Category Finance

Transfer Pricing & Trade Secrets

Transfer pricing is probably the most important issue in international corporate taxation. In taxation and accounting, transfer pricing refers to the rules and methods for pricing transactions between enterprises under common ownership or control. A transfer price is the price…

Trade Secrets

A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, commercial method, or compilation of information that is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable by others, and by which a business can obtain an economic advantage over competitors or…

Patents role in Apple’s success

Now the master of new consumer technologies, Steve Jobs, announced his resignation on Wednesday as Apple CEO, attention is also given to the intellectual property aspects of Apple’s success. Mr. Jobs’s say over the minute details of Apple’s products is…

Mad Men Thrive in Mid-Town Manhattan

Once the iconic Main Street of the advertising industry, Madison Avenue has quietly evolved into a center for Manhattan’s emerging intellectual property businesses. Don Draper, flamboyant Mad Men creative director, however, needn’t worry about the new neighbors cramping his style. They’re too…

IP Securitization – the case for Belgium

In the rapidly changing economy of today, the tangible property of a company is becoming less important than an intangible property which is very often a company’s most important, if not the only, valuable asset. Nora Wouters highlights the possibilities…

Relevance of patents in M&A transactions

Economists have studied the relationship between patents and M&A activity but there is remarkable lack of data to show which role, if any, patents play in M&A transactions. Antti Saari, wrote his master’s thesis for his Finance study at the…

Patents and Tax Planning in Benelux

In financial difficult years every CFO is eager to listen to ideas to turn IP in their companies’ intangible assets into savings or better, cash. Of course monetization of unused patent portfolios is an option but this is very difficult…

Old Habits Die Hard

After the financial crisis and subsequent downturn of the economy as a whole one would think that old school financial products are “out” and financial creativity is “in”. However, Morgan Stanley unveiled earlier this month  a US$ 250 million IP…