholder actions of which you disapprove or that are contrary to your interests. This ability to exercise significant influence could prevent or significantly delay another company from acquiring or merging with us.

 

Large portions of our outstanding common shares were released from contractual restrictions on July 5, 2008 and December 31, 2008, and sales of those shares may drive down the price of our stock.

 

Stockholders who received our common shares as a result of the merger between PASW, Inc. and VirnetX entered into a lock-up agreement restricting sales of their shares until July 5, 2008. Subsequently, certain of our stockholders signed a lock-up agreement with the underwriter in connection with our public offering in December 2007, which restricted sales of their shares until December 31, 2008. Sales of the shares released from lock-up on July 5, 2008 may have driven down the price of our stock. Certain of these additional shares were released after the first quarter of 2008, and certain of the shares were released on December 31, 2008. Sales of such additional shares may drive down the price of our stock. The 8,489,545 shares that became eligible for trading on December 31, 2008 represented 24.3% of our outstanding common stock as of December 31, 2009.

 

Our protective provisions could make it more difficult for a third party to successfully acquire us even if you would like to sell your shares to them.

 

We have a number of protective provisions that could delay, discourage or prevent a third party from acquiring control of us without the approval of our Board of Directors. Our protective provisions include:

 

 

 

Securities analysts may not cover our common stock and this may have a negative impact on our common stock’s market price.

 

The trading market for our common stock may depend on the research and reports that securities analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. There is no guarantee that securities analysts will cover our common stock. If securities analysts do not cover our common stock, the lack of research coverage may adversely affect our common stock’s market price. If we are covered by securities analysts, and our stock is downgraded, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases to cover us or fails to publish regularly reports on us, we could lose or fail to gain visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

 

We may seek to raise additional funds, finance acquisitions or develop strategic relationships by issuing capital stock that would dilute your ownership.

 

We have financed our operations, and we expect to continue to finance our operations, acquisitions and develop strategic relationships, by issuing equity or convertible debt securities, which could significantly reduce the percentage ownership of our existing stockholders. Furthermore, any newly issued securities could have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of our existing stock. Moreover, any issuances by us of equity securities may be at or below the prevailing market price of our stock and in any event may have a dilutive impact on your ownership interest, which could cause the market price of stock to decline. We may also raise additional funds through the incurrence of debt or the issuance or sale of other securities or instruments senior to our common shares. The holders of any debt securities or instruments we may issue would have rights superior to the rights of our common stockholders.

 

We have no current intention of declaring or paying any cash dividends on our common stock.

 

We do not plan to declare or pay any cash dividends on our common stock. Our current policy is to use all funds and any earnings in the operation and expansion of our business.

 

This prospectus includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this prospectus, including statements regarding our future financial position, business strategy and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect” and similar expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions described in “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. These risks are not exhaustive. Other sections of this prospectus include additional factors which could adversely impact our business and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for our management to predict all risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We cannot assure you that the events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

 

As used in this prospectus:

 

 

We estimate that the net proceeds to us from the sale of the offered securities, assuming gross proceeds of $5.3 million (which is the amount of gross proceeds received by us, based upon an assumed public offering price of $1.75 per share and associated warrants and assuming no warrants are exercised), will be approximately $4.1 million, after deducting the underwriter’s fees and expense reimbursement and other estimated expenses of this offering.

 

We expect to use all of the proceeds received from the sale of our shares of common stock and the associated warrants in this offering. We will have significant discretion in the use of any net proceeds raised in this offering less than all of the proceeds currently anticipated. Investors will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of the proceeds of any sale of the securities. We may invest the net proceeds received from this offering temporarily until we use them for their stated purpose. We anticipate that the net proceeds obtained from this offering will be used to fund development activities, pursue our litigation strategy and for general working capital needs. We anticipate that our existing cash and cash equivalents, together with net proceeds from this offering, at an assumed public offering price of $1.75 per share and associated warrants and assuming no warrants are exercised, may only be sufficient to fund our operations for the next five months. See the “Liquidity and Capital Resources” section in this prospectus for additional information.

 

We have not in the past paid, and do not expect for the foreseeable future to pay, dividends on our common stock. Instead, we anticipate that all of our earnings, if any, in the foreseeable future will be used for working capital and other general corporate purposes. Any future determination to pay dividends on our common stock will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon, among other factors, our results of operations, financial condition, capital requirements and contractual restrictions.

 

This report, including this Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations contains “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which provides a “safe harbor” for statements about future events, products and future financial performance that are based on the beliefs of, estimates made by and information currently available to our management. Except for the historical information contained herein, the outcome of the events described in these forward-looking statements is subject to risks and uncertainties. See “Risk Factors” for a discussion of these risks and uncertainties. The following discussion should be read in conjunction with and is qualified in its entirety by reference to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. Actual results and the outcome or timing of certain events may differ significantly from those stated or implied by these forward-looking statements due to the factors listed under “Risk Factors,” and from time to time in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. For this purpose, using the terms “believe,” “expect,” “expectation,” “anticipate,” “can,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “estimate,” “appear,” “based on,” “may,” “intended,” “potential,” “indicate,” “are emerging” and “possible” or similar statements are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results and the outcome and timing of certain events to differ materially from those stated or implied by these forward-looking statements. By making forward-looking statements, we have not assumed any obligation to, and you should not expect us to, update or revise those statements because of new information, future events or otherwise.

 

As used herein, “we,” “us,” “our,” or the “Company” means VirnetX Holding Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, including VirnetX, collectively, on a consolidated basis after giving effect to the merger.

 

Company Overview

 

We are a development stage company focused on commercializing a patent portfolio for securing real-time communications over the Internet. These patents were acquired by our principal operating subsidiary, VirnetX, from Science Applications International Corporation, or SAIC. SAIC is a FORTUNE 500^® scientific, engineering, and technology applications company that uses its deep domain knowledge to solve problems of vital importance to the nation and the world, in national security, energy and the environment, critical infrastructure, and health.

 

In December 2007, we closed an underwritten public offering of 3.45 million shares of our common stock, raising gross proceeds of $13.8 million before underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses. In connection with the 2007 offering, our common shares began trading on the American Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “VHC.” Our principal business activities to date are our efforts to commercialize our patent portfolio. We also conduct the remaining activities of PASW, Inc., which are generally limited to the collection of royalties on certain Internet-based communications by a wholly-owned Japanese subsidiary of ours pursuant to the terms of a single license agreement. The revenue generated by this agreement is not significant.

 

Although we believe we may derive revenues in the future from our principal patent portfolio and are currently endeavoring to develop certain of those patents into marketable products, we have not done so to date. Because we have limited capital resources, our revenues are insignificant and our expenses, including but not limited to those we expect to incur in our patent infringement case against Microsoft, are substantial, we may be unable to successfully complete our business plans, our business may fail and your investment in our securities may become worthless. See “Risk Factors” for additional information.

 

We are in the development stage and consequently we are subject to the risks associated with development stage companies including: the need for additional financings; the uncertainty that our patent and technology licensing program development efforts will produce revenue bearing licenses for us; the uncertainty that our development initiatives will produce successful commercial products as well as the marketing and

customer acceptance of such products; competition from larger organizations; dependence on key personnel; uncertain patent protection; and dependence on corporate partners and collaborators. To achieve successful operations, we will require additional capital to continue research and development and marketing efforts. No assurance can be given as to the timing or ultimate success of obtaining future funding.

 

Recent Developments

 

We announced our GABRIEL Connection Technology^tm on April 1, 2008. Our GABRIEL Connection Technology^tm is designed to secure all types of real-time communications over the Internet. This technology uses industry standard encryption methods with our patented DNS lookup mechanisms to create a secure communication link between users intending to communicate in real time over the Internet. This technology automatically encrypts data allowing organizations and individuals to establish communities of secure, registered users to transmit information between multiple devices and operating systems. These secure network communities, which we call secure private domains, or SPDs, are designed to be fully-customizable and support applications such as IM, VoIP, mobile services, streaming video, file transfer and remote desktop in a completely secure environment.

 

On May 14, 2008, we announced jointly with ipCapital Group the completion and results of ipCapital Group’s evaluation of our business model, product, patent portfolio, technology and software. The goal of the evaluation was to determine the potential commercialization value range to potential licensing partners in IP telephony, mobility, fixed-mobile convergence and unified communications markets. Based on ipCapital Group’s proprietary ipValue Model, the estimated potential commercialization value range of our business model, product, patent portfolio, technology and software indicates a significant market opportunity. We are currently in discussions with prospective customers in our target markets.

 

On March 31, 2008, Microsoft filed a motion to dismiss our patent infringement case against it. On June 3, 2008, the court denied Microsoft’s motion to dismiss. The court ruled that VirnetX has “constitutional standing” to sue for patent infringement. Also pursuant to the court decision, on June 10, 2008, SAIC joined us in our lawsuit as a plaintiff.

 

On August 26, 2008, we were awarded another U.S. patent, number 7,418,504, by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The new patent, titled “Agile network protocol for secure communications using secure domain names” describes a system for establishing a secure communication link using secure domain names. In conjunction with the issuance of this patent, we will seek to commercialize these exclusive rights in the United States by establishing the secure domain name registry service for the Internet. Additional information about the patent can be found on www.uspto.gov.

 

On October 23, 2008, our Board of Directors authorized the establishment of an advisory board and we concurrently entered into advisory board agreements with John Cronin, Paul Henderson, and John F. Slitz. The members of our advisory board collaborate with and provide advice and assistance to us, with a focus on facilitating the development and commercialization of our licensing program. We will strategically select members of our advisory board, including those appointed on October 23, 2008, who are well-informed and well-connected in fields relevant to our software and technology solutions, market direction, and future plans. Additional biographical information regarding the advisors appointed on October 23, 2008 is included under the section of this prospectus entitled “Management.”

 

On November 19, 2008, the court granted our motion to amend our infringement contentions, permitting us to provide increased specificity and citations to Microsoft’s proprietary documents and source code to support our infringement case against Microsoft’s accused products, including, among other things, Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003, Server 2008, Live Communication Server, Office Communication Server and Office Communicator. Microsoft was ordered to provide further information regarding its non-infringement contentions and invalidity contentions in light of the amended infringement contentions. Microsoft was also ordered to provide additional e-mail discovery to us. Microsoft was not required to search disaster recovery tapes for additional information.

Critical Accounting Policies

 

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reported period. The critical accounting policies we employ in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements are those which involve impairment of long-lived assets, income taxes, fair value of financial instruments and stock-based compensation.

 

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

 

We identify and record impairment losses on long-lived assets used in operations when events and changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset might not be recoverable, but not less than annually. Recoverability is measured by comparison of the anticipated future net undiscounted cash flows to the related assets’ carrying value. If such assets are considered to be impaired, the impairment to be recognized is measured by the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the projected discounted future net cash flows arising from the asset.

 

Income Taxes

 

We account for income taxes under the liability method. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the difference between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amounts expected to be realized.

 

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

 

Carrying amounts of our financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts payable, and accrued liabilities, approximate their fair values due to their short maturities.

 

Stock-Based Compensation

 

We account for share-based compensation in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards, or SFAS, No. 123 (revised 2004), “Share-Based Payment,” or SFAS 123(R), which requires the measurement and recognition of compensation expense in the statement of operations for all share-based payment awards made to employees and directors including employee stock options based on estimated fair values. Using the modified retrospective transition method of adopting SFAS 123(R), the financial statements presented herein reflect compensation expense for stock-based awards as if the provisions of SFAS 123(R) had been applied from the date of our inception.

