Trademark

(noun)

A word, symbol, or phrase used to identify a particular company's product and differentiate it from other companies' products.

Related Terms

(noun)

A word, symbol, or phrase used to identify a particular company's product and to differentiate it from other companies' products.

Related Terms

Examples of Trademark in the following topics:

  • Trademarks

    • In some circumstances, a business may obtain a "common law" trademark.
    • Patent and Trademark Office.
    • The value of a trademark can also be quite low.
    • Trademarks are not amortized since each is considered to have an indefinite life, meaning a perception exists that a trademark can retain its value forever.
    • However, a business must reassess the value of its trademarks annually.

  • Indefinite-Life Impairment

    • A software company has a trademark valued at $10 million with an indefinite useful life.
    • Due to market conditions, the company believes the trademark's value has decreased and tests it for impairment at the end of the year.
    • Year end calculations reveal the trademark is valued at $8 million and an impairment loss of $2 million is recorded as a debit to Loss on Trademark Impairment on the income statement and a credit to Accumulated Impairment Losses on the balance sheet (disclosed as a contra asset account to the intangible asset).
    • Some examples of indefinite-life intangibles are goodwill, trademarks, and perpetual franchises.
    • They include trade secrets, copyrights, patents, and trademarks.

  • Analyzing Intangible Assets

    • Trademarks and goodwill are examples of intangible assets with indefinite useful lives.
    • For example, an amount paid to obtain a trademark must be capitalized.

  • Limited-Life Impairment

    • The two primary forms of intangibles are legal intangibles, which includes trade secrets, copyrights, patents, and trademarks (also referred to as Intellectual Property) and competitive intangibles, which includes knowledge activities, collaboration activities, leverage activities, and structural activities.
    • Limited-life intangibles are intangible assets with a limited useful life, such as copyrights, patents and trademarks

  • Valuation of Intangible Assets

    • Intangible assets generally arise from two sources: (1) exclusive privileges granted by governmental authority or by legal contract, such as patents, copyrights, franchises, trademarks and trade names; and (2) superior entrepreneurial capacity or management know-how and customer loyalty , which is called goodwill.
    • The valuation of intangible assets with identifiable useful lives such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights are initially valued at acquisition costs.

  • Types of Long-Lived Assets

    • Examples of intangible assets are copyrights, trademarks, patents and computer programs, financial assets-- including such items as accounts receivable, bonds and stocks-- and goodwill.

  • Impairment Measurement

    • Trademarks and Goodwill are examples of intangible assets that are tested for impairment on an annual basis.

  • Current Guidelines for Revenue Recognition

    • Revenue from the use of the company's assets such as interest earned for money loaned out, rent for using fixed assets, and royalties for using intangible assets, such as a licensed trademark.

  • Reporting Intangibles

    • The most common types of intangibles are patents, copyrights, franchises or licenses, trademarks or trade names, and goodwill.

  • Characteristics of Intangible Assets

    • Legal intangibles are also known as intellectual property, and include trade secrets, copyrights, patents, and trademarks.