Intangible Assets: Valuation and Economic Benefit [Hardcover]

Jeffrey Cohen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471671312 | ISBN-13: 978-0471671312 | Publication Date: March 24, 2005 | Edition: 1

Praise for Intangible Assets

"In Intangible Assets, Jeffrey Cohen presents an informative, thought-provoking and practical look at an increasingly important component of every business's worth. He describes the art and science of identifying assets that have clear economic benefit, but are typically not found on the balance sheet, and he provides an invaluable framework within which the reader can value these assets, despite their elusive nature."
--Rick Westervelt, President, Skylist, Inc.

"Jeffrey Cohen's integrative approach to conceptual issues of intangible assets is creative and a refreshing contribution. He brings law, economics, finance, and accounting to the same table, which results in a comprehensive framework for understanding how value is created and sustained. His construct of 'proto-assets' and 'portfolio of intangible economic benefits' is key. Written in an easy-to-read style with many practical examples, this book will be useful for both novice and experienced professionals."
--W. Dana Northcut, PhD, Adjunct Associate Professor of Accounting Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago Principal, Chicago Partners, LLC

"This volume is the perfect resource for newcomers to IP valuation. Through lucid explanations and well-chosen illustrations, it does for the reader exactly what a valuation expert should do for a client--it makes the abstract concrete. But this volume is not just for the novice; it holds insights that will be useful to IP experts in law, accounting, and economics."
--Edward F. Malone, Partner, Jenner & Block LLP

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"This book is intended for business students, management professionals, and attorneys who want a comprehensive introduction to valuing intangible assets. It will help readers find intangibles, especially those not on a company's balance sheet, and it will help readers value those intangibles?"
—From the Preface

Throughout history, intangible assets have been something of a place-holder, a catchall of sorts for economic benefits that companies knew existed but weren't quite sure how to quantify. But as intangibles—from intellectual property to brands to CEO knowledge—assume ever-greater percentages of firms' total valuations, regulators, investors, and decision-makers are requiring more precise valuation methodologies for firms of all sizes.

Intangible Assets: Valuation and Economic Benefit presents a comprehensive framework for identifying and valuing intangible assets. Written by Jeffrey Cohen, a veteran economic consultant and Director of the Intellectual Property Practice at Chicago Partners (a multidisciplinary consulting firm), this broad-based book explores subjects, including:

• Nomenclature of, and research on, intangibles
• Economic and legal issues surrounding patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets—some of the more recognized and commercialized forms of intangibles
• Treatment of intangibles under GAAP accounting, in particular how FAS141 and FAS142 allow for their improved identification and capitalization
• Use of the three valuation approaches—income, market, and cost—to determine how much intangibles are worth
• Use of basic economic concepts, such as substitutes and elasticity to value intangibles
• Examples of intangible valuation for litigation, focusing on the Panduit test and the Georgia-Pacific factors
• Creative strategies for making intangibles more secure and converting them into intellectual property

Intangible assets have value when they are able to create value; for example, when the property rights associated with them result in added return, utility, or pleasure to the owner of those rights. Intangible Assets presents an all-encompassing, commonsense framework for addressing the economics of intangibles, their treatment under current accounting rules, and how the three basic valuation methodologies apply to intangibles—in short, techniques for identifying and valuing all the intangible assets of a company.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Intangible Assets

"In Intangible Assets, Jeffrey Cohen presents an informative, thought-provoking and practical look at an increasingly important component of every business's worth. He describes the art and science of identifying assets that have clear economic benefit, but are typically not found on the balance sheet, and he provides an invaluable framework within which the reader can value these assets, despite their elusive nature."
—Rick Westervelt, President, Skylist, Inc.

"Jeffrey Cohen's integrative approach to conceptual issues of intangible assets is creative and a refreshing contribution. He brings law, economics, finance, and accounting to the same table, which results in a comprehensive framework for understanding how value is created and sustained. His construct of 'proto-assets' and 'portfolio of intangible economic benefits' is key. Written in an easy-to-read style with many practical examples, this book will be useful for both novice and experienced professionals."
—W. Dana Northcut, PhD, Adjunct Associate Professor of Accounting Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago Principal, Chicago Partners, LLC

"This volume is the perfect resource for newcomers to IP valuation. Through lucid explanations and well-chosen illustrations, it does for the reader exactly what a valuation expert should do for a client—it makes the abstract concrete. But this volume is not just for the novice; it holds insights that will be useful to IP experts in law, accounting, and economics."
—Edward F. Malone, Partner, Jenner & Block LLP

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471671312
• ISBN-13: 978-0471671312
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,412,166 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good theoretical way to value intangibles, March 13, 2008

By 

Bob Rezaee (OK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Intangible Assets: Valuation and Economic Benefit (Hardcover)

This book provided valuable methods of trying to value intangible assets. It shows three main approaches to value such assets, the cost approach, the market approach and the income approach. It then goes through each of the three methods in detail with adequate examples. It also goes beyond the three approaches to discuss some of the features of intangible assets and how they relate to a firm. Using the income approach it showed how you using the present value of an income stream can tell you the value of an intangible asset. Using the cost approach you could use either the replacement costs of an identical or equivalent intangible asset. Using the market approach you would find a market for such intangible assets and then make adjustments to the value of your asset as necessary. I believe this book is valuable to accountants but in more of a theoretical way. This is because under current GAAP the majority of intangible assets cannot be put on the balance sheet. There are however three main limitations to this book. The first limitation is the fact that it does not talk about classifications and definitions of the different types of intangible assets. The second limitation is the fact that it did not use examples of how to value hard to value intangible assets such as a loyal workforce. The third and last limitation is the fact that it did not talk about what types of assets might be very difficult if not impossible to value or the difficulties of valuing the different intangible assets.

0 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book gives a good overview on intangible asset valuation, July 7, 2005

By 

Elie P. Azar (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Intangible Assets: Valuation and Economic Benefit (Hardcover)

This book gives a good overview on intangible asset valuation