 

In addition, as required by Emerging Issues Task Force Consensus No. 96-18, Accounting for Equity Instruments That Are Issued to Other Than Employees for Acquiring, or in Conjunction with Selling Goods or Services, we record stock and options granted to non-employees at fair value of the consideration received or the fair value of the equity investments issued as they vest over the performance period.

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

In December 2007, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, issued SFAS No. 141 (revised 2007), “Business Combinations” and SFAS No. 160, “Accounting and Reporting of Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements — an amendment to ARB No. 51.” These standards will significantly change the accounting and reporting for business combination transactions and noncontrolling (minority) interests in consolidated financial statements, including capitalizing at the acquisition date the fair value of acquired in-process research and development, and, remeasuring and writing down these assets, if necessary, in subsequent periods during their development. These new standards will be applied prospectively for business

combinations that occur on or after January 1, 2009, except that presentation and disclosure requirements of SFAS 160 regarding noncontrolling interests shall be applied retroactively. The implementation of these standards is not expected to have a material impact on the consolidated statements of operations or financial position.

 

In December 2007, the FASB ratified EITF No. 07-1, “Accounting for Collaborative Agreements.” This standard provides guidance regarding financial statement presentation and disclosure of collaborative agreements, as defined, which includes arrangements regarding the developing and commercialization of products and product candidates. EITF 07-01 is effective as of January 1, 2009. Implementation of this standard is not expected to have a material impact on the consolidated statements of operations or financial position.

 

In June 2007, the FASB ratified EITF 07-3, “Accounting for Nonrefundable Advance Payments for Goods or Services to be used in Future Research and Development Activities.” This standard requires that nonrefundable advance payments for goods and services that will be used or rendered in future research and development activities pursuant to executory contractual arrangements be deferred and recognized as an expense in the period the related goods are delivered or services are performed. EITF No. 07-3 became effective as of January 1, 2008 and it did not have a material impact on the consolidated statements of operations or financial position upon adoption.

 

In September 2006, the FASB issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 157, or SFAS No. 157, “Fair Value Measurements.” SFAS No. 157 provides guidance for using fair value to measure assets and liabilities. It also responds to investors’ request for expanded information about the extent to which companies measure assets and liabilities at fair value, the information used to measure fair value, and the effect of fair valued measurements on earnings. SFAS No. 157 applies whenever standards require (or permit) assets or liabilities to be measured at fair value, and does not expand the use of fair value in any new circumstances. SFAS No. 157 is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007, and interim periods within those fiscal years, with early adoption permitted, except for the impact of FASB Staff Position, or FSP, 157-2. FSP 157-2 deferred the adoption of SFAS 157 for non financial assets and liabilities until years ended after November 15, 2008. The Company must adopt these requirements no later than the first quarter of 2008.

 

On March 19, 2008, the FASB issued SFAS No. 161, “Disclosures about Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities,” an amendment of FASB Statement No. 133, or SFAS No. 161. SFAS No. 161 requires enhanced disclosures about an entity’s derivative and hedging activities. These enhanced disclosures will discuss (a) how and why an entity uses derivative instruments, (b) how derivative instruments and related hedged items are accounted for under Statement 133 and its related interpretations, and (c) how derivative instruments and related hedged items affect an entity’s financial position, financial performance, and cash flows. SFAS No. 161 is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after November 15, 2008. We have not determined the impact, if any SFAS No. 161 will have on our consolidated financial statements.

 

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2008
Compared with Nine Months Ended September 30, 2007

 

Results of Operations

 

Revenue — Royalties

 

Revenue generated increased to $107,955 for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 from $46,664 for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. Our revenue in 2008 was solely limited to the royalties earned under our single license agreement through our Japan subsidiary. We expect the revenue from this license to decrease substantially in the future. We do not intend to seek additional licenses or other revenue through our Japan subsidiary.

Research and Development Expenses

 

Research and development costs include expenses paid to outside development consultants and compensation related expenses for our engineering staff. Research and development costs are expensed as incurred.

 

Our research and development expenses increased by $165,095 to $633,335 for the nine months ended September 30, 2008, from $468,240 for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. This increase is primarily due to increased engineering activities for product development and the addition of one engineer, bringing the total number of engineers we employ to four. We expect research and development expenses to increase as employees are hired to provide in-house research and development. While we expect to use outside contractors for additional product development on a limited basis, we expect those costs to remain level or decline.

 

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

 

Selling, general and administrative expenses include management and administrative personnel, as well as outside legal, accounting, and consulting services.

 

Our selling, general and administrative expenses increased by $4,516,767 to $8,620,276 for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 from $4,103,509 for the nine month period ended September 30, 2007.

 

Within selling, general and administrative expenses, legal fees increased by $2,166,735 to $4,618,256 for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 from $2,451,521 for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. The increase in fees incurred was due primarily to our patent infringement litigation against Microsoft and the filing of a Form S-1 registration statement on September 24, 2008.

 

In addition, during the nine months ended September 30, 2008, we made our first minimum annual royalty payment of $50,000 to SAIC pursuant to the patent license and assignment agreement, as amended, by and between VirnetX and SAIC. As of September 30, 2008, we had not received any royalty revenue on the patents nor begun to amortize the related intangible asset.

 

Also within selling, general and administrative expenses, expenses increased by $2,350,032 to $4,002,020 for the nine months ended September 30, 2008, from $1,651,988 for the nine month period ended September 30, 2007. The increase was due principally to stock options granted to our employees and directors. In addition, we increased the number of employees and resources in order to comply with the requirements associated with being an SEC reporting company.

 

Once we begin to generate royalty revenues, we expect that our selling expenses will increase significantly as we must make payments to ipCapital Group and SAIC with respect to such revenues and as we begin to expand our sales force.

 

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2007 Compared to the Fiscal Year Ended
December 31, 2006 and Inception Through December 31, 2005

 

Results of Operations

 

Revenue — Royalties

 

We generated only nominal revenue of $74,866 during the period from July 5, 2007 (the closing date of the merger between us and VirnetX) to December 31, 2007. We generated no revenue prior to July 5, 2007. Our revenue in 2007 was solely limited to the royalties earned under our single license agreement through our Japan subsidiary. We expect the revenue from this license to decrease substantially in the future. We do not intend to seek additional licenses or other revenue through our Japan subsidiary.

 

Research and Development Expenses

 

Research and development costs include expenses paid to outside development consultants and compensation-related expenses for our engineering staff. Research and development costs are expensed as incurred.

Our research and development expenses increased from $56,000 for the period from August 2, 2005 (date of inception) to December 31, 2005 to $554,187 for 2006 and to $684,316 for 2007, primarily as a result of increased engineering activities for product development. We expect research and development expenses to increase as employees are hired to provide in-house research and development. While we expect to use outside contractors for additional product development on a limited basis, we expect those costs to remain level or decline.

 

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

 

Selling, general and administrative expenses include management and administrative personnel, as well as outside legal, accounting, and consulting services.

 

Our selling, general and administrative expenses increased from $826,478 for the period from August 2, 2005 (date of inception) to December 31, 2005, to $853,488 for 2006 and to $8,040,894 for 2007.

 

Within selling, general and administrative expenses, professional fees, primarily legal fees, increased from $12,481 in the period from August 2, 2005 (date of inception) to December 31, 2005 to $133,199 in 2006 and to $5,286,525 in 2007. The fees were incurred to pursue the litigation with Microsoft, assist in the merger between VirnetX and VirnetX Holding Corporation, audit the financial statements, assist in obtaining financing and to assist in contract negotiations and in general corporate matters. Legal fees may continue to increase as our patent infringement litigation moves forward and we incur the costs associated with being an SEC reporting company.

 

Also within selling, general and administrative expenses, compensation expenses changed from $799,920 in the period from August 2, 2005 (date of inception) to December 31, 2005 to $613,757 in 2006 and to $2,152,000 in 2007. The compensation expense was higher in 2005 than 2006 due to the higher proportion of stock based compensation expense in 2005. The increase from 2006 to 2007 is due principally to stock-based compensation expense related to stock options granted to our employees and directors and an increase in the number of our employees as we added resources to comply with reporting requirements.

 

Other selling, general and administrative expenses increased from $14,077 in the period from August 2, 2005 (date of inception) to December 31, 2005 to $106,532 in 2006 and to $602,639 in 2007 as we incurred costs related to building our infrastructure, litigation support and completing the merger.

 

Once we begin to generate royalty revenues, we expect that our selling expenses will increase significantly as we must make payments to ipCapital Group and SAIC with respect to such revenues and as we begin to expand our sales force.

 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

We are in the development stage and have raised capital since our inception through the issuance of our equity securities. As of September 30, 2008, we had approximately $2,260,170 in cash. We expect to finance future cash needs primarily through proceeds from equity or debt financings, loans, and/or collaborative agreements with corporate partners. We have used the net proceeds from the sale of common and preferred stock for general corporate purposes, which have included funding research and development, litigation efforts and working capital needs.

 

We anticipate that our existing cash and cash equivalents, together with net proceeds from this offering, at an assumed public offering price of $1.75 per share and associated warrants and assuming no warrants are exercised, may only be sufficient to fund our operations for the next five months.

 

To obtain additional capital when needed, we expect to evaluate alternative financing sources, including, but not limited to, the issuance of equity or debt securities, corporate alliances, joint ventures and licensing agreements; however, there can be no assurance that funding will be available on favorable terms, if at all. We cannot assure you that we will successfully commercialize our products and services or that our products and services will gain sufficient market acceptance to enable us to earn a profit. If we are unable to obtain additional capital or generate sufficient revenue from such efforts, we may be required to cease operations or

to reduce cash used in our business, including the termination of commercialization efforts that may appear to be promising, the sale of our patent portfolio or other assets, the abandonment of our litigation with Microsoft or others and the reduction in overall operating activities.

 

We believe that our 2009 average cash requirement to fund operations will average approximately $950,000 per month. We anticipate our monthly cash requirements will increase significantly as we increase our expenditures for:

 

 

We may exceed those projected amounts if we increase these expenditures in response to business conditions we do not currently expect or for other reasons. The process of developing new security solutions is inherently complex, time-consuming, expensive and uncertain. We must make long-term investments and commit significant resources before knowing whether our patented technology offerings will achieve market acceptance. We are unable to predict when we will begin to generate material net cash inflows from our patent and technology licensing program and our secure domain name registry service.

 

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

 

As of December 31, 2008, we did not have any off balance sheet arrangements except for operating lease commitments and the contingent portion of our royalty obligation under our royalty agreement with SAIC as discussed in the notes to the financial statements.

 

The Company

 

We are developing and commercializing software and technology solutions for securing real-time communications over the Internet. Our patented GABRIEL Connection Technology^tm combines industry standard encryption protocols with our patented techniques for automated domain name system, or DNS, lookup mechanisms, enabling users to create a secure communication link using secure domain names. We also intend to establish the exclusive secure domain name registry in the United States and other key markets around the world. Our software and technology solutions provide the security platform required by next-generation Internet-based applications such as instant messaging, or IM, voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP, mobile services, streaming video, file transfer and remote desktop. Our technology generates secure connections on a “zero-click” or “single-click” basis, significantly simplifying the deployment of secure real-time communication solutions by eliminating the need for end users to enter any encryption information.

