CONSULTING AGREEMENT
Exhibit 10.1
THIS CONSULTING AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”) is made and entered into as of January 15, 2009,
(the “Effective Date”), by and between Cardiogenesis Corporation, a California corporation (the
“Company”) and Xxxx X. XxXxxxxxx (“Consultant”).
In consideration of the mutual covenants and agreements hereinafter set forth, the parties to
this Agreement agree as follows:
1. Consulting Engagement.
(a) Engagement. The Company hereby engages Consultant, and Consultant hereby accepts
such engagement, to perform, during the term and subject to the conditions of this Agreement, such
consulting services as are contemplated by this Agreement.
(b) Consulting Services. Consultant shall consult with and render to the Company
services relating corporate strategy development and execution, financing and investor relations.
Consultant shall render such services at such times and places as reasonably determined by
Consultant. Consultant shall take direction from, and report to the Board of Directors of the
Company. Consultant shall devote approximately 40% of normal work hours (16 hours per week on
average) to consulting services hereunder. Such time shall be exclusive of time spent by
Consultant in his role as a director of the Company and Chairman of the Board. Consultant shall
track the time spent on consulting activities hereunder periodically (not less often than
quarterly) provide a report to the Company on time spent.
2. Terms of Engagement.
(a) Term. Consultant’s engagement with the Company shall commence on the Effective
Date and shall continue for eighteen (18) months from the Effective Date, unless terminated as
hereinafter provided.
(b) Termination. This Agreement may be terminated at any time by either the Company
or Consultant upon sixty (60) days written notice.
3. Consideration.
(a) Compensation for Services. During the term of this Agreement, Consultant shall be
paid eight thousand dollars ($8,000) per month, on the Company’s normal schedule for payment of
payroll.
(b) Reimbursement of Expenses. Consultant shall be reimbursed for all reasonable
out-of-pocket expenses incurred by Consultant in rendering services hereunder, including reasonable
travel expenses and third party costs incurred by Consultant in the course of performing the
services hereunder, provided that the incurrence of such expenses has received the prior written
approval of the Company. Consultant shall be reimbursed within thirty (30) days of the submission
of an expense report in which adequate support is provided for the expenses to be reimbursed.
(c) Reimbursement of Health Care Coverage. Company shall reimburse Consultant his
cost of health care insurance coverage for himself and family in an amount not to exceed fifteen
thousand six hundred dollars ($15,600) per year.
(d) Independent Contractor Status. It is expressly agreed and understood that
Consultant, including his employees and/or subcontractors, is performing services under this
Agreement as an independent contractor for the Company and neither Consultant nor any of his
employees or subcontractors is an employee or agent of the Company. The Company’s liability
hereunder shall be limited to payment of the fees and expense reimbursements provided in this
Agreement. All liability to the persons actually providing services under this Agreement or
related to the providing of such services, including but not limited to, payment of wages or other
compensation, withholding of taxes and similar charges related to such wages or other compensation,
and worker’s compensation, shall be the sole responsibility of Consultant.
4. Confidential Information.
(a) Company Information. Consultant agrees at all times during the term of his
engagement and thereafter to hold in strictest confidence, and not to use, except for the benefits
of the Company, or to disclose to any person, firm or corporation without written authorization of
the Company, any trade secrets, confidential knowledge, data or other proprietary information
relating to products, processes, know-how, designs, formulas, developmental or experimental work,
computer programs, data bases, other original works of authorship, customer lists, business plans,
financial information or other subject matter pertaining to any business of the Company or any of
its clients, consultants or licensees, including any such information developed hereunder
(hereinafter referred to as “Confidential Information”).
(b) Other Employer Information. Consultant agrees that he will not, during the term
of his engagement by the Company, improperly use or disclose any proprietary information or trade
secrets of former or concurrent employers or companies, and that he will not bring onto the
premises of, or provide to, the Company any unpublished documents or any property belonging to
former or concurrent employers or companies, if any, unless consented to in writing by said
employers or companies.
(c) Third Party Information. Consultant recognizes that the Company has received and
in the future will receive from third parties their confidential or proprietary information subject
to a duty on the Company’s part to maintain the confidentiality of such information and to use it
only for certain limited purposes. Consultant agrees that he owes the Company and such third
parties, during the term of engagement and thereafter, a duty to hold all such confidential or
proprietary information in the strictest confidence and not to disclose it to any person, firm or
corporation (except as necessary in carrying out work for the Company consistent with the Company’s
agreement with such third party) or to use it for the benefit of anyone other than for the Company
or such third party (consistent with the Company’s agreement with such third party) without the
prior express written authorization of the Company.
