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One of Lawdit's major strengths lies in the area of Intellectual Property Law.
Intellectual property is a product of the intellect bearing some form of commercial value. The term applies to any "creation of the mind" such as inventions, artistic and literary works, trade secrets, copyrights and trademarks. Intellectual Property (IP) rights are thus of paramount importance to all businesses.
Many businesses are surprised to learn that they have (or could have) IP rights covering a whole host of items including the design of a new product, production processes, a business/ trading name, an image or logo, a brand name, the look, feel and design of a website, a domain name portfolio, software, or the content of documents or databases or software.
Businesses with IP rights tend to be (but are not limited to) innovators, inventors, and/or creators. IP rights can represent a significant proportion of a company's asset values.
Creating and maximizing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) could open a new revenue stream for a business while appreciating the value of those IP rights and the value of the business as a whole.
Though IP is an "intangible business asset", should it be included on the balance sheet?
Perhaps! Ordinarily, Intellectual Property is a negative right in tha t it gives the owner a right to prohibit others from copying without permission what has been created. It does not generate any income unless it is exploited, for example, by incorporation in a product or service which is sold.
Before deciding whether or not an intangible asset is to be included on your balance sheet, you had best determine the value of the intellectual property and rights being valued.
Two relevant cases would be, Borlands' Trustee v Steel Brothers & Co Ltd (1901) 1 Ch 279, and, Short v Treasury Commissioners (1948) 1 KB 116.
Next, it is necessary to determine the market value of those rights, i.e.: the price which the property might reasonably be expected to fetch if sold in the open market.
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