Your trademark is worth something. Put a defensible figure on it
A signed report with documented methodology, valid both for negotiating a sale and for defending the figure before tax authorities, a bank or a court.
What a valuation is for
A registered trademark is an intangible asset and, as such, appears — or should appear — on the balance sheet. The problem is that, unlike a warehouse or a machine, it has no market price you can look up. When one is needed, it has to be estimated by a method that will survive the scrutiny of whoever reviews it.
That scrutiny arrives in specific situations: a sale where the parties dispute the price, a transfer of assets between related companies where the tax authorities require market value, a financing operation where the mark is offered as security, a court-ordered appraisal, or accounts filed with the tax authorities, the social security administration or the wage guarantee fund.
In all of these the figure matters less than its justification. A number with no method behind it will not hold a position; a report explaining where every euro comes from will.
When it is needed
Sale and assignment
To set the opening figure in a negotiation, or to test the one you are offered. It is what separates a considered number from a guess.
Corporate and tax operations
Transfers between related companies, non-cash contributions, restructurings. Tax authorities require market value and ask you to justify it.
Security and guarantees
Industrial property can be pledged and offered as security in financing operations. The lender will ask for a report.
How a trademark is valued
Market approach
What has been paid for comparable assets. It measures the present value of future benefits from the consensus others have reached in equivalent transactions.
Cost approach
What it would cost to replace the mark from scratch: registration, building recognition and advertising spend. Also known as replacement cost.
Income approach
What income the mark generates or could generate, weighing the amount, the duration of the stream and the risk attached to sustaining it.
Relief from royalty
What you would have to pay to licence an equivalent mark if it were not yours. The most common method for marks with a proven track record.
The choice of method is not neutral
Each approach can produce very different figures for the same asset, and not all of them fit every case. The right methodology depends on the type of asset, the purpose of the valuation and the data available. Choosing it well — and recording why — is the part of the report that holds up when someone challenges the result.
Frequently asked questions
What does a valuation cost and how long does it take?
We do not publish a fixed rate, because no two instructions are alike. The work depends on the number of assets, the territories and classes involved, the financial information available and the purpose of the report: an estimate for negotiating a sale is not the same as a report intended to defend a figure before a court. Tell us what you need and why, and we will send a fixed quote and timescale before starting.
Will the valuation hold up before the tax authorities or a court?
Yes, and that is one of its most common uses. The report is issued signed and with the methodology documented, so it can be filed with the tax authorities, the social security administration, the wage guarantee fund or a court. It also serves to justify the price of transactions between related companies, where the tax authorities require market value.
What do you need in order to value a trademark?
The registry details of the asset — file number, classes, territories and seniority — and the associated financial information: turnover linked to the mark, advertising spend, licence agreements if any, and market presence. The more financial information available, the tighter the estimate.
Can a trademark that is not in use be valued?
Yes, though the range is wider. With no income stream attached, the valuation rests mainly on the market approach and the cost approach: what others have paid for comparable assets, and what it would cost to build an equivalent mark from scratch, including the seniority that cannot be bought.
What about a whole portfolio?
That is a common instruction. Valuing a portfolio is not a matter of adding up individual valuations: there are overlaps between classes and territories, assets that support others, and defensive registrations that add little on their own but protect the whole. That analysis is part of the work.
What is the difference between a valuation and a sale price?
A valuation is a reasoned, documented estimate; the price is what somebody ends up paying. They serve different purposes: the first supports a position before a third party — tax authorities, a judge, a bank — while the second is negotiated. That said, arriving at a negotiation with a valuation in hand changes the starting point considerably.
Tell us what you want valued
With the file number and the purpose of the valuation we can tell you which method fits and what information will be needed.