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What's Your Trademark Worth? Determining the Value of Trademarks For Collateral, Sale or Licensing
We all know that trademarks are valuable business assets and that's why we, as intellectual property counsel, go to such great lengths to register and protect our client's trademarks. What happens when times are tough? If a client needs money, can it turn to its trademark portfolio to generate income or securitize a loan? Does the goodwill a client company has worked so hard to build mean anything when there is a financial crisis? This article explores the options available to a client to value its trademarks during a financial crisis, to ensure one of the most valuable assets it owns can continue to work for the company and see it through the lean times so that it can continue to exist and flourish for many years to come.
Why Trademark Registrations Are So Valuable
Unlike other branches of intellectual property law, where the rights lapse after a span of time, trademark registrations are valuable because they can last indefinitely, so long as they continue to be used in commerce as a distinctive brand to distinguish a client's goods and services. A federal trademark registration is required to take down social media infringers, combat counterfeiters, and sell a client's wares in an Amazon seller store. A registration can be helpful when seeking an investment for any start-up or new business, writing cease and desist letters, or suing infringers. It significantly increases the value of any license agreement and initial public stock offering, or when it's time to securitize a portfolio or sell the business.
The first trademark was registered at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 1870. The TIFFANY & CO. mark registered in 1893 and has been used since 1868 for jewelry and watches. Last year, LVMH bought the entire company and all of its marks (including the Tiffany blue trademark that has been registered as a color mark since 1998), for $16.2 billion, a record for a luxury brand. Earlier negotiations valued the entire Tiffany portfolio in the $13-$14 billion range, but Tiffany & Co. kept pushing for a higher value. How did Tiffany determine its sales price and what were some of the factors that led to its record setting valuation?
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