 

We intend to license our patents and our GABRIEL Connection Technology^tm to original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, within the IP-telephony, mobility, fixed-mobile convergence and unified communications markets. The leaders in these markets include Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya Inc., Cisco Systems, Inc., Juniper Networks, Inc., LM Ericsson Telephone Company, Motorola, Inc., NEC Corporation, Nokia Corporation, Nortel Networks Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, among others. We also intend to license our patent portfolio, technology and software, including our secure domain name registry service, to communication service providers as well as to system integrators. We believe that the market opportunity for our software and technology solutions is large and expanding. As part of our licensing strategy, in March 2008, we hired ipCapital Group, a leading advisor on licensing technology and intellectual property, to initiate discussions with several major potential licensees. Since its founding in 1998, ipCapital Group has supported the licensing efforts of clients across a variety of technologies and markets, resulting in transactions representing several hundred million dollars of value. We are currently in discussions with prospective customers in our target markets.

 

Our portfolio of intellectual property is the foundation of our business model. We currently have 11 patents in the United States and eight international patents, as well as several pending U.S. and foreign patent applications. Our patent portfolio is primarily focused on securing real-time communications over the Internet, as well as related services such as the establishment and maintenance of a secure domain name registry. Our software and technology solutions also have additional applications in operating systems and network security. The core development team behind our patent portfolio, technology, and software has worked together for over ten years and is the same team that invented and developed this technology while working at Science Application International Corporation, or SAIC. SAIC is a FORTUNE 500^® scientific, engineering, and technology applications company that uses its deep domain knowledge to solve problems of vital importance to the nation and the world, in national security, energy and the environment, critical infrastructure, and health. In 2006, we acquired this patent portfolio, which now serves as the foundation of our planned licensing and service offerings. We expect to derive the majority of our revenue from license fees and royalties associated with these patents. We also intend to continue our research and development efforts to further strengthen and expand our patent portfolio, and over time, we plan to leverage this portfolio to develop a product suite that can be sold to enterprise customers and developers.

 

Industry Overview

 

The Internet is increasingly evolving into a rich medium used by individuals and businesses to conduct commerce, share information and engage in real-time communications including email, text messaging, IM, and voice and video calls. This communications experience is richer and more complex than ever before. Session initiation protocol, or SIP, was developed to enable the convergence of voice and data networks and today is the predominant industry standard for establishing multimedia communications over the Internet such as voice, video, instant messaging, presence information and file transfer. SIP, as well as other real-time

collaboration protocols such as XMPP, use DNS lookup as its primary means of connecting Internet devices but is an open architecture that remains inherently unsecure.

 

We believe that accessing a diversity of services from a single device, anytime and anywhere, and the ability to access these same services from a range of devices, are emerging as key market requirements. The portions of the IP-telephony, mobility, fixed-mobile convergence and unified communications markets that could benefit from our software and technology solutions are forecasted to grow from approximately $59 billion in total revenues in 2006 to approximately $162 billion in total revenues by 2011, representing a compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, of approximately 23%. This growing trend represents a significant opportunity for VirnetX to license its patent portfolio, technology and software, and establish its secure domain name registry.

 

IP Telephony

 

IP telephony includes technologies that use Internet Protocol’s packet-switched connections to exchange voice, fax, and other forms of information traditionally carried over the dedicated circuit-switched connections of the public switched telephone network, or PSTN. The adoption of IP telephony has helped businesses significantly lower network operating costs by using a common network for voice and data. As the workforce becomes increasingly dispersed, mobile features enabled by Internet protocol-based communications such as presence, unified messaging, peer-to-peer applications, find me/follow me, white-boarding and document sharing have become more commonplace. However, the development of the related security infrastructure has lagged behind, leaving next-generation networks vulnerable to a multitude of threats including man-in-middle, eavesdropping, domain hijacking, distributed denial of service, or DDoS, spam over Internet telephony, or SPIT, and spam over instant messaging, or SPIM. These threats continue to highlight the need for securing next-generation networks. As the use of IP telephony systems extends beyond the boundaries of an organization’s private network, security is likely to become an even bigger concern. Worldwide revenue from IP telephony products like IP-PBX including IP phones, service provider VoIP and IMS equipment, VoIP gateways and hosted VoIP services for businesses is forecasted to grow from approximately $15 billion in 2006 to approximately $43 billion in 2011, representing a CAGR of approximately 24%. We believe our unique and patented solution provides the robust security platform required for providing on-demand secure communication links between enterprises intending to communicate securely without manually configuring the connections. We believe a standard security solution such as ours will further accelerate the adoption of IP telephony products in the market and allow enterprises to take full advantage of these rich content applications and real-time communications over the Internet, thereby significantly increasing their return on investment.

 

Fixed-Mobile Convergence

 

Fixed-mobile convergence is an environment where wireline and wireless phones work together with Internet Protocol to deliver services (voice, video, data and combinations thereof) uniformly across multiple access networks, including, among others, WiMAX, WiFi, cellular and fixed. We believe that the fixed-mobile convergence infrastructure equipment revenue will grow from approximately $9 million in 2006 to over $406 million in revenue in 2011, representing a CAGR of approximately 116%. Additionally, according to a thought leadership paper entitled “Road to Full Convergence” published by Fixed-Mobile Convergence Alliance, or FMCA, an alliance of leading operators representing a customer base of over 850 million customers, consumers increasingly feel the need to be connected and have real-time access to media streams, blogs and breaking news. During the past ten years, users have become increasingly technologically sophisticated and are now demanding greater functionality from the Internet. Today, the Internet is used for commerce, social networking, online dating and a number of other forms of media-rich, real-time communication and collaboration. Mobile devices like dual mode (cellular/WiFi) phones lie at the center of this transition and have become the device with the closest proximity and relationship to the user. We believe that accessing a diversity of services from a single device, anytime and anywhere, and the ability to access the same services from a range of devices, is emerging as a key market requirement. Worldwide total dual mode cellular/WiFi phone revenue was approximately $17 billion in 2006 and is expected to grow to over $76 billion

in 2011, representing a CAGR of approximately 35%. The strong projected growth for converged cellular/WiFi phones and related services in enterprise and consumer market segments represents a significant opportunity for VirnetX’s patent portfolio, technology, and software to become the industry standard for securing real-time communication.

 

IP Mobility

 

Smartphones are multi-functional devices that handle a wide variety of business-critical applications and support increasingly complex functions including, enhanced data processing, Internet access, e-mail access, calendars and scheduling, contact management and the ability to view electronic documents. Users have continual access to these applications while on the move making them an increasingly essential business tool for the mobile worker. These devices enable mobile workers to have similar functionality inside or outside the office thereby increasing employee efficiency. However, it is critical that this mobile environment have the same level of security as an enterprise’s internal network. Worldwide revenue from IP mobility products like smartphones and mobile data cards is expected to grow from approximately $26 billion in 2006 to approximately $41 billion by 2011, representing a CAGR of approximately 9%. We believe in order to realize the full functionality of IP mobility, several challenges including security must be overcome. When users are mobile, connections and data need to cross multiple network boundaries, each of which poses a security threat. Wireless networks present unique threats because rogue users can enter the enterprise network through wireless access points that may not be sufficiently protected as part of an organization’s IT security protocols. Providing authenticated access to the wireless networks and enterprise applications through the wireless domain are important requirements and represent a significant market opportunity for VirnetX’s patented technology and secure domain names to provide users fully authenticated secure access on a “zero-click” or “single-click” basis.

 

Unified Communications

 

The need to enhance productivity is putting increasing demand on instant access to, and the management of, rapidly expanding real-time information. Mobile collaboration, and the ability to conduct business whether inside or outside of the office, are high priorities. Business and consumer users are nomadic and expect instant access everywhere. The ability to establish multiple secure simultaneous network connections and provide IP sessions with strong security and encryption will be critical to widespread deployment of next-generation networks. A shortcoming of this new communications environment is that the various modes of communication operate independently from one another and do not integrate easily, if at all. As the number of devices grows, individual points of contact multiply and communication becomes more sophisticated and increasingly vulnerable.

 

The idea behind unified communications is to organize the array of communication methodologies, integrating the various fragmented ways individuals communicate today into a single communications experience, ultimately increasing utility and productivity. The basic components comprising unified communications include: a directory for storing addresses, various modes of communication with each user/contact (desk phone, mobile phone, IM, etc.), message storage for all messages regardless of communication method and secure presence of a user’s status for each mode of communication (available, away, busy, etc.). Worldwide unified communications market generated approximately $377 million in revenue in 2006 and is forecasted to grow rapidly over the next few years generating approximately $813 million in revenue in 2011, representing a CAGR of approximately 17%. We believe the growth in unified communication products may not reach its full potential due to the lack of transparent and seamless security as users hesitate to place their presence information online for all to see and as organizations block access due to the lack of credentials verified by a neutral third party. Our solutions help address these concerns and should enable significant growth in the unified communications market.

Our Solutions

 

Our software and technology solutions, including our secure domain name registry, our patents and our GABRIEL Connection Technology^tm are designed to secure all types of real-time communications over the Internet. Our technology uses industry standard encryption methods with our patented DNS lookup mechanisms to create a secure communication link between users intending to communicate in real time over the Internet. Our technology can be built into network infrastructure, operating systems or silicon chips developed for a communication or computing device to secure real-time communications over the Internet between any number of devices. Our technology automatically encrypts data allowing organizations and individuals to establish communities of secure, registered users and transmit information between multiple devices, networks and operating systems. These secure network communities, which we call secure private domains, or SPDs, are designed to be fully-customizable and support rich content applications such as IM, VoIP, mobile services, streaming video, file transfer and remote desktop in a completely secure environment. Our approach is a unique and patented solution that provides the robust security platform required by these rich content applications and real-time communications over the Internet. The key benefits and features of our technology include the following:

 

 

Competitive Strengths

 

We believe the following competitive strengths will enable our success in the marketplace:

 

 

 

Our Strategy

 

Our strategy is to become the market leader in securing real-time communications over the Internet and to establish our GABRIEL Communications Technology^tm as the industry standard security platform. Key elements of our strategy are to:

 

 

In furtherance of our strategy, in March 2008, we engaged ipCapital Group to help us support and grow our licensing business. The ipCapital Group is a leading advisor on licensing technology and intellectual property. Through our alliance with ipCapital Group, we are actively engaged in discussions with several potential customers in our target markets. ipCapital Group is led by John Cronin. Prior to founding ipCapital Group, Mr. Cronin was a distinguished inventor at IBM for 17 years where he patented 100 inventions, published over 150 technical papers, received IBM’s “Most Distinguished Inventor Award,” and was recognized as IBM’s “Top Inventor.” As a member of the senior technical staff and the prestigious IBM Academy, Mr. Cronin led an intellectual asset team that spearheaded efforts to produce and manage the development of intellectual property at IBM. Eventually known as “The IBM Patent Factory,” this select group supported the division that increased IBM’s annual licensing revenue from $30 million in 1992 to more than $1 billion in 1997 when Mr. Cronin left IBM. Since its founding in 1998, ipCapital Group has supported the licensing efforts of clients across a variety of technologies and markets, resulting in transactions representing several hundred million dollars of value.

 

License and Service Offerings

 

We plan to offer a diversified portfolio of license and service offerings focused on securing real-time communications over the Internet, including:

 

 

 

 

Secure domain name registrar service customers will enter into a technology licensing and revenue sharing agreement with VirnetX whereby we will typically receive an up-front licensing fee for the secure domain name registrar technology, as well as ongoing annual royalties for each secure domain name issued by the customer.

