AUDIOEYE, INC. Restricted Stock Unit Agreement (Non-Employee Director Awards)
Exhibit 10.3
AUDIOEYE, INC.
2020 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN
Restricted Stock Unit Agreement
(Non-Employee Director Awards)
AudioEye, Inc. (the “Company”), pursuant to its 2020 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), hereby grants an award of Restricted Stock Units to you, the Participant named below. The terms and conditions of this Award are set forth in this Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement (the “Agreement”), consisting of this cover page and the Terms and Conditions on the following pages, and in the Plan document, a copy of which has been provided to you. Any capitalized term that is used but not defined in this Agreement shall have the meaning assigned to it in the Plan as it currently exists or as it is amended in the future.
| Name of Participant: | |
| Number of Units: | Grant Date: |
| Vesting Schedule: | |
Scheduled Vesting Date
[Grant Date]
[On the earlier of (a) one year following the Grant Date or (b) immediately prior to the next annual meeting of stockholders following the Grant Date]
|
Percentage of Units That Vest
[100%]
[100%]
|
By signing below or otherwise evidencing your acceptance of this Agreement in a manner approved by the Company, you agree to all of the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement and in the Plan document. You acknowledge that you have received and reviewed these documents and that they set forth the entire agreement between you and the Company regarding this Award of Restricted Stock Units.
| PARTICIPANT: | AUDIOEYE, INC. | ||
| By: | |||
| Title: | |||
AUDIOEYE, INC.
2020 Equity Incentive Plan
Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement
Terms and Conditions
1. Grant of Restricted Stock Units. The Company hereby confirms the grant to you, as of the Grant Date and subject to the terms and conditions in this Agreement and the Plan, of the number of Restricted Stock Units specified on the cover page of this Agreement (the “Units”). Each Unit represents the right to receive one Share of the Company’s common stock. Prior to their settlement or forfeiture in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, the Units granted to you will be credited to an account in your name maintained by the Company. This account shall be unfunded and maintained for book-keeping purposes only, with the Units simply representing an unfunded and unsecured contingent obligation of the Company.
2. Restrictions Applicable to Units. Neither this Award nor the Units subject to this Award may be sold, assigned, transferred, exchanged or encumbered, voluntarily or involuntarily, other than (i) a transfer upon your death in accordance with your will, by the laws of descent and distribution or pursuant to a beneficiary designation submitted in accordance with Section 6(d) of the Plan, or (ii) pursuant to a domestic relations order. Following any such transfer, this Award shall continue to be subject to the same terms and conditions that were applicable to this Award immediately prior to its transfer. Any attempted transfer in violation of this Section 2 shall be void and without effect.
3. No Shareholder Rights. The Units subject to this Award do not entitle you to any rights of a holder of the Company’s common stock. You will not have any of the rights of a shareholder of the Company in connection with the grant of Units subject to this Agreement unless and until Shares are issued to you upon settlement of the Units as provided in Section 5.
4. Vesting of Units. [The Units subject to this Agreement are 100% vested as of the Grant Date.] [For purposes of this Agreement, “Vesting Date” means any date, including the Scheduled Vesting Date specified in the Vesting Schedule on the cover page of this Agreement, on which Units subject to this Agreement vest as provided in this Section 4.
(a) Scheduled Vesting. If you remain a Service Provider continuously from the Grant Date specified on the cover page of this Agreement, then the Units will vest in the amount and on the Scheduled Vesting Date specified in the Vesting Schedule.
(b) Accelerated or Continued Vesting. The vesting of outstanding Units will be accelerated or continued under the circumstances provided below:
(1) Death. If your Service terminates prior to the final Scheduled Vesting Date due to your death, then all of the unvested Units shall vest as of such termination date.
(2) Disability. If your Service terminates prior to the final Scheduled Vesting Date due to your Disability, then a pro rata portion (based on the number of days during which you were a Service Provider since the most recent Scheduled Vesting Date (or since the Grant Date if there was no previous Scheduled Vesting Date) as a percentage of 365) of the Units scheduled to vest as of the next Scheduled Vesting Date shall vest as of such termination date.
(3) Change in Control. If a Change in Control occurs while you continue to be a Service Provider and prior to the Scheduled Vesting Date, the following provisions shall apply:
| Director RSU Agreement | |
| (2020 Equity Incentive Plan) | Page 2 |
(i) If, within 12 months after a Change of Control (A) described in paragraphs (1) or (2) of Section 2(g) of the Plan or (B) that constitutes a Corporate Transaction as defined in paragraph (3) of Section 2(g) of the Plan and in connection with which the surviving or acquiring entity (or its parent entity) has continued, assumed or replaced this Award, you cease to be a Service Provider, then all unvested Units shall immediately vest in full.