(d) Employees and Subcontractors. Consultant shall cause all of his employees or
subcontractors to execute and deliver to the Company an agreement covering the matters set forth in
this Section 4.
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5. Retaining and Assigning Inventions and Original Works.
(a) Prior Inventions and Original Works. Attached hereto, as Exhibit A, is a
list describing all inventions, original works of authorship, developments, improvements, and trade
secrets (collectively the “Prior Disclosures”) which were made by Consultant prior to engagement by
the Company, which belong to Consultant, which relate to the Company’s business and products, and
which are not assigned to the Company; or, if no such list is attached, or no entries are made
thereon, Consultant represents that there are no such Prior Disclosures.
(b) Inventions and Original Works Assigned to the Company. Consultant agrees that he
will promptly make full written disclosure to the Company, will hold in trust for the sole right
and benefit of the Company, and will assign, and does hereby assign, to the Company all his right,
title, and interest in and to any and all inventions, original works of authorship, developments,
improvements or trade secrets which they may solely or jointly conceive or develop or reduce to
practice, or cause to be conceived or developed or reduced to practice, and which arise out of or
relate to the services rendered under this Agreement. All works of authorship created by
Consultant hereunder shall be “works for hire” and owned by the Company.
(c) Maintenance of Records. Consultant agrees to keep and maintain adequate and
current written records of all developments, inventions, trade secrets and original works of
authorship that are directly related to the services provided to the Company. The records will be
in the form of notes, sketches, drawings, and any other format that may be specified by the
Company. The records will be available to and remain the sole property of the Company at all
times.
(d) Inventions Assigned to the United States. Consultant agrees to assign, and does
hereby assign, to the United States government all their right, title and interest in and to any
and all inventions, original works of authorship, developments, improvements or trade secrets
whenever such full title is required to be in the United States by a contract between the Company
and the United States or any of its agencies.
(e) Obtaining Patents and Copyright Registrations. Consultant agrees that his
obligation to assist the Company to obtain United States or foreign patents and copyright
registrations covering inventions and original works of authorship assigned hereunder to the
Company shall continue beyond the termination of this engagement, but the Company shall compensate
him at a reasonable rate for time actually spent at the Company’s request on such assistance. If
the Company is unable because of Consultant’s legal incapacity, mental or physical incapacity or
for any other reason to secure the relevant signatures to apply for or to pursue any application
for any United States or foreign patents or copyright registrations covering inventions or original
works of authorship assigned to the Company as above, then Consultant hereby irrevocably designates
and appoints the Company and its duly authorized officers and agents as his agent and attorney in
fact, to act for and in his behalf and stead to execute and file in any such applications and to do
all other lawfully permitted acts to further the prosecution and issuance of patents or copyright
registrations thereon with the same legal force and effect as if executed by him. Consultant
hereby waives and quitclaims to the Company any and all claims, of any nature whatsoever, which
they now or may hereafter have for infringement of any patents or copyright resulting from such
application for patents or copyright registrations assigned hereunder to the Company.
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(f) Employees and Subcontractors. Consultant shall cause all of his employees and
subcontractors to execute and deliver to the Company an agreement covering the matters set forth in
this Section 5.
6. Conflicting Engagement. Consultant agrees that, during the term of engagement by the
Company, he will not engage in any other employment, occupation, consulting or other business
activity that conflicts or could potentially conflict with the obligations to the Company.
7. Returning Company Documents. Consultant agrees that, at the termination of the engagement
by the Company, he will deliver to the Company (and will not keep in possession or deliver to
anyone else) any and all samples, compounds, devices, records, data, notes, reports, proposals,
lists, correspondence, specifications, drawings, blueprints, sketches, materials, equipment, other
documents or property, or reproductions of any aforementioned items belonging to the Company, its
successors or assigns. In the event of the termination of this engagement, Consultant agrees to
sign and deliver the “Termination Certification” attached hereto as Exhibit B.
8. Representations. Consultant agrees to execute any proper oath or verify any proper
document required to carry out the terms of this Agreement. Consultant represents that its
performance of all the terms of this Agreement will not breach any agreement to keep in confidence
proprietary information acquired by it in confidence or in trust prior to its engagement by the
Company. Consultant has not entered into, and agrees to not enter into, any oral or written
agreement in conflict herewith.