 

 

Our research and development team was the team responsible for inventing the patents that form the foundation of the technology we intend to license to OEMs and service providers globally. This team has worked together for over ten years and, collectively, has over 120 years of experience in engineering and technology. We intend to leverage this experience and continue investing in research and development and, over time, expect to strengthen and expand our patent portfolio, technology, and software. While we are currently focused on securing real-time communications over the Internet and establishing the first and only secure domain name registry, we believe our existing and future intellectual property portfolio will extend to additional areas including, among others, network security and operating systems for fixed and mobile devices.

Customers

 

We are currently focused on commercializing our technology and are actively pursuing our first licensing agreements. We intend to license our patents and our GABRIEL Connection Technology^tm to original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, within the IP-telephony, mobility, fixed-mobile convergence and unified communications markets. We also intend to license our patent portfolio, technology and software, including our secure domain name registry service, to communication service providers as well as to system integrators.

 

Marketing and Sales

 

We plan to employ a leveraged, partner-oriented, marketing strategy for our patent and technology licensing program. The marketing strategy for our patent and technology licensing program will primarily be focused on OEMs. We have engaged ipCapital Group to accelerate our patent and technology licensing program with these customers and are actively pursuing our first licensing agreements.

 

We plan to directly market our domain name registry services to our service provider and system integrator customers. ipCapital Group is also focused on building our marketing efforts with these potential customers. Additionally, we hope to leverage our relationship with SAIC to extend our offering to departments and agencies within the federal government. SAIC is a FORTUNE 500^® scientific, engineering, and technology applications company that uses its deep domain knowledge to solve problems of vital importance to the nation and the world, in national security, energy and the environment, critical infrastructure, and health.

 

Once we begin generating revenue, we intend to build a sales force that will be responsible for managing existing accounts and pursuing licensing and sales opportunities with new customers.

 

Competition

 

We believe our technology and solutions will compete primarily against various proprietary security solutions. We group these solutions into three main categories:

 

 

Intellectual Property and Patent Rights

 

Our intellectual property is primarily comprised of trade secrets, patented know-how, issued and pending patents and technological innovation.

 

We have a strong portfolio comprised of 11 patents in the United States and eight international patents, as well as several pending U.S. and foreign patent applications. Our patent portfolio is primarily focused on securing real-time communications over the Internet, as well as related services such as the establishment and maintenance of a secure domain name registry. Our software and technology solutions also have additional applications in operating systems and network security.

 

We have included a list of our U.S. patents below. Each patent below is publicly accessible on the Internet website of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office at www.uspto.gov. The various terms of our issued U.S. and foreign patents will expire during the period from 2019 to 2024.

 

 

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in any of the Company’s filings under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that might incorporate future filings, including this registration statement, of which this prospectus forms a part, in whole or in part, the information set forth on the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or the USPTO Website, shall not be deemed to be a part of or incorporated by reference into any such filings. The Company does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the USPTO Website, or the adequacy of the USPTO Website, and expressly disclaims liability for errors or omissions on such website.

 

Assignment of Patents

 

Most of our issued patents were originally acquired from SAIC pursuant to an assignment agreement by and between VirnetX and SAIC dated December 21, 2006, and a patent license and assignment agreement by and between VirnetX and SAIC dated August 12, 2005, as amended on November 2, 2006, including documents prepared pursuant to the November amendment, and as further amended on March 12, 2008. VirnetX recorded the assignment from SAIC with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on December 21, 2006.

Key terms of these agreements are as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

If a reversion event occurs due to our failure to pay SAIC an aggregate cumulative amount of at least $7.5 million within seven years after January 1, 2007, then we will receive from SAIC a non-exclusive license to the reverting patents in our field of use.

 

 

Government Regulation

 

 

The laws governing online secure communications remain largely unsettled, even in areas where there has been legislative action. It may take years to determine whether and how existing laws governing intellectual property, privacy and libel apply to online media. Such legislation may interfere with the growth in use of online secure communications and decrease the acceptance of online secure communications as a viable solution, which could adversely affect our business.

 

 

Due to the Internet’s popularity and increasing use, new laws regulating secure communications may be adopted. These laws and regulations may cover, among other things, issues relating to privacy, pricing, taxation, telecommunications over the Internet, content, copyrights, distribution and quality of products and services. We intend to comply with all new laws and regulations as they are adopted.

 

 

The U.S. government has historically controlled the authoritative domain name system, or DNS, root server since the inception of the Internet. On July 1, 1997, the President of the United States directed the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to privatize the management of the domain name system in a manner that increases competition and facilitates international participation in its management.

 

 

On September 29, 2006, the U.S. Department of Commerce extended its delegation of authority by entering into a new agreement with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, a California non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina Del Rey, California. ICANN is responsible for managing the accreditation of registry providers and registrars that manage the assignment of top level domain names associated with the authoritative DNS root directory. Although other DNS root directories are possible to create and manage privately without accreditation from ICANN, the possibility of conflicting name and number assignments makes it less likely that users would widely adopt a top level domain name associated with an alternative DNS root directory provided by a non-ICANN-accredited registry service.

 

 

On June 26, 2008, ICANN announced that it will be relaxing its prior position and will begin to issue generic top level domain names, or gTLDs, more broadly than it had previously. ICANN expects to begin to take applications for gTLDs in April or May of 2009 with an application fee of $100,000 or more per application. ICANN expects the first of these customized gTLDs to be issued in the fourth quarter of 2009.

 

 

We are currently evaluating whether we will apply to become an ICANN-accredited registry provider with respect to one or more customized gTLDs, or create our own alternative DNS root directory to manage the assignment of non-standard secure domain names. We have not yet begun discussions with ICANN and we cannot assure you that we will be successful in obtaining ICANN accreditation for our registry service on terms acceptable to us or at all. Whether or not we obtain accreditation from ICANN, we will be subject to the ongoing risks arising out of the delegation of the U.S. government’s responsibilities for the domain name system to the U.S. Department of Commerce and ICANN and the evolving government regulatory environment with respect to domain name registry services.

 

 

Employees

 

 

As of December 31, 2008, we had 12 full-time employees.

 

 

Facilities

 

 

Our principal executive offices are located at 5615 Scotts Valley Drive, Suite 110, Scotts Valley, California 95066. Between July 1, 2008 and August 31, 2009, we will lease this property for approximately $3,150 per month. We have no other properties.

Corporate Overview and History

 

 

PASW, Inc. was incorporated in the State of California in November 1992. PASW, Inc. reincorporated in the State of Delaware in March 2007. From inception until January 2003, PASW, Inc. was engaged in the business of developing and licensing software that enabled Internet and web based communications. In January 2003, PASW, Inc. sold all of its operating assets and became a publicly traded company with limited operations.

 

 

VirnetX, Inc., which we refer to throughout this prospectus as VirnetX, was incorporated in the State of Delaware in August 2005. In November 2006, VirnetX acquired certain patents from SAIC. In July 2007, we effected a reverse merger between PASW, Inc., and VirnetX, which became our principal operating subsidiary. As a result of this merger, the former security holders of VirnetX came to own a majority of our outstanding common stock. On October 29, 2007, we changed our name from PASW, Inc. to VirnetX Holding Corporation.

MANAGEMENT

 

The following table sets forth the respective names, ages and positions of each of our directors, and executive officers as of December 31, 2008. There are no family relationships between any of the persons named below. All of our directors were elected to the Board of Directors on July 5, 2007.

 

Executive Officers and Directors

 

 

Kendall Larsen. Mr. Larsen has been our President since July 5, 2007 and has been our Chief Executive Officer and a Director since June 10, 2007. Mr. Larsen has held the same positions with VirnetX since its inception in August 2005. From April 2003 to July 2005, Mr. Larsen focused on pre-incorporation activities related to VirnetX. From April 2002 to April 2003, Mr. Larsen was a Limited Partner at Osprey Ventures, L.P., a venture fund that makes investments primarily in business and consumer technology companies. From October 2000 to April 2002, he was Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Security Products Division of Phoenix Technologies Ltd., a software and firmware developer. Prior to March 2003, and for a period of over 20 years, Mr. Larsen has held senior executive positions at various leading technology companies, including RSA Security, Inc., Xerox Corporation, Rolm/International Business Machines Corporation, Novell, Inc., General Magic, Inc., and Ramp Networks. Mr. Larsen holds a B.S. in Economics from the University of Utah.

 

William E. Sliney. Mr. Sliney has been our Chief Financial Officer on an interim and part-time basis since July 5, 2007. Mr. Sliney previously served as our President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary. He also served as our Chairman of the Board from October 2000 to August 2001 and was a member of our Board of Directors from October 2000 to July 5, 2007. From March 2004 to March 2006, he was also a director of Enterra Energy Trust (NYSE: ENT), an oil and gas trust based in Calgary, Alberta that acquires, operates, and exploits petroleum and natural gas assets in Canada and in the United States. Before joining us, Mr. Sliney was the Chief Financial Officer of Legacy Software Inc. from 1995 to 1998. From 1993 to 1994, Mr. Sliney was Chief Executive Officer of Gump’s, a high end department store retailer based in San Francisco. Mr. Sliney received an M.B.A. from the Anderson School at UCLA.

 

Edmund C. Munger. Mr. Munger has been a Director since July 5, 2007. He has been the Chief Technology Officer of VirnetX since July 2006 and a director of VirnetX since July 2006. From July 1987 to June 2006, Mr. Munger held various positions including Associate Division Manager, Division Manager, Chief System Architect and Assistant Vice President at Science Applications International Corporation, or SAIC. Prior to SAIC, Mr. Munger was the chief system architect for the FBI’s Counterterrorism Data Warehouse Prototype, and has worked on several advanced defense systems. Mr. Munger is named as a co-inventor on substantially all of the patents in the VirnetX patent portfolio. Mr. Munger received a M.S. in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from MIT and a B.S. in Naval Science from the United States Naval Academy.

 

Scott C. Taylor. Mr. Taylor has been a Director since July 5, 2007. Mr. Taylor has recently been promoted to Executive Vice President and General Counsel and had previously served as the Vice President of Corporate Legal Services for Symantec Corporation since February 2007. From January 2002 to February 2007, Mr. Taylor worked for Phoenix Technologies Ltd. Prior to 2002, Mr. Taylor has worked at Narus Inc, Symantec Corporation, Pillsbury Madison & Sutro LLP (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP), ICF Incorporated (now ICF Consulting) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in various roles.

Mr. Taylor was admitted to practice law in the State of California in 1993 and is an advisory Board Member at Langtech (IT infrastructure consulting and outsourced management). He is the Co-chair of General Counsel Committee (and former board member) of the Silicon Valley Campaign for Legal Services and maintains a Top Secret security clearance with the U.S. government. Mr. Taylor has a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University and a J.D. from George Washington University.

