Dealing with Intangibles: Valuing Brand Names, Flexibility and Patents

73 Pages Posted: 8 Apr 2009

See all articles by Aswath Damodaran

Aswath Damodaran

New York University - Stern School of Business; New York University (NYU) - Leonard N. Stern School of Business

Date Written: April 7, 2007

Abstract

A standard critique of valuation models, in general, and discounted cash flow models in particular is that they fail to fully account for the many intangible assets possessed by firms. There have been attempts to value brand name, trade marks and copyrights and bring them on to the balance sheet. Other intangible assets include patents and customer lists. We would expand this list to consider the flexibility that a firm may preserve to expand its market or enter new markets. In this paper, we consider a variety of ways in which these assets can be valued and the consequences for investors.

Keywords: intangibles, brand name, patents, real options

JEL Classification: G10, G30, M10

Suggested Citation

Damodaran, Aswath, Dealing with Intangibles: Valuing Brand Names, Flexibility and Patents (April 7, 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1374562 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1374562

Aswath Damodaran (Contact Author)

New York University - Stern School of Business ( email )

Stern School of Business
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HOME PAGE: http://www.damodaran.com

New York University (NYU) - Leonard N. Stern School of Business ( email )

44 West 4th Street
Suite 9-160
New York, NY NY 10012
United States

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