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Enhanced value through IP and Knowhow: a scan The impact of immaterial assets on your company’s value

16 July 2021

We all recognize them. Iconic products, services and designs like the iPhone, the Google home page, dance festival Sensation or the shape and packaging of Tony Chocolonely. Examples of designs and products which have proven to be both disruptive and commercially successful in a sustainable way, in a physical, digital or services environment.

Less visible but no less important are the calculation methods used by insurers or platforms like Uber, data used to determine government policies, the reach and network of Amazon, the algorithm behind bol.com and still, after many years, the Coca Cola recipe.

Visible or invisible, they are the ‘Unique Selling Points’ or USP’s for a company, assets that are immaterial but yet determine a company’s value and success.

These USP’s, the immaterial assets of companies, should be owned by the company in order to have an impact. Additionally, it may be wise to protect those assets by a right of Intellectual Property (IP) or knowhow (trade secret). Sometimes IP or knowhow protection requires a formality (registration), but that is not always the case. The ability to prove that IP or knowhow belongs to your company and is treated as such within the company will often suffice.

To get an impression of the immaterial assets within your company, we have developed a tool that, by using a Q&A, provides an indication of your company’s Business of IP. Want to know what the tool and an (enhanced) focus on IP does for your company? Check the infographic.