(ii) If this Award is not continued, assumed or replaced in connection with a Change in Control that constitutes a Corporate Transaction, then all unvested Units shall immediately vest in full upon the occurrence of the Change in Control.
(iii) For purposes of this Section 4(b)(3), this Award will be considered assumed or replaced under the circumstances specified in Section 12(b)(1) of the Plan.
Except as otherwise provided in accordance with Section 4(b) above, if you cease to be a Service Provider, you will forfeit all unvested Units.]
5. Settlement of Units. The Company shall cause to be issued and delivered to you, or to your designated beneficiary or estate in the event of your death, one Share in payment and settlement of each vested Unit subject to this Agreement upon the earlier of:
(a) [___________ ANNIVERSARY OF GRANT DATE]; or
(b) immediately prior to the closing of a Change in Control, but in no case later than 90 days following the Change in Control; or
(c) the calendar year following the year of your death, with payment being made in no case later than the end of the year following the year of death.
Delivery of Shares in settlement of a RSU Grant subject to this Agreement shall be effected by an appropriate entry in the stock register maintained by the Company’s transfer agent with a notice of issuance provided to you, or by the electronic delivery of the Shares to a brokerage account you designate, and shall be subject to compliance with all applicable legal requirements, including compliance with the requirements of applicable federal and state securities laws.
6. Dividend Equivalents. If the Company pays cash dividends on its Shares while any Units subject to this Agreement are outstanding, then on each dividend payment date a dividend equivalent dollar amount equal to the number of Units credited to your account pursuant to this Agreement as of the dividend record date times the dollar amount of the cash dividend per Share shall be deemed reinvested in additional Units as of the dividend payment date and such additional Units shall be credited to your account. The number of additional Units so credited shall be determined based on the Fair Market Value of a Share on the dividend payment date. Any additional Units so credited will be subject to the same terms and conditions, including the timing of vesting and settlement, applicable to the underlying Units to which the dividend equivalents relate.
7. Notices. Every notice or other communication relating to this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be mailed to or delivered (including electronically) to the party for whom it is intended at such address as may from time to time be designated by it in a notice mailed or delivered to the other party as herein provided. Unless and until some other address is so designated, all notices or communications by you to the Company shall be mailed or delivered to the Company, to the attention of its Chief Executive Officer, at its office at ▇▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇, [e-mail address], and all notices or communications by the Company to you may be given to you personally or may be mailed or, if you are still a Service Provider, emailed to you at the address indicated in the Company's records as your most recent mailing or email address.
| 3 |
8. Additional Provisions.
(a) No Right to Continued Service. This Agreement does not give you a right to continued Service with the Company or any Affiliate, and the Company or any such Affiliate may terminate your Service at any time and otherwise deal with you without regard to the effect it may have upon you under this Agreement.
(b) Governing Plan Document. This Agreement and the Award are subject to all the provisions of the Plan, and to all interpretations, rules and regulations which may, from time to time, be adopted and promulgated by the Committee pursuant to the Plan. If there is any conflict between the provisions of this Agreement and the Plan, the provisions of the Plan will govern.
(c) Governing Law. This Agreement, the parties’ performance hereunder, and the relationship between them shall be governed by, construed, and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, without giving effect to the choice of law principles thereof.
(d) Severability. The provisions of this Agreement shall be severable and if any provision of this Agreement is found by any court to be unenforceable, in whole or in part, the remainder of this Agreement shall nevertheless be enforceable and binding on the parties. You also agree that any trier of fact may modify any invalid, overbroad or unenforceable provision of this Agreement so that such provision, as modified, is valid and enforceable under applicable law.
(e) Binding Effect. This Agreement will be binding in all respects on your heirs, representatives, successors and assigns, and on the successors and assigns of the Company.
(f) Section 409A of the Code. The Units as provided in this Agreement and any issuance of Shares or payment pursuant to this Agreement are intended to comply with Section 409A of the Code so as not to subject you to payment of any additional tax, penalty or interest imposed under Section 409A of the Code. The provisions of this Award shall be construed and interpreted to avoid the imputation of any such additional tax, penalty or interest under Section 409A of the Code yet preserve (to the nearest extent reasonably possible) the intended benefit payable to you.
(g) Electronic Delivery and Acceptance. The Company may deliver any documents related to this Restricted Stock Unit Award by electronic means and request your acceptance of this Agreement by electronic means. You hereby consent to receive all applicable documentation by electronic delivery and to participate in the Plan through an on-line (and/or voice activated) system established and maintained by the Company or the Company’s third-party stock plan administrator.
By signing the cover page of this Agreement or otherwise accepting this Agreement in a manner approved by the Company, you agree to all the terms and conditions described above and in the Plan document.
| 4 |