 

Michael F. Angelo. Mr. Angelo has been a Director since July 2007. He has been a Senior Architect at NetIQ Corporation since August 2005. From October 2003 to August 2005, Mr. Angelo was a Security Architect and Manager, Government Engagements SBU with Microsoft Corporation. From July 1989 to October 2003, Mr. Angelo was a Staff Fellow at both Hewlett Packard Company and Compaq Computer Corp. Mr. Angelo also served as Senior Systems Programmer at the John von Neumann National Supercomputer Center from September 1985 to July 1989. He was a Sub-Chairman of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Board of Assessment for Programs/National Research Council responsible for the CISD review, for fiscal years 2000-2001 and 2001-2002, and a technology contributor and participant on the U.S. Commerce Department’s Information Systems Technical Advisory Council, or ISTAC, from 1999 to the present. Mr. Angelo was named a distinguished lecturer for 2004 and 2005 by Sigma XI, the Scientific Research Society. He currently holds 49 patents, most in the area of security and authentication, and was also named the 2003 Inventor of the Year for the City of Houston by the Houston Intellectual Property Lawyers Association.

 

Thomas M. O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien has been a Director since July 2007. He has been Senior Vice President of Reit Management & Research LLC, an institutional manager of real estate, public real estate investment trusts, or REITs, and other public companies, since April 2006 and served as a Vice President from May 1996 to April 2006. During the last five years, Mr. O’Brien has held various positions with public entities managed by Reit Management or its affiliates, including serving as: (1) Chief Executive Officer and President of TravelCenters of America LLC (AMEX: TA), since February 2007 and a Managing Director since October 2006; (2) Chief Executive Officer and President of RMR Funds, a group of publicly traded closed-end investment management companies which invest in equity and fixed income securities in the United States and international real estate, hospitality and finance sectors, from 2003 to May 2007; and (3) Executive Vice President of Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE: HPT), a REIT that invests in hotels and travel centers, from 2002 to 2003 and Chief Financial Officer from 1996 to 2002. From 1988 to 1996, Mr. O’Brien was a senior manager with Arthur Andersen LLP where he served a number of public company clients. Mr. O’Brien graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business, with a B.S. in Economics.

 

Significant Employees

 

Robert Dunham Short III. Mr. Short has been the Chief Scientist for VirnetX since May 2006. From February 2000 to April 2007, Mr. Short was Assistant Vice President and Division Manager at Science Applications International Corporation, or SAIC. From 1994 to February 2000, he also held various other positions at SAIC. Prior to SAIC, he worked at ARCO Power Technologies, Inc. (Atlantic Richfield Petroleum), Sperry Corporate Technology Center and Sperry Research Center. Mr. Short is named as a co-inventor on substantially all of the patents in the VirnetX patent portfolio. He holds a TS/SCI security clearance. He has a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University along with a M.S. in Mathematics and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech.

 

Kathleen Sheehan. Ms. Sheehan is our Chief Administrative Officer. Prior to this position, she served as our Vice President, Administration and Human Resources since February 2005. From September 2004 until February 2005, Ms. Sheehan focused on equity raise and pre-incorporation activities related to VirnetX. Ms. Sheehan also served as the Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of VirnetX from March 2006 until July 2007. From September 2002 to September 2004, Ms. Sheehan was a Commercial Property Manager for JBD Properties, a real estate developer. Ms. Sheehan’s experience includes Executive Recruiter at Armen and Associates, Senior Director of Human Resources at CHW Advertising and Human Resource and Office Manager at Realtime Consulting, Inc./MODIS.

Sameer Mathur. Mr. Mathur has been the Vice President of Corporate Development and Marketing for VirnetX since July 2007. Prior to that date, Mr. Mathur was the Vice President of Business Development of VirnetX since April 2006. From March 2004 to April 2006, Mr. Mathur was Product Line Manager for SonicWALL Inc. From April 2003 to March 2004, Mr. Mathur was Senior Product Manager for Zone Labs Inc, a leading provider of Internet security software. From June 1996 to April 2003, he was Senior Product Marketing Manager of Phoenix Technologies Ltd. Prior to June 1996, Mr. Mathur worked in various engineering and marketing roles for OEC Japan, IBM Japan, and Pertech Computers Ltd. Mr. Mathur has a B.S. in Engineering from Gujarat University, India.

 

Dr. Victor Larson. Dr. Larson is the Director of Research and Development and a co-inventor of the VirnetX technologies. Prior to joining VirnetX, Dr. Larson worked for over 20 years doing system engineering, software design and technical program management under contract to many branches of the Department of Defense and the intelligence community. Dr. Larson worked on numerous advanced prototypes to implement new solutions to secure communications, remote sensing data extraction and processing, intelligence information extraction and data visualization. Dr. Larson holds a Ph.D. in Information Technology from George Mason University, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech.

 

Greg Wood. Mr. Wood has been with VirnetX since October 2007 and has been our Senior Director of Corporate Communications since May 2008. His executive brand experience includes McDonalds, Safeway, Nissan, Burger King, Taco Bell, Nutri-System, Supercuts and Pacific Gas & Electric with advertising agencies that include J. Walter Thompson, Chiat/Day, Tracy-Locke/BBDO, Hoefer Dietrich & Brown and Crossover Creative. Mr. Wood’s areas of marketing expertise include strategic branding, new business development, direct, licensing, product merchandising, consumer education, multicultural, investor relations and public relations. Mr. Wood holds a B.A. degree from the University of California, Davis.

 

Advisory Board Members

 

The VirnetX advisory board collaborates with and provides advice and assistance to the Company, with a focus on facilitating the development and commercialization of the Company’s licensing program.

 

John Cronin. Mr. Cronin has been a member of our advisory board since October 2008. He is Managing Director and Chairman of ipCapital Group. John spent over 17 years at IBM Corporation and became its top inventor with over 100 patents and 150 patent publications. He created and ran “The IBM Patent Factory” which was essential to helping IBM become number one in US patents and the team contributed to the start of and success of IBM’s successful licensing program. Mr. Cronin holds a BSEE, an MSEE, and a B.A. degree in Psychology from the University of Vermont.

 

Paul Henderson. Mr. Henderson has been a member of our advisory board since October 2008. He is Managing Director of Clarify LLC, a business advisory firm specializing in intellectual property strategy for both early stage and established companies. Prior to this, Mr. Henderson was Director of IP acquisition at Hewlett Packard, or HP. Mr. Henderson also managed HP’s Product Generation Consulting Group, providing internal advisory and consulting services to senior leaders of HP businesses. Mr. Henderson holds MBAs from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and Columbia Graduate School of Business and a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington.

 

John F. Slitz. Mr. Slitz has been a member of our advisory board since October 2008. He is the founder of World Series of Golf, Inc. and has been its Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2003. Mr. Slitz was also Vice President of IBM from 2005 to 2007. From 2002 to 2005, Mr. Slitz served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Systems Research and Development (acquired by IBM in 2005). From 2000 to 2002, he was a venture partner at Osprey Ventures, focusing on investments in middleware software companies. Mr. Slitz was also a principal at Slitz & Company, a consulting firm to software and Internet companies. From 1997 to 1999, he was Senior Vice President of Marketing with Novell, Inc. Mr. Slitz holds a B.A. in Economics from SUNY at Cortland, MALS in Psychology/Sociology from the Graduate Faculty New School for Social Research, and an MBA in Management from Farleigh-Dickinson University.

 

Objectives and Philosophy of Executive Compensation

 

We maintain a peer-based executive compensation program comprised of multiple elements. We conducted our benchmarking analysis by evaluating:

 

 

The primary objectives of our peer-based executive compensation program are:

 

 

To achieve these objectives, we implement and maintain compensation plans that tie a substantial portion of each executive’s overall compensation to key strategic financial and operational goals such as the establishment and maintenance of key strategic relationships, the development of our product candidates, the identification and advancement of additional product candidates, and the performance of our common stock price. Our compensation committee’s approach emphasizes the setting of compensation at levels the committee believes are competitive with executives in other companies of similar size and stage of development operating in the information technology industry while taking into account our relative performance and our own strategic goals.

 

Tax Deductibility of Executive Compensation

 

Our compensation committee and our Board have considered the potential future effects of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code on the compensation paid to our executive officers. Section 162(m) disallows a tax deduction for any publicly held corporation for individual compensation exceeding $1.0 million in any taxable year for any of our executive officers, unless compensation is performance based. In approving the amount and form of compensation for our executive officers, our compensation committee will continue to consider all elements of the cost to us of providing such compensation, including the potential impact of Section 162(m).

 

Role of Executive Officers

 

Our compensation committee exclusively makes all compensation decisions with regard to our chief executive officer and it approves recommendations regarding compensation for our other employees. Our president and chief executive officer generally attends compensation committee meetings and sometimes makes recommendations to our compensation committee regarding the amount and form of the compensation

of the other executive officers and key employees. He is not present for any of the executive sessions or for any discussion of his own compensation.

 

Elements of Executive Compensation

 

Executive compensation consists of the following elements:

 

 

 

 

Stock Ownership Guidelines

 

We have not adopted stock ownership guidelines and our 2007 Stock Plan has provided the principal method for our executive officers to acquire equity in the Company. We currently do not require our directors or executive officers to own a particular amount of our common stock. Our compensation committee is satisfied that stock and option holdings among our directors and executive officers are sufficient at this time to provide motivation and to align this group’s interests with those of our stockholders.

 

Perquisites

 

Our executive officers participate in the same group insurance and employee benefit plans as our other salaried employees. At this time we do not provide special benefits or other perquisites to our executive officers.

 

Change of Control Arrangements

 

Our 2007 Stock Plan allows our Board to determine the terms and condition of awards issued thereunder. Our Board has made the determination that all options issued under our 2007 Stock Plan will include the provision that in the event of a “Change of Control” (as defined in our 2007 Stock Plan), all unvested shares underlying the option will vest and become exercisable immediately prior to the consummation of such Change of Control transaction.

 

Named Executive Officers’ Compensation

 

Base Salary

 

Mr. Larsen is our president and chief executive officer, as well as a director. At a compensation committee meeting held on December 31, 2007, Mr. Larsen’s base salary was increased for the fiscal year 2008 from $245,000 in 2007 to $275,000 in 2008. In approving such an increase to Mr. Larsen’s base salary for the fiscal year 2008, the compensation committee conducted the benchmarking analysis discussed above and acknowledged the past services of Mr. Larsen in connection with the merger and the increased responsibilities of Mr. Larsen in performing the duties of a principal executive officer of a fully-operating public company following the merger. Relative to the benchmarking surveys described above, his base salary is above the 75th percentile for early and late stage private companies, below our key comparable company and between the median and the 75th percentile of our public company peers. Mr. Larsen, a founder of VirnetX, has driven the organization’s performance, leading it from inception, through the early start-up phase and through several rounds of financing. Mr. Larsen will be critical to our ability to pursue our licensing strategy going forward.

 

Mr. Sliney is our chief financial officer and his base salary is below the median of early stage private companies, below the median for late stage private companies and our public company peers, and below our key comparable company. In establishing Mr. Sliney’s base salary, our compensation committee primarily considered Mr. Sliney’s experience in public company work, his transactional and strategic skills, his level of responsibility, past contributions to our performance and expected contributions to our further success.

Discretionary Annual Incentive Bonus

 

Actual bonus awards for each Named Executive Officer are listed in “Executive Compensation — Summary Compensation Table” on page 32 of this report. No bonuses were paid to Mr. Larsen or Mr. Sliney in the fiscal year 2008.

 

Long-Term Incentive Program

 

In determining the amount of the stock option grants made to Mr. Larsen and to Mr. Sliney in 2008, our compensation committee evaluated data derived from the same benchmarking analysis described above that was used to establish cash compensation amounts.