9. Miscellaneous.
(a) Notices. All notices, requests, demands and other communications (collectively,
“Notices”) given or made pursuant to this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have
been duly given if sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, postage and fees
prepaid, or otherwise actually delivered, to the following addresses:
| (i) | If to the Company, to: | ||
| Cardiogenesis Corporation 00 Xxxxxx Xxxxxx, XX 00000 Attention: Chief Financial Officer |
|||
| (ii) | If to Consultant, to: | ||
| Xxxx X. XxXxxxxxx 11 Xxxxxx Xxxxxx, XX 00000 |
Any Notice shall be deemed duly given when received by the addressee thereof, provided that any
Notice sent by registered or certified mail shall be deemed to have been duly given two (2) days
from the date of deposit in the United States mails, unless sooner received. Any of the parties to
this Agreement may from time to time change its address for receiving Notices by giving written
Notice thereof in the manner set forth above.
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(b) Entire Agreement. This Agreement contains the sole and entire agreement and
understanding of the parties with respect to the entire subject matter of this Agreement, and any
and all prior discussions, negotiations, commitments and understandings, whether oral or otherwise,
relating to the subject matter of this Agreement are hereby merged herein. No representations,
oral or otherwise, express or implied, other than those contained in this Agreement, have been
relied upon by any party to this Agreement.
(c) Governing Law, Venue. This Agreement shall be governed by California law and the
parties consent to the exclusive jurisdiction by the state and federal courts sitting in Orange
County, California.
(d) Severability. Whenever possible each provision of this Agreement shall be
interpreted in such manner as to be effective and valid under applicable law, but if any provision
of this Agreement shall be or become prohibited or invalid under applicable law, such provisions
shall be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or invalidity without invalidating the
remainder of such provision or the remaining provisions of this Agreement.
(e) Captions. The various captions of this Agreement are for reference only and shall
not be considered or referred to in resolving questions or interpretation of this Agreement.
(f) Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each
of which shall be deemed to be an original, but all of which together shall constitute one and the
same instrument.
(g) Specific Performance. Consultant acknowledges that the Company would have extreme
difficulty in attempting to prove the actual damages suffered by it as a result of a breach by
Consultant of any of his obligations under the Agreement, and that therefore, in addition to any
other remedy at law or in equity, the Company shall be entitled to seek and receive specific
performance and temporary, preliminary and injunctive relief from any violation of the provisions
of this Agreement from any court of competent jurisdiction without the necessity of proving the
actual amount of damages resulting from such breach.
(h) Attorneys’ Fees. If any action, suit or other proceeding is instituted to remedy,
prevent or obtain relief from a default in the performance by either party of its obligations under
this Agreement, the prevailing party shall recover all of such party’s attorneys’ fees incurred in
each and every such action, suit or other proceeding, including any and all appeals or petitions
therefrom. As used in this Section 9(h), attorneys’ fees shall be deemed to mean the full and
actual costs of any legal services actually performed in connection with the matters involved
calculated on the basis of the usual fee charged by the attorney performing such services and shall
not be limited to “reasonable attorneys’ fees” as defined in any statute or rule of court.
(i) Assignment. Consultant may not assign his rights, obligations or duties under
this Agreement without the express written consent of the Company, which consent may be withheld in
the Company’s sole discretion, and any attempted or purported assignment or any delegation of
Consultant’s duties or obligations arising under this Agreement to any third party or entity shall
be deemed to be null and void, and shall constitute a material breach by Consultant of its duties
and obligations under this Agreement. This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding
upon any successors or the Company by way of merger, consolidation or transfer of all or
substantially all
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of the assets of the Company, and any parent, subsidiary or affiliate of the Company to which
the Company may transfer its rights under and pursuant to this Agreement.
(j) Waiver. Waiver by any of the parties of any breach of any provision of this
Agreement shall be in writing and shall not operate or be construed as a waiver of any prior or
subsequent breach of the same or any other provision hereof.
(k) Survival of Consultant’s Obligations. The obligations of Consultant hereunder
shall survive the termination of Consultant’s engagement with the Company and the termination of
this Agreement regardless of the reason or cause for such termination.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Agreement has been made and entered into as of the date and year
first above written.
| “Company” Cardiogenesis Corporation |
||||
| /s/ Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx | ||||
| Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx | ||||
| President | ||||
| “Consultant” |
||||
| /s/ Xxxx X. XxXxxxxxx | ||||
| Xxxx X. XxXxxxxxx | ||||
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EXHIBIT A
LIST OF PRIOR INVENTIONS
AND ORIGINAL WORKS OF AUTHORSHIP
AND ORIGINAL WORKS OF AUTHORSHIP
| Identifying Number | ||||
| Title | Date | or Brief Description | ||
| NONE |
Name of Consultant: Xxxx XxXxxxxxx
