The economic evaluation of intangible assets,
which include Patents and Trademarks, offers may opportunities which
we wish to briefly outline below, along with a short overview of
the principal methods generally employed.
At present, there are many reasons for evaluating intangible
activities:
• Assessing the Economic Capital of an Enterprise: this
represents the most broad type of evaluation in which the appreciation
of all components, both tangible and intangible, is considered.
In particular, the explicit estimate of industrial property –
patents and trademarks – represents the more precise identification
of values which are generically attributable to the “goodwill”
of a company.
• Assignment or acquisition of a specific intangible activity:
this type of estimate is generally aimed at obtaining an independent
opinion on the utilization value of an asset – patent and/or
trademark – in the business context of the assignor or buyer
to establish a price for the transaction. This type of estimate
is also important in the case of assignment of intangible assets
to new business ventures (start ups, spin-offs, divisions...).
• Determining the amount payable for consent to use, or
a license on, an intangible asset: this type of estimate is often
useful in the negotiation phase for licenses relating to patents
or trademarks, on the basis of the temporal and territorial extent
of the license.
• Recording the values in the balance sheet: since 2005,
International Accounting Standards (I.A.S.) must be applied in
the drafting of company balance sheets in Italy. In this context,
it is worth recalling the problem relating to the determination
of the fair value of intangible assets – I.A.S. no.30 –
which include patents and trademarks. In particular, trademarks
which are not generated internally (that is acquired separately
or through extraordinary operations such as mergers, assignments,
acquisitions of companies or branches thereof…) and having
an infinite duration can be re-valued or devalued (impairment
test – I.A.S. no.36), to reconcile the balance sheet value
with the market or current use value.
• Fiscal planning opportunities: the major advantage in
the revaluation of the balance sheet value of certain intangible
assets (patents and trademarks) lies in the fiscal benefits which
can be obtained, only if this is carried out in application of
the “special fiscal laws”, creating a reduction in
future taxes for an enterprise which usually generates a constant
level of taxable income from year to year.
• Disputes and litigation: in the event of legal and contractual
violations it is often necessary to establish the value of the
immaterial asset (patent or trademark) which is the object of
the violation.
As regards the methods which we employ to carry out such evaluations,
we rely principally on two criteria: the first being based on
cost analysis and the second being income/finance and market based.
The first criteria comprises two distinct methods of evaluation.
The scope of the first method is to reveal the “historic
costs” sustained to obtain an industrial property asset,
re-valued at a suitable rate of capitalization. The second method,
referred to as the “cost of replacement” , is based
on the estimate of costs necessary to reproduce the intangible
asset at the date of evaluation.
The income/finance and market based criteria, on the other hand,
is that which is generally more used. The value is obtained on
the basis of the principle of future benefits (income or financial)
which an intangible asset is capable of rendering, and that of
substitution, that is, taking into account the potential opportunities
of alternative investments. Therefore, the above methods are compatible
with the general principles of evaluation of enterprises, according
to which the value of the latter represents the prospective capacity
of the same to generate profit and/or income flows.
In the ambit of its institutional aims, Barzanò &
Zanardo has established a specialized team, with specific legal,
technical, fiscal and auditing expertise, which has acquired considerable
experience in this area of evaluation and has been recognised
and appreciated by Italian and foreign companies and groups.