 

In 2008, Mr. Larsen was not granted any options such that the aggregate of all of his equity incentive shares outstanding under our 2007 Stock Plan represents a fully diluted percentage ownership of the Company that was below the median for early stage private companies, and between the median and the 75th percentile for late stage private companies. In addition, the Black-Scholes option value of all of his equity incentive shares outstanding under our 2007 Stock Plan is higher than our key comparable company and between the median and 75th percentile of our public company peers.

 

In 2008, Mr. Sliney was not granted any options such that the aggregate of all of his equity incentive shares outstanding under our 2007 Stock Plan represents a fully diluted percentage ownership of the Company that was below the median for early stage private companies, and at the median for late stage private companies. In addition, the Black-Scholes option value of all of his equity incentive shares outstanding under our 2007 Stock Plan is below our key comparable company and between the median and 75th percentile of our public company peers.

 

Summary Compensation Table

 

The table that follows shows the compensation earned for the last three (3) fiscal years by our “Named Executive Officers,” as defined in Item 407(m) of Regulation S-K:

 

 

 

 

2008 Grants of Plan-Based Awards

 

The following table reflects that no grants of stock options were made during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008 to our Named Executive Officers:

 

 

Outstanding Equity Awards at 2008 Fiscal Year-End

 

The following table sets forth, for each of our Named Executive Officers, the number and exercise price of unexercised options, and the number and market value of stock awards that have not vested as of the end of fiscal year 2008:

 

 

Option Exercises and Stock Vested in Fiscal Year 2008

 

The following table shows the options exercised and stock vested held by our Named Executive Officers in the fiscal year 2008:

 

Pension Benefits for Fiscal Year 2008

 

None.  We do not maintain a pension plan as such term is described in Item 402(h) of Regulation S-K.

 

Nonqualified Deferred Compensation for Fiscal Year 2008

 

None.  We do not maintain a nonqualified defined contribution or other nonqualified deferred compensation plan as such term is described in Item 402(i) of Regulation S-K.

 

Transactions with Related Persons

 

Our Code of Ethics requires each of our directors, employees, officers, and consultants to disclose any significant interest in any related party transaction and that interest must be approved in writing by our legal department. If it is determined that the transaction is required to be reported under SEC rules, then the transaction will be subject to the review and approval by our audit committee of our Board. A copy of our Code of Ethics is available on our website at www.virnetx.com in the “Corporate Governance” link under the “Investors” tab.

 

The charter of our audit committee affirms that one of our audit committee’s responsibilities is to review and approve material related party transactions and related party transactions that are required to be disclosed in our public filings. We annually require each of our directors and executive officers to complete a directors’ and officers’ questionnaire that elicits information about related party transactions as such term is defined by SEC rules and regulations. These procedures are intended to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest on the part of a director, employee, or officer.

 

The following is a description of each transaction in the last fiscal year and each currently proposed transaction in which:

 

 

Stock Option Grants

 

We have granted stock options to our executive officers and certain of our directors under our 2007 Stock Plan.

 

In connection with the consummation of the merger between VirnetX Holding Corporation and VirnetX, we assumed certain obligations under an Advisory Service Agreement dated November 6, 2006 by and between VirnetX and MDB Capital Group LLC, as amended by the terms of that certain Release Agreement between the same parties, which was executed on July 5, 2007. MDB Capital Group was a stockholder of VirnetX prior to the merger and Christopher Marlett, a principal at MDB Capital Group, is currently one of our stockholders as a result of the merger. Christopher Marlett, as of December 31, 2008 beneficially owned approximately 5.14% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock. MDB Capital Group’s affiliates include Anthony DiGiandomenico and Robert Levande, each of whom is one of our existing stockholders as a result of the merger.

Additionally, in connection with the consummation of the merger, we entered into the following agreements and transactions with certain of our directors, executive officers and 5% stockholders:

 

Indemnification Agreements

 

We entered into Indemnification Agreements with each person who became one of VirnetX Holding Corporation’s directors or officers in connection with the consummation of the merger, pursuant to which, among other things, we will indemnify such directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law, and provide for advancement of legal expenses under certain circumstances.

 

Registration Rights Agreement

 

Effective as of July 5, 2007, we entered into a Registration Rights Agreement with all of the persons who were issued shares of our common stock and securities convertible into shares of our common stock in the merger.

 

Pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement, commencing six months after the closing of the merger, the security holders have a right to request that we register for resale (a) the shares of common stock issued to such persons in the merger and (b) the shares of common stock underlying convertible notes, options and warrants issued to such persons in the merger. We are required to cause each such registration statement filed as a result of such requests to be declared effective under the Securities Act as promptly as possible after the filing thereof and to keep such registration statement continuously effective under the Securities Act until the earlier of (1) the date when all shares included in the registration statement have been sold; (2) the date that all shares can be sold pursuant to Rule 144; and (3) one year from the effective date of such registration statement.

 

Additionally, the Registration Rights Agreement provides the security holders with “piggyback” registration rights such that at any time there is not an effective registration statement covering the common stock described above and we file a registration statement relating to an offering for our own account or the account of others under the Securities Act, other than in connection with any acquisition of any entity or business or equity securities issuable in connection with stock options or other employee benefit plans and other than in connection with this offering, then we are required to send notice to the security holders of such intended filing at least 20 days prior to filing such registration statement and we are required to automatically include in such registration statement all shares of common stock issued in the merger and all shares of common stock underlying convertible notes, options and warrants issued in the merger.

 

Each security holder also has indemnified us, our directors, officers, agents, and certain other control persons against damages arising out of or based upon: (1) such security holder’s failure to comply with the prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act or (2) such security holder’s provision of any untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact to be contained in any registration statement or prospectus, or arising out of or relating to any such security holder’s omission or alleged omission of a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements contained in such registration statement or prospectus not misleading.

 

Lock-Up Agreements

 

 

Effective as of July 5, 2007, we entered into a lock-up agreement with certain of the persons who were issued shares of our common stock in the merger and all persons who exchanged VirnetX options for VirnetX Holding Corporation options in the merger, pursuant to which we imposed certain restrictions on the sale of our common stock or any securities convertible into or which may be exercised to purchase any shares of our common stock acquired in connection with the merger for a period of at least 12 months after the consummation of the merger. That lock-up agreement expired on July 5, 2008. In addition, all of our officers and directors, as well as certain of our stockholders, entered into a lock-up agreement with the underwriter of our December 2007 public offering, which restricts sales of their shares until December 31, 2008. Certain of those shares are now no longer subject to the transfer restrictions of such underwriter’s lock-up agreement from our December 2007 offering. Only shares beneficially owned by our directors and officers, which

represent 26.16% of our outstanding common stock as of December 31, 2008, currently remain subject to the provisions of such underwriter’s lock-up agreement.

 

Transactions Between the Company and William E. Sliney

 

 

From March 2002 until July 5, 2007, the Company utilized the office space and equipment of its then officer, William E. Sliney, at no cost. Management estimates the value thereof to be immaterial.

 

Promoters and Control Persons

 

 

Glenn Russell was a founder and owned approximately 60% of the outstanding shares of VirnetX Holding Corporation immediately prior to the merger between VirnetX Holding Corporation and VirnetX. Mr. Russell received no compensation in connection with the merger between VirnetX and VirnetX Holding Corporation. Mr. Russell’s historical compensation from VirnetX Holding Corporation in his capacity as its Chief Executive Officer prior to the merger has been disclosed in VirnetX Holding Corporation’s reports filed with the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

 

 

On December 12, 2007, we entered into a Voting Agreement with the following stockholders that collectively own 4,766,666 shares of our common stock, representing approximately 13.66% of our 34,899,985 shares outstanding as of December 31, 2008:

 

 

 

The Voting Agreement requires each of the above stockholders to vote all of the shares of our voting stock held by them from time to time in favor of the directors nominated by our Board of Directors and in a manner proportional to all the other votes cast by shares present and voting with respect to any other matter brought to the stockholders for a vote. This voting arrangement is an initial and continuing listing requirement for our common stock to be and remain listed on the American Stock Exchange.

 

Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance

 

Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our officers and directors, and persons who own more than 10% of a registered class of our equity securities, to file reports of ownership on Form 3 and changes in ownership on Form 4 or Form 5 with the SEC. Such officers, directors, and 10% stockholders are also

required by SEC rules to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file. Based solely on our review of the copies of such forms we received, we believe that during the 2007 fiscal year all Section 16(a) filing requirements applicable to our officers, directors, and 10% stockholders were satisfied.

 

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management

 

The following table sets forth the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of December 31, 2008 by:

 

 

Except as otherwise noted and subject to applicable community property laws, the persons named in this table have, to our knowledge, sole voting and investing power for all of the shares of common stock held by them.

 

This table lists applicable percentage ownership based on 34,899,985 shares of common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2008. Options to purchase shares of our common stock that are exercisable within 60 days of December 31, 2008 are deemed to be beneficially owned by the persons holding these options for the purpose of computing the number of shares owned by, and percentage ownership of, that person, but are not treated as outstanding for the purpose of computing any other person’s number of shares owned or ownership percentage.

Except as indicated by footnote, and subject to applicable community property laws, each person identified in the table possesses sole voting and investment power with respect to all capital stock shown to be held by that person. The address of each executive officer and director, unless indicated otherwise, is c/o VirnetX Holding Corporation, 5615 Scotts Valley Drive, Suite 110, Scotts Valley, California 95066.

 

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Our Corporate Governance Guidelines

 

Our Board of Directors has established guidelines that it follows in matters of corporate governance. The following is a summary of those guidelines. A complete copy of the documents underlying our guidelines is available online at www.virnetx.com in the “Corporate Governance” link under the “Investors” tab, or in paper form upon request to our corporate secretary.

 

Role of the Board

 

Our directors are appointed to oversee the actions and results of our management. They were selected for their educational background, professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom and ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders. Their responsibilities include:

 

 

Composition of the Board of Directors

 

Mix of Independent Directors and Officer-Directors

 

Our Board has determined that it is beneficial for us and our stockholders to have a Board with a majority of independent directors and for our chief executive officer to also be a Board member. Other officers may, from time to time, be Board members, but no officer other than the chief executive officer should expect to be elected to our Board by virtue of his or her office.

 

Selection of Director Candidates

 

Our Board is responsible for selecting candidates for Board membership and for establishing the criteria to be used in identifying potential candidates. Our Board delegates the screening process to the nominating and corporate governance committee.

 

Independence Determinations

 

Our Board annually determines the independence of directors based on a review by the directors and the nominating and corporate governance committee. No director is considered independent unless our Board has determined that he or she has no material relationship with the Company, either directly or as a partner, stockholder, or officer of an organization that has a material relationship with the Company.

 

We have adopted the following standards for director independence in compliance with the American Stock Exchange and Item 407 of Regulation S-K’s corporate governance listing standards:

 

 

 

Our Board has determined that Michael F. Angelo, Thomas M. O’Brien and Scott C. Taylor meet the aforementioned independence standards. There are no family relationships among any of our directors or executive officers.

 

Director Compensation and Equity Ownership

 

Our compensation committee annually reviews director compensation. Any recommendations for changes are made to our full Board by our compensation committee.

 

In order to align directors’ incentives with the creation of stockholder value, we believe that directors should hold meaningful equity ownership positions in the Company; accordingly, a significant portion of overall director compensation is in the form of equity of the Company.

