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04.17.2024

Dear Investors –

The time has come to defend our patents. We currently have 47 issued patents around the world and over 30 pending. If you recall, I noted in a prior update on December 27, 2023 that the time was nearing for us to draw a line in the sand and defend our patents. In our patent portfolio, we have 3 patents that we believe are being infringed. These 3 patents include claims directed to the automated management of parking lot, in which we have created new technology, and all evidence indicate that at least a few companies have simply copied key elements of our protected ideas. If you've forgotten how our parking lot technology works, here is our product video to refresh your memory.  https://youtu.be/5a4devYiknk.

Last year, these companies were just a nuisance, and we really did not run into them much, but that is no longer the case. Up to this point, we have just been like a dog at the end of the leash barking our heads off, and it has worked to some extent. But it is time the dog gets off the leash and start biting. An executive at one of these companies approached me at a parking show in Texas and looked me right in the eye and said, “I am violating your patents and I don’t care.” They have gotten very bold; I get that they just think we are going to sit and bark because barking is cheap to do, but biting someone on the ass costs a lot of money. They have made a fatal error in their judgment. We have spent more than [$100 million] dollars over the years inventing, developing, and commercializing our enforcement technologies. If they don’t think we are going to spend money to defend it, they are dead wrong.

We started looking for a litigation team 6 months ago. We looked at the biggest firms in the country all the way down to small boutique firms that only specialize in patent litigation in our tech sector. After talking to pretty much everyone we could find, we really liked this team based in Seattle. After several meetings, our management team felt that they were the best firm for the job. The firm is called Aeon Law, and they have been around for almost 20 year.  They are laser-focused on patent prosecution and litigation, particularly in the technology sector, and have a great reputation and an impressive track record.

They feel that our patents are very strong, and their confidence is through the roof. In their almost 20 years of being in business, they have never taken one dollar that involves majority of their payments in equity… until now. Lawsuits are expensive, time-consuming, and a distraction, to say the least. We really don’t want to get in the middle of one and will do our best to try to avoid one. We are going to offer a nice little carrot upfront, but if they don’t take it, they are going to get the stick right between the eyes.

There is no point in investing in patents unless you are going to enforce them. We have put this off as long as we can, but we cannot put it off anymore. There is a great scene from a Christopher Walken movie about a lion and a bunch of jackals. It reminds me of our current situation, as the jackals are biting us, and they are starting to eat our food. Here is a link to the movie clip. It is worth watching. https://youtu.be/a5RUbAP3xlQ?si=RLDvh2gLq4ISKSR2.

If you have any questions, as always, just call me. I have been advised to only discuss our patent defense at a very high level and avoid diving into the nitty-gritty details for obvious reasons, but I can assure you we have a detailed and comprehensive plan, and we plan to execute it.

Hold on to your hat!

Joe