NOTE 12. - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

License agreements and sponsored research – The Company has entered into various consulting and license growing agreements (the “Agreements”) with various counter parties in connection with the Company’s business relating to tobacco. The schedule below summarizes the Company’s commitments, both financial and other, associated with each Agreement. Costs incurred under the Agreements are generally recorded as research and development expenses on the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss).

​

​

​

​

Litigation - The Company is subject to litigation arising from time to time in the ordinary course of its business. The Company does not expect that the ultimate resolution of any pending legal actions will have a material effect on its consolidated results of operations, financial position, or cash flows. However, litigation is subject to inherent uncertainties. As such, there can be no assurance that any pending legal action, which the Company currently believes to be immaterial, will not become material in the future. In accordance with applicable accounting guidance, the Company establishes an accrued liability for litigation and regulatory matters when those matters present loss contingencies that are both probable and estimable. In such cases, there may be an exposure to loss in excess of any amounts accrued. When a loss contingency is not both probable and estimable, the Company does not establish an accrued liability. As a litigation or regulatory matter develops, the Company, in conjunction with any outside counsel handling the matter, evaluates on an ongoing basis whether such matter presents a loss contingency that is probable and estimable. If, at the time of evaluation, the loss contingency related to a litigation or regulatory matter is not both probable and estimable, the matter will continue to be monitored for further developments that would make such loss contingency both probable and estimable. When a loss contingency related to a litigation or regulatory matter is deemed to be both probable and estimable, the Company will establish an accrued liability with respect to such loss contingency and record a corresponding amount of related expenses. The Company will then continue to monitor the matter for further developments that could affect the amount of any such accrued liability. 

​

Insurance Litigation 

​

In November 2022, there was a fire at the Company’s Grass Valley manufacturing facility in Oregon, which resulted in a total loss of the facility. The Company submitted an insurance claim with Dorchester Insurance Company, Ltd. (“Dorchester”) for casualty loss and business interruption coverage which was acknowledged on November 23, 2022. Dorchester funded $5,000 of casualty loss insurance but has failed to issue any payments in connection with the Company’s business interruption claim.

​

      On July 19, 2023, the Company filed a Complaint against Dorchester in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon, Pendleton Division, Case No. 2:23-cv-01057-HL. The parties fully resolved the matter for $9,500 pursuant to a Settlement Agreement and Release executed on September 18, 2025. Payment was received on October 29, 2025.

​

Cookies Retail Products Dispute

​

On October 23, 2024, Cookies Retail Products, LLC (“CRP”) filed a complaint against the Company, a subsidiary of the Company (“PTB”), Cookies Creative Consulting & Promotions, Inc. (“CCC”), Cookies SF, LLC (“CSF”), GMLC WLNS, LLC (“GMLC”) and other defendants, Case No. 24STCV27828, Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.

The complaint alleges three counts against all defendants: Count I for Breach of Contract related to a Settlement Agreement entered into between CRP, Paul Rock, CSF, GMLC, CCC and PTB (the “Settlement Agreement”), and a Purchase Agreement entered into between PTB and CRP (the “Purchase Agreement”); Count II for Fraud – False Promise related to the Settlement Agreement and Purchase Agreement; and Count III for Violation of Penal Code Section 496 related to the Purchase Agreement and a Licensing and Distribution Agreement between GMLC, CCC and PTB. CRP is seeking monetary damages.

CRP filed a first amended complaint on March 12, 2025, restating the same three counts. The Company filed a Special Motion to Strike the first amended complaint on March 27, 2025. At an April 28, 2025 hearing, the Court granted the Company’s Special Motion to Strike as to Count II and Count III in CRP’s first amended complaint, leaving only Count I. CRP will not have an opportunity to amend its complaint to replead Count II or Count III. On May 15, 2025, the Court also denied an application that had been filed by CRP for a right to attach order and writ of attachment against PTB. Discovery is ongoing.

Employee Dispute

On November 19, 2024, a former employee of the Company filed a complaint against the Company, two subsidiaries of the Company, and numerous other former subsidiaries of the Company that were part of the hemp/cannabis division that was divested in December 2023. The complaint was filed in the Circuit Court of the State of Oregon, County of Multnomah, Case No. 24CV55110.

The complaint alleges three counts against all defendants: Count I for Premises Liability; Count II for Personal Injury – Employer Liability Law, and Count III for Negligence/Negligence Per Se, all related to the November 2022 fire at the Company’s Grass Valley manufacturing facility in Oregon. The former employee is seeking monetary damages.

The Company has moved to dismiss all counts of the complaint directed to the Company and its subsidiaries. In the event the counts are not dismissed, the Company believes it has substantial defenses to the claims and intends to defend itself vigorously.