International Accounting Guidelines for Intellectual Property

According to a background report for a June 2005 European Patent Academy conference on "Intellectual property as an economic asset: key issues in valuation and exploitation," steps have been taken in a number of countries to assist firms in publicly reporting information about their intellectual assets. The governments of Denmark, Germany and Japan, for example have worked with industry and other relevant stakeholders to develop guidelines for non-financial disclosures of information regarding intellectual assets, and the European Union, through its MERITUM project, has supported similar efforts:

• Intellectual Capital Statements: The New Guideline, Ministry of Science, Technology and
  Innovation, Denmark, 2003.
• Intellectual Capital Statement – Made in Germany, Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour, Germany, 2004.
• Reference Guideline for Intellectual Property Information Disclosure, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan, 2004.

These guidelines aim to redress weaknesses in financial accounting standards, which do not
address intangible assets. They provide guidance to firms on how to prepare reports that disclose qualitative and quantitative information about their intellectual assets and the contributions of those assets to firm performance. It is hoped that such disclosures will provide relevant information about the value of firms and improve the efficiency of financial markets.

Information on corporate tax accounting for intellectual property is available here and here.