Intangible Assets: a fixed asset that is non-physical. It has monetary value. Protected using intellectual property rights (units 5.8)
Goodwill: reputation and established know how of an organization.
- Willingness of employees to work extra hard (i.e. Tesla!)
- Can entice workers to the organization, and retain them.
- If you include Goodwill in a balance sheet, it can help to attract investors
- Since goodwill is intangible, the value of goodwill is subjective
- value of goodwill only apparent after the business is sold
Patents: rights to exploit and invention or process for commercial purposes. Gives incentives to invest in R&D, they gain a unique selling point for the duration of a patent.
Copyrights: give registered owners legal rights to creative pieces of work. Prevens competitors from using your published works
Trademarks: give the listed owner the legal and exclusive rights to the commercial use of brands, logos, slogans.