March, 2008: There is a famous saying of Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) that “Necessity is the mother of invention, but patent right is the father”. The parenthood of mother and father together brings up an idea into a commercial asset. Sometime the inventor himself does not know the value of the invention. The society has recognized that the inventor must be rewarded for atleast some period of time for its eternal contribution to the society. The reward for the ideas and inventions is in the form of protection under various Intellectual Property [IP] laws, viz. patent laws, trademark laws, and so on. The invention in any field of technology once registered as a patent, either for the process or for the product becomes an Intellectual Property Right [IPR].

There is a growing need to understand the concept of accounting and the valuation of IP assets. Various accounting bodies, at National and International level have issued accounting standards such as International Accounting Standard 38 and Indian Accounting Standard 26, which lays down standard guidelines for proper accounting of intangible assets. Similarly, there are different approaches for valuation of IP assets, either on the basis of estimated economic benefits or on the basis of actual cost or estimated market value. The relevance of accounting and valuation of various intangible assets has increased in recent days because of mergers and acquisitions. The companies also look for due diligence for transfer of technology from one entity to another. The entire process of IP licensing and IP commercialization recognizes the need of proper accounting and valuation of IP assets.

ITAG has an expert team with legal, commercial, technical and accounting background to cater to the needs of the business community in the present era of globalization through network of its offices equipped with information technology. ITAG is fully aware of the importance of data security and confidentiality and therefore complies with information security management system with ISO/IEC 27001:2005 and ISO 9001:2000. We hope that ITAG would be able to be a pioneer in the field of IP asset management within and outside India through knowledge management.

--Dr. D. R. Agarwal