Edgar Filing: ACACIA RESEARCH CORP

acacia_s3a3-042310.htm

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 27, 2010

Registration No. 333-157623

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

PRE-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 3

FORM S-3

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE

SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

ACACIA RESEARCH CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

DELAWARE		95-4405754
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

500 Newport Center Drive, 7th Floor

Newport Beach, California 92660

(949) 480-8300

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

Paul R. Ryan

Chief Executive Officer

500 Newport Center Drive, 7th Floor

Newport Beach, California 92660

(949) 480-8300

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Copies to:

Mark L. Skaist, Esq.

Michael L. Lawhead, Esq.

Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth

660 Newport Center Drive, Suite 1600

Newport Beach, California 92660

(949) 725-4000

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, as amended, 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 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.

Large accelerated filer o

Accelerated filer þ

Non-accelerated filer o

Smaller reporting company o

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 or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the commission, acting pursuant to said section 8(a), may determine.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

We are filing this Pre-Effective Amendment No. 3 to Registration Statement on Form S-3 (Reg. No. 333-157623) solely for the purpose of filing Exhibits 5.1, 23.1 and 23.2 to the Registration Statement to update the opinion of Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, a Professional Corporation, and the consents of Grant Thornton LLP and Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, a Professional Corporation. This Pre-Effective Amendment No. 3 does not modify any provision of the preliminary prospectus constituting Part I or Items 14, 15 or 17 of Part II of the Registration Statement. Accordingly, this Pre-Effective Amendment No. 3 does not include a copy of the preliminary prospectus.

PART II

INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS

Item 14. Other Expenses Of Issuance And Distribution

The following table sets forth the various costs and expenses, other than underwriting discounts and commissions, payable by the registrant in connection with the offering of our securities being registered. Except for the SEC registration fee, all the amounts shown are estimates.

	Amount to be paid
SEC registration fee	$	2,192
Printing expenses	$	10,000
Legal fees and expenses	$	17,500
Miscellaneous	$	5,000
Total	$	34,692

Item 15. Indemnification Of Directors And Officers

Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or DGCL, 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 specified 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 proceedings, 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) actually and reasonably incurred in connection with the defense or settlement of such action, 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, disinterested director vote, stockholder vote, agreement or otherwise.

As permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, Article VII of our restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, provides:

“No person shall be personally liable to the Corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, including without limitation for serving on a committee of the Board of Directors, except to the extent such exemption from liability or limitation thereof is not permitted under the DGCL as the same exists or hereafter may be amended. If the DGCL is amended after the date of the filing of this Certificate of Incorporation to authorize corporate action further eliminating or limiting the personal liability of directors, then the liability of a director of the Corporation shall be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL as so amended. Any amendment, repeal or modification of this Article VII shall not adversely affect any right or protection of a director of the Corporation existing hereunder with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such amendment, repeal or modification.”

We have purchased insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of our company, or is or was serving at the request of our company as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any liability asserted against him and incurred by him in any such capacity, or arising out of his status as such, whether or not our company would have the power to indemnify him against such liability under the provisions of our restated certificate of incorporation, as amended.

Any underwriting agreements that we may enter into will likely provide for the indemnification of us, our controlling persons, our directors and certain of our officers by the underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act.

Item 16. Exhibits

Exhibit Number	Description

1.1	Form of Underwriting Agreement, if any (1)
4.1	Form of Warrant Agreement (1)
5.1	Opinion of Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, a Professional Corporation*
23.1	Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm*
23.2	Consent of Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, a Professional Corporation (included in Exhibit 5.1 hereto)*
24.1	Power of Attorney (included on the signature page to the initial filing of this registration statement)**

(1)	To be filed as an exhibit to a Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated herein by reference
*	Filed herewith.
**	Previously filed.

Item 17. Undertakings.

(a) The registrant hereby undertakes:

1. To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

(i)

to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

(ii)

to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement;

(iii)

to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this registration statement or any material change to such information in this registration statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i), (a)(1)(ii) and (a)(1)(iii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the SEC by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in this registration statement, or is contained in a form of prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) that is part of the registration statement;

2. That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof; and

3. To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

4. That, for the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act to any purchaser:

(i)

each prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3) shall be deemed to be part of the registration statement as of the date the filed prospectus was deemed part of and included in the registration statement; and

(ii)

each prospectus required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2), (b)(5), or (b)(7) as part of a registration statement in reliance on Rule 430B relating to an offering made pursuant to Rule 415(a)(1)(i), (vii), or (x) for the purpose of providing the information required by Section 10(a) of the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the earlier of the date such form of prospectus is first used after effectiveness or the date of the first contract of sale of securities in the offering described in the prospectus. As provided in Rule 430B, for liability purposes of the issuer and any person that is at that date an underwriter, such date shall be deemed to be a new effective date of the registration statement relating to the securities in the registration statement to which that prospectus relates, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such effective date, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such effective date.

5. That, for the purpose of determining liability of the registrant under the Securities Act to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, the undersigned registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of the undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser:

(i)

any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424;

(ii)

any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by the undersigned registrant;

(iii)

the portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and

(iv)

any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser.

(b) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the registrant’s annual report pursuant to section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(c) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to deliver or cause to be delivered with the prospectus, to each person to whom the prospectus is sent or given, the latest annual report, to security holders that is incorporated by reference in the prospectus and furnished pursuant to and meeting the requirements of Rule 14a-3 or Rule 14c-3 under the Exchange Act; and, where interim financial information required to be presented by Article 3 of Regulation S-X are not set forth in the prospectus, to deliver, or cause to be delivered to each person to whom the prospectus is sent or given, the latest quarterly report that is specifically incorporated by reference in the prospectus to provide such interim financial information.

(d) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

(e) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:

(1) For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective.

(2) For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-3 and has duly caused this Amendment No. 3 to the registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Newport Beach, State of California, on the 27th day of April, 2010.

	ACACIA RESEARCH CORPORATION

	By:	/s/ Paul R. Ryan
		Paul R. Ryan, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Amendment No. 3 to the registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

Date	Signature	Title
April 27, 2010	/s/ Paul R. Ryan	Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) and Chairman of the Board of Directors
	Paul R. Ryan

April 27, 2010	/s/ Clayton J. Haynes	Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer)
	Clayton J. Haynes

April 27, 2010	/s/ Robert L. Harris	President and Director
	Robert L. Harris

April 27, 2010	*	Director
	William S. Anderson

April 27, 2010	*	Director
	Fred A. deBoom

April 27, 2010	*	Director
	Edward W. Frykman

April 27, 2010	*	Director
	G. Louis Graziadio, III

* By: /s/ Clayton J. Haynes

Clayton J. Haynes

Attorney-in-Fact

EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit Number	Description

1.1	Form of Underwriting Agreement, if any (1)
4.1	Form of Warrant Agreement (1)
5.1	Opinion of Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, a Professional Corporation*
23.1	Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm*
23.2	Consent of Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, a Professional Corporation (included in Exhibit 5.1 hereto)*
24.1	Power of Attorney (included on the signature page to the initial filing of this registration statement)**

(1)	To be filed as an exhibit to a Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated herein by reference
*	Filed herewith.
**	Previously filed.