One of the services we provide at Synergetic Finance is business valuations. They can be done for a number of different reasons: tax purposes, management support, litigation situations and other business reasons. We are sometimes asked to provide a value on intellectual property, or IP. Doing a valuation on IP can be tricky though. Let’s take a look at the different types of IP.
| IP Type | Pros | Cons |
| Copyrights | Exclusive rights. Long life (70 years). Low cost. Higher statutory damages. | Protects expression of an idea, but not the idea itself. |
| Trademarks | No limit on life. Inexpensive. Can create a brand. | Market volatility (outbreak) destroys brand. |
| Patents | Protects function or utility. Monopoly. | Cost. Short life (20 years). Transparency. |
| Trade Secrets | Covers any type of design/IP. Function or utility. Difficult to reverse engineer. Low cost. | No prevention from copy cat. Key person impairment. No formal protection. |
| Rights of Publicity | The right to control the commercial use of one’s identity. | What does control mean? What is a commercial use? |
IP valuation is no simple task, as the above information indicates. It requires breadth, depth and the integration of many different sets of skills. To learn more about how to value your intellectual property, contact Joe Maas or Mark Girouard of Synergetic Finance. We can discuss the process with you to help you decide if an IP valuation is right for you. Call us at 206-386-5455 or email us today.
To your wealth,
Joe Maas, CFA, AVA, CFP®, ChFC, CLU®, MSFS, CCIM
President of Synergetic Finance