 

Board Meetings and Committees and Annual Meeting Attendance

 

Our Board held a total of nine meetings and acted by written consent four times during the calendar year ended December 31, 2008. Mr. O’Brien attended eight out of the nine Board meetings; otherwise, every director has attended every Board meeting and the meetings of all committees to which he is a member. Since June 29, 2007, our Board had a standing audit committee, compensation committee and nominating and corporate governance committee. Our audit committee charter, compensation committee charter, and nominating and corporate governance committee charter, each as adopted by the Board, are posted on our website at www.virnetx.com in the “Corporate Governance” link under the “Investors” tab.

 

We encourage, but do not require, our Board members to attend our annual meetings of stockholders. We expect all Board members to be present at this Annual Meeting.

 

Stockholders’ Communications Process

 

Any of our stockholders who wish to communicate with our Board, a committee of our Board, our non-management directors as a group, or any individual member of our Board, may send correspondence to our

Corporate Secretary at VirnetX Holding Corporation, 5615 Scotts Valley Drive, Suite 110, Scotts Valley, California 95066.

 

Our Corporate Secretary will compile and submit on a periodic basis all stockholder correspondence to our entire Board, or, if and as designated in the communication, to a committee of our Board, our non-management directors as a group, or an individual Board member. The independent directors of our Board review and approve the stockholders’ communications process periodically to ensure effective communication with stockholders.

 

Code of Ethics

 

We have adopted a Code of Ethics for all employees and directors to prohibit conflicts of interest between our employees and the Company. A copy of our Code of Ethics is available on our website at http://www.virnetx.com/ in the “Corporate Governance” link under the “Investors” tab, or by writing to us at VirnetX Holding Corporation, 5615 Scotts Valley Drive, Suite 110, Scotts Valley, California 95066, Attention: Investor Relations.

 

We intend to post on our website any amendment to, or waiver from, a provision of our Code of Ethics within four (4) business days following the date of such amendment or waiver. We do not anticipate any such amendments or waivers.

 

Committees of the Board of Directors

 

 

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Matters

 

Membership and Independence

 

Our nominating and corporate governance committee met once during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008.

 

Messrs. Angelo, O’Brien and Taylor, each of whom is a non-employee member of our Board, comprise our nominating and corporate governance committee. Mr. Angelo is the chairman of our nominating and corporate governance committee. Our Board has determined that each of Messrs. Angelo, O’Brien and Taylor meet current SEC and American Stock Exchange requirements for independence. The nominating and corporate governance committee is responsible for, among other things:

 

 

A more detailed description of our nominating and corporate governance committee’s functions can be found in our nominating and corporate governance committee charter at www.virnetx.com in the “Corporate Governance” link under the “Investors” tab, or by writing to us at VirnetX Holding Corporation, 5615 Scotts Valley Drive, Suite 110, Scotts Valley, California 95066, Attention: Investor Relations.

 

Stockholder Recommendations and Nominees

 

The policy of our nominating and corporate governance committee is to consider properly submitted recommendations for candidates to our Board from stockholders. In evaluating such recommendations, our nominating and corporate governance committee seeks to achieve a balance of experience, knowledge, integrity, and capability on our Board and to address the membership criteria set forth under “Director Qualifications” below. Any stockholder recommendations for consideration by our nominating and corporate governance committee should include the candidate’s name, biographical information, information regarding any relationships between the candidate and the Company within the last three years, at least three personal references, a statement of recommendation of the candidate from the stockholder, a description of Common Stock beneficially owned by the stockholder, a description of all arrangements between the candidate and the recommending stockholder and any other person pursuant to which the candidate is being recommended, a written indication of the candidate’s willingness to serve on our Board, and a written indication to provide such other information as the nominating and corporate governance committee may reasonably request.

 

Stockholder recommendations to our Board should be sent to our Corporate Secretary at VirnetX Holding Corporation, 5615 Scotts Valley Drive, Suite 110, Scotts Valley, California 95066.

 

Director Qualifications

 

Our nominating and corporate governance committee evaluates and recommends candidates for membership on our Board consistent with criteria established by the committee. Our nominating and corporate governance committee has not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met by each candidate for our Board or specific qualities or skills that are necessary for one or more of the members of our Board to possess. However, our nominating and corporate governance committee, when considering a potential non-incumbent candidate, will factor into its determination the following qualities of a candidate: educational background, professional experience, including whether the person is a current or former chief executive officer or chief financial officer of a public company or the head of a division of a large international organization, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom and ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders.

 

Identification and Evaluation of Nominees for Directors

 

Our nominating and corporate governance committee uses a variety of methods for identifying and evaluating nominees for director. Our nominating and corporate governance committee regularly assesses the appropriate size and composition of our Board, the needs of our Board and the respective committees of our Board and the qualifications of candidates in light of these needs. Candidates may come to the attention of the nominating and corporate governance committee through stockholders, management, current members of our Board, or search firms. The evaluation of these candidates may be based solely upon information provided to the committee or may also include discussions with persons familiar with the candidate, an interview of the candidate, or other actions the committee deems appropriate, including the use of third parties to review candidates.

 

Audit Committee Matters

 

Membership and Independence

 

Our audit committee met eight times during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008.

Messrs. Angelo, O’Brien and Taylor, each of whom is a non-employee member of our Board, comprise our audit committee. Mr. O’Brien is the chairman of our audit committee. Our Board has determined that Messrs. Angelo, O’Brien and Taylor each satisfy the requirements for independence under the rules and regulations of the American Stock Exchange and the SEC. Our Board has also determined that Mr. O’Brien qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in the SEC rules and satisfies the financial sophistication requirements of the American Stock Exchange. Our audit committee was established in accordance with Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act.

 

Responsibilities

 

Our audit committee’s responsibilities include the following:

 

 

A more detailed description of our audit committee’s functions can be found in our audit committee charter at www.virnetx.com in the “Corporate Governance” link under the “Investors” tab, or by writing to us at VirnetX Holding Corporation, 5615 Scotts Valley Drive, Suite 110, Scotts Valley, California 95066, Attention: Investor Relations.

 

Compensation Committee Matters

 

Membership and Independence

 

Messrs. Angelo, O’Brien and Taylor, each of whom is a non-employee member of our Board, comprise our compensation committee. Mr. Taylor is the chairman of our compensation committee. Our Board has determined that each member of our compensation committee meets the requirements for independence under the rules of the American Stock Exchange, and is a “non-employee director” within the meaning of the Exchange Act, and is an “outside director,” within the meaning of the Code.

 

Scope of Authority

 

Our compensation committee’s responsibilities include the following:

 

 

Except with respect to determining the chief executive officer’s compensation, the Committee may delegate its authority to a subcommittee of the committee and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, the

committee may delegate to officers or appropriate supervisory personnel the authority to grant stock awards to non-executive, non-director employees.

 

A more detailed description of our compensation committee’s functions can be found in our compensation committee charter at www.virnetx.com in the “Corporate Governance” link under the “Investors” tab, or by writing to us at VirnetX Holding Corporation, 5615 Scotts Valley Drive, Suite 110, Scotts Valley, California 95066, Attention: Investor Relations.

 

Our Compensation Committee’s Processes and Procedures

 

Our compensation committee’s primary processes for establishing and overseeing executive compensation include:

 

 

Directors’ compensation is established by our Board upon the recommendation of our directors and our compensation committee.

 

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

 

None of Messrs. Angelo, O’Brien and Taylor, who comprise our compensation committee, has served as one of our officers or employees in the past year. Other than our subsidiaries, no executive officer currently serves, or in the past year has served, as a member of a board or compensation committee of another entity where that entity’s executive officer serves on our Board or compensation committee.

 

On a post-split basis, we are authorized to issue an aggregate of 110,000,000 shares of capital stock, 100,000,000 of which are shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 10,000,000 of which are shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. As of December 31, 2008, on a post-split basis, 34,899,985 shares of our common stock were issued and outstanding and no shares of our preferred stock were issued and outstanding.

 

Common Stock

 

All outstanding shares of our common stock are of the same class and have equal rights and attributes.

 

Voting.  The holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote per share on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders. Our common stock does not have cumulative voting rights. Persons who hold a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock entitled to vote on the election of directors can elect all of the directors who are eligible for election.

 

Dividends.  Subject to the preferential dividend rights and consent rights of any series of preferred stock that we may from time to time designate, holders of our common stock are entitled to share equally in dividends, if any, as may be declared from time to time by our Board of Directors out of funds legally available.

 

Liquidation and dissolution.  In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, subject to the preferential liquidation rights of any series of preferred stock that we may from time to time designate, the holders of our common stock are entitled to share ratably in all of our assets remaining after payment of all liabilities and preferential liquidation rights.

 

Preferred Stock

 

Our Certificate of Incorporation authorizes the issuance of shares of preferred stock with designations, rights and preferences determined from time to time by our 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.

 

The descriptions of our common stock and preferred stock above are only summaries and are qualified in their entirety by the provisions of our Certificate of Incorporation and By-Laws, copies of which are attached or referenced as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.

 

Warrants Issued in Previous Securities Offerings

 

On a post-split basis, warrants for the issuance of 266,667 shares of our common stock were issued in July 2007 and exercisable at $0.75 per share. All of these warrants were net exercised by the warrant holders on January 21, 2008 and March 26, 2008. The net aggregate shares issued in the amount of 232,771 are issued and outstanding.

 

In addition, we issued warrants to purchase 300,000 shares of our common stock at $4.80 per share to the underwriter of our December 2007 stock issuance. Those warrants are first exercisable in 2008 and expire in 2012. These warrants provide for anti-dilution protection in the event of stock splits and dividends.

 

Warrants to be Issued as Part of this Offering

 

We are offering three types of warrants in this offering: warrants to purchase 1,500,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $2.00 per share; warrants to purchase 1,500,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $3.00 per share; and warrants to purchase 1,500,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $4.00 per share. We refer to the three types of warrants, collectively, as the warrants. The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agency agreement between Corporate Stock Transfer, Inc., as warrant agent, and us. Each form of warrant issued pursuant to this offering is an exhibit to

the warrant agency agreement. You should review a copy of the warrant agency agreement, which has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants. The following is a brief summary of the warrants and is subject in all respects to the provisions contained in the warrants.

 

Each warrant represents the right to purchase 0.5 additional shares of our common stock at an exercise price equal to either $2.00, $3.00, or $4.00, subject to adjustment as described below, and depending on the particular warrant. Each warrant may be exercised on or after the applicable closing date of this offering through and including the 18-month anniversary of the first closing date. The warrants may be exercised by surrendering to the warrant agent the warrant certificate evidencing the warrants to be exercised with the accompanying exercise notice, appropriately completed, duly signed and delivered, together with cash payment of the exercise price.

 

Upon surrender of the warrant certificate, with the exercise notice appropriately completed and duly signed and cash payment of the exercise price, on and subject to the terms and conditions of the warrant, we will deliver or cause to be delivered, to or upon the written order of such holder, the number of whole shares of common stock to which the holder is entitled, which shares may be delivered in book-entry form. If less than all of the warrants evidenced by a warrant certificate are to be exercised, a new warrant certificate will be issued for the remaining number of warrants.

 

Holders of warrants will be able to exercise their warrants only if a registration statement relating to the shares of common stock underlying the warrants is then in effect, or the exercise of such warrants is exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. A holder of a warrant also will be able to exercise warrants only if the shares of common stock underlying the warrant are qualified for sale or are exempt from qualification under the applicable securities or blue sky laws of the states in which such holder (or other persons to whom it is proposed that shares be issued on exercise of the warrants) reside.

 

All warrants will include a company call feature that will give the company the right to require the holder of the warrant to exercise the warrant when the Company’s average closing stock price on the American Stock Exchange, or any successor national securities exchange thereto, equals or exceeds two times the applicable warrant’s purchase price on any five consecutive trading days.

 

The exercise price and the number of shares underlying the warrants are subject to appropriate adjustment in the event of stock splits, stock dividends on our common stock, stock combinations or similar events affecting our common stock. In addition, in the event we consummate any merger, consolidation, sale or other reorganization event in which our common stock is converted into or exchanged for securities, cash or other property or we consummate a sale of substantially all of our assets, then following such event, the holders of the warrants will be entitled to receive upon exercise of the warrants the kind and amount of securities, cash or other property which the holders would have received had they exercised the warrants immediately prior to such reorganization event.

 

No fractional shares of common stock will be issued in connection with the exercise of a warrant. In lieu of fractional shares, we will round up such fractional interest to the next whole share. A warrant may be transferred by a holder without our consent, upon surrender of the warrant to us, properly endorsed (by the holder executing an assignment in the form attached to the warrant). The warrants will not be listed on any securities exchange or automated quotation system and we do not intend to arrange for any exchange or quotation system to list or quote the warrants.

 

Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware Law, our Certificate of Incorporation and our By-Laws

 

We have a number of protective provisions that could delay, discourage or prevent a third party from acquiring the company without the approval of our Board of Directors. Our protective provisions include:

 

 

 

Transfer Agent, Registrar and Warrant Agent

 

The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock and warrant agent for our warrants sold in this offering is Corporate Stock Transfer, Inc. of Denver, Colorado.

 

Market Information

 

Our common stock was previously traded in the over-the-counter market on the Nasdaq OTC Bulletin Board under the symbols “VNXH” and prior to that “PASW.” On December 26, 2007, our common stock began trading on the AMEX under the symbol “VHC.” The following table shows the price range of our common stock, as reported on the OTC Bulletin Board and on the American Stock Exchange for each quarter ended during the last two fiscal years and the first three quarters of fiscal 2008 on a post-split basis.

 

 

Holders

 

As of December 31, 2008, there were 96 holders of record of our common stock.

 

Dividends

 

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock, and do not anticipate paying cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Our current policy is to retain earnings, if any, to fund operations, and the development and growth of our business. Any future determination to pay cash dividends will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will be dependent upon our financial condition, operation results, capital requirements, applicable contractual restrictions, restrictions in our organizational documents, and any other factors that our Board of Directors deems relevant.

 

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

 

On April 17, 1998, when we operated under the name PASW, Inc., we adopted an equity incentive program. Under this program, we may grant incentive stock options, non-statutory stock options, stock appreciation rights, stock bonuses and rights to acquire restricted stock to employees, directors and consultants (except for incentive stock options which may only be granted to employees). The number of shares of common stock initially reserved for issuance under this program was 150,580 shares post-split. As of September 30, 2008, there were no outstanding options or rights under this program and we don’t intend to grant any equity incentives in the future under this plan.

 

In connection with the merger between VirnetX Holding Corporation and VirnetX, our Board of Directors approved our adoption of the VirnetX 2005 Stock Plan, as amended, to cover grants of stock options and restricted stock units to our employees and consultants. Our Board of Directors renamed this stock plan the VirnetX 2007 Stock Plan. The total number of shares of our common stock reserved for issuance under the VirnetX 2007 Stock Plan is 11,624,469, of which as of October 31, 2007, there were 4,028,418 shares remaining available for future grants. Our stockholders approved the VirnetX 2007 Stock Plan at our 2008 annual stockholders’ meeting.

 

We believe Microsoft Corporation is infringing certain of our patents. Accordingly, we commenced a lawsuit against Microsoft on February 15, 2007 by filing a complaint in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division. Pursuant to the complaint, we allege that Microsoft infringes two of our U.S. patents: U.S. Patent No. 6,502,135 B1, entitled “Agile Network Protocol for Secure Communications with Assured System Availability,” and U.S. Patent No. 6,839,759 B2, entitled “Method for Establishing Secure Communication Link Between Computers of Virtual Private Network Without User Entering Any Cryptographic Information.” On April 5, 2007, we filed an amended complaint specifying certain accused products at issue and alleging infringement of a third, recently issued U.S. patent: U.S. Patent No. 7,188,180 B2, entitled “Method for Establishing Secure Communication Link Between Computers of Virtual Private Network.” We are seeking both damages, in an amount subject to proof at trial, and injunctive relief. Microsoft answered the amended complaint and asserted counterclaims against us on May 4, 2007. Microsoft counterclaimed for declarations that the three patents are not infringed, are invalid and are unenforceable. Microsoft seeks an award of its attorneys’ fees and costs. We filed a reply to Microsoft’s counterclaims on May 24, 2007. Discovery has begun, a Markman hearing on claim construction is scheduled for February 2009, and the trial is scheduled to begin on October 12, 2009. We have served our infringement contentions directed to certain of Microsoft’s operating system and unified messaging and collaboration applications. On March 31, 2008, Microsoft filed a Motion to Dismiss for lack of standing, which was denied by the court pursuant to an order dated June 3, 2008. Also pursuant to that court decision, on June 10, 2008, SAIC joined us in our lawsuit as a plaintiff. On November 19, 2008, the court granted our motion to amend our infringement contentions, permitting us to provide increased specificity and citations to Microsoft’s proprietary documents and source code to support our infringement case against Microsoft’s accused products, including, among other things, Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003, Server 2008, Live Communication Server, Office Communication Server and Office Communicator. Microsoft was ordered to provide further information regarding its non-infringement contentions and invalidity contentions in light of the amended infringement contentions. Microsoft was also ordered to provide additional e-mail discovery to us. Microsoft was not required to search disaster recovery tapes for additional information.

 

Except for those filing that are “under seal” because they contain confidential information, filings made by the parties to the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division in connection with this lawsuit are publicly available, after registration and payment of a fee, on the Public Access to Court Electronic Records, or PACER, website. In order to review such filings made in connection with this lawsuit, please follow the following instructions:

 

 

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in any of the Company’s filings under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that might incorporate future filings, including this registration statement, of which this prospectus forms a part, in whole or in part, the information set forth on the Public Access to Court Electronic Records, or PACER, website shall not be deemed to be a part of or incorporated by reference into any such filings. The Company does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the PACER website, or the adequacy of the PACER website and expressly disclaims liability for errors or omissions on such website.

 

Because we have determined that Microsoft’s alleged unauthorized use of our patents would cause us severe economic harm and the failure to cause Microsoft to discontinue its use of such patents could result in

the termination of our business, we have dedicated a significant portion of our economic resources, to date, to the prosecution of the Microsoft litigation and expect to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

 

Although we believe Microsoft infringes three of our patents and we intend to vigorously prosecute this case, at this stage of the litigation the outcome cannot be predicted with any degree of reasonable certainty. Additionally, the Microsoft litigation will be costly and time-consuming, and we can provide no assurance that we will obtain a judgment against Microsoft for damages and/or injunctive relief. Should the District Court issue a judgment in favor of Microsoft, and in connection with such judgment determine that we had acted in bad faith or with fraudulent intent, or we were otherwise found to have exhibited inequitable conduct, the Court could award attorney fees to Microsoft, which would be payable by us.

 

In the near term, we will dedicate significant time and resources to the Microsoft litigation. The risks associated with such dedication of time and resources are set forth in the “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus.

 

One or more potential intellectual property infringement claims may also be available to us against certain other companies who have the resources to defend against any such claims. Although we believe these potential claims are worth pursuing, commencing a lawsuit can be expensive and time-consuming, and there is no assurance that we will prevail on such potential claims. In addition, bringing a lawsuit may lead to potential counterclaims which may preclude our ability to commercialize our initial products, which are currently in development.

 

Currently, we are not a party to any other pending legal proceedings, and are not aware of any proceeding threatened or contemplated against us by any governmental authority or other party.

 

 

Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law provides that a corporation may indemnify directors and officers as well as other employees and individuals against expenses including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement in connection with various actions, suits or proceedings, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative other than an action by or in the right of the corporation, a derivative action, if they acted in good faith and in a manner they reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, if they had no reasonable cause to believe their conduct was unlawful. A similar standard is applicable in the case of derivative actions, except that indemnification only extends to expenses including attorneys’ fees incurred in connection with the defense or settlement of such actions, and the statute requires court approval before there can be any indemnification where the person seeking indemnification has been found liable to the corporation. The statute provides that it is not exclusive of other indemnification that may be granted by a corporation’s certificate of incorporation, bylaws, agreement, a vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise.

 

Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that we will indemnify and hold harmless, to the fullest extent permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, as amended from time to time, each person that such section grants us the power to indemnify.

 

The Delaware General Corporation Law permits a corporation to provide in its certificate of incorporation that a director of the corporation shall not be personally liable to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except for liability for:

 

 

Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, none of our directors will be personally liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director. Any repeal or modification of this provision will be prospective only and will not adversely affect any limitation, right or protection of a director of our company existing at the time of such repeal or modification.

 

Subject to the terms and conditions of an underwriting agreement, Gilford Securities Incorporated has agreed to purchase 3,000,000 shares of common stock, warrants to purchase 1,500,000 shares at an exercise price of $2.00 per share, warrants to purchase 1,500,000 shares at an exercise price of $3.00 per share and warrants to purchase 1,500,000 shares at an exercise price of $4.00 per share from us. The underwriting agreement will provide that our underwriter is committed to purchase all shares and associated warrants offered in this offering, other than those covered by the over-allotment option described below. In the underwriting agreement, our underwriter’s obligations are subject to approval of certain legal matters by their counsel, including, without limitation, the authorization and validity of the securities offered hereby, and of various other customary conditions, representations and warranties contained in the underwriting agreement, such as receipt by our underwriter of officers’ certificates and legal opinions of our counsel.

 

The shares of common stock sold in this offering will be listed on the American Stock Exchange, subject to notice of issuance. We do not intend to apply for listing of the warrants offered in this offering on any securities exchange.

 

Commissions and Discounts

 

Our underwriter has advised us that it proposes to offer the shares and associated warrants directly to the public at the price set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and to certain dealers that are members of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., or FINRA, at such price less a concession not in excess of $      per share and associated warrants. Our underwriter may allow, and the selected dealers may reallow, a concession not in excess of $      per share and associated warrants to certain brokers and dealers. After the offering, the offering price and concessions and discounts to brokers and dealers and other selling terms may from time to time be changed by our underwriter.

 

We have agreed to pay our underwriter a cash payment of 7% of the aggregate public offering price of the shares and associated warrants offered (including any shares and associated warrants offered upon exercise of the over-allotment option). We have agreed to pay our underwriter up to $35,000 as a reimbursement for our underwriter’s travel, due diligence and other road show expenses and expenses incurred by the underwriter’s counsel. In addition, we have paid approximately $186,000 in fees and expenses of our underwriter’s outside legal counsel for services performed as placement agent’s counsel for a best-efforts placement of equity securities by us that we did not pursue.

 

The following table sets forth the public offering price and underwriting discount to be paid by us to our underwriter and the proceeds, before expenses, to us. The underwriting agreement between the underwriter and us has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement filed with the SEC in connection with this offering. This information assumes either no exercise or full exercise by our underwriter of its over-allotment option.