Trademark valuation
Your brands are valuable intangible assets. But do you really know their value? If you are considering selling brands, their valuation is essential. Find out how to estimate the value of your registered trademarks with TradeYourMark®.
Every year, the Brand Finance Global 500 2025 report analyses the value and strength of the 500 most influential brands in the world. Unsurprisingly, the giants of the technology sector occupy the top spots. Apple is valued at $ 574.5 billion, Microsoft at $ 461.1 billion and Google at $ 413 billion.
While these valuations are exceptional, any registered trademark is an intangible asset that has value. For a company, correctly valuing its trademarks enables effective strategic management of these assets.
Why value your trademarks?
We focus on the valuation of brands with a view to selling them. Companies often own trademarks that they no longer use or do not wish to use in the future. Why?
- A change in strategy: certain product lines are discontinued.
- A marketing overhaul: the adoption of a single brand leads to abandoning secondary brands.
- A merger or acquisition: the company needs to streamline its trademark portfolio.
Selling these trademarks allows you to monetise intangible assets that have become unproductive.
When a company stops its activity, finding a buyer can be challenging. Selling assets separately can therefore be a solution.
- In the event of voluntary cessation of business, the business owner may consider looking for different buyers for the intangible assets, including the trademarks, and the tangible assets, including for example the stocks.
- In the event of bankruptcy, the liquidator may sell the intellectual property assets in order to recover funds for creditors.
A good estimate of the value of the trademarks is essential in order to sell them at the best price.
How to determine the value of a trademark ?
Three factors must be taken into account.
Financial Elements
Firstly, brand valuation is based on financial elements related to its exploitation. Three methods of financial valuation are proposed by ISO 10668:
Legal Strength
The second factor to consider for the valuation of a trademark is its legal strength. The legal protection must be assessed for each jurisdiction and each category of products and services it is registered for.
We work in partnership with the law firm LLCG on legal matters. With over 45 years of specialisation in intellectual property law, LLCG has recognised expertise and a strong reputation. LLCG provides our clients with expertise in intellectual property strategy and intangible asset valuation.
The main elements to be analysed are:
Marketing Strength
Finally, the third aspect to analyse is marketing strength. A strong trademark is a real driver of growth, enabling:
A strong trademark contributes to greater company growth and improved profitability. Its reputation and image in its market and among its target customers therefore impact the brand’s value.
How to value a dormant trademark?
If the trademark has not been used:
- Its base value is the cost of creating the trademark. This includes, for example, the fees charged by a naming agency and the registration costs.
- A legal analysis is essential to verify the strength of the trademark. The distinctiveness of the trademark needs to be assessed as well as the priority and risk of cancellation.
For trademarks which have been used in the past:
- A cost approach can be carried out. This takes into account the costs of creating and developing the brand.
- The legal analysis must assess the strength of the registration and analyse the scope and extent of use. It must also take into account any past disputes or litigation.
- Marketing analysis is essential. The history, image and reputation of the trademark may represent a significant part of its value.
Beyond these elements, the value of a dormant trademarks largely depends on negotiations between the seller and the buyer.
For the buyer, the value of the trademark may depend on criteria such as :
- Is buying the trademark critical because the business is already using it without having registered it properly? Or because its development is blocked by the existence of a similar earlier brand?
- Does the purchase of the trademark significantly accelerate the launch of new products or services?
- Does the trademark enjoy a reputation and image that the company will be able to capitalise on by relaunching it?
Why use TradeYourMark® to estimate the value of your trademarks?
Estimating the value of a trademark is a complex process. It requires expertise in financial, legal and marketing matters. TradeYourMark® offers its clients this wide-ranging expertise and extensive experience in brand valuation and intermediation.
Examples of projects carried out by TradeYourMark®
Valuation of a portfolio of registered trademarks as part of a judicial liquidation.
- Client: judicial liquidator.
- Objective: sell the trademarks at the best price under the supervision of the court
- Portfolio: trademarks which had been used in the past
- Key aspect of the valuation: legal analysis of the trademarks’ reputation
Valuation of cosmetics trademarks currently exploited
- Client: large company in the beauty sector
- Objective: sell a set of trademarks that the company no longer wished to use
- Portfolio: large portfolio of word, figurative and semi-figurative trademarks widely registered internationally
- Key aspect of valuation: financial analysis and analysis of the scope and extent of use
You want to estimate the value of your trademarks ?
Trademark valuation: all you need to know
Assessing the value of a trademark is an essential first step to decide whether to sell the trademark and define the sales strategy. It allows you to negotiate with potential buyers on a solid basis and to monetise your trademarks at the best price.
Trademark valuation is based on three elements:
- Financial valuation
- Legal strength of the brand
- Marketing strength of the brand
Various methods are available for the financial valuation. The choice depends on the context of the valuation.
The application of different valuation methods and the assumptions made when applying these methods provide an indicative range of the value of a trademark. The sale price depends on this estimate and on negotiations between the trademark owner and the buyer.
TradeYourMark®, a specialist in trademark intermediation and has in-depth expertise and extensive experience in trademark valuation. For the analysis of legal aspects, TradeYourMark® works in partnership with the law firm LLCG, which has specialised in intellectual property law for 45 years.
For a comprehensive and reliable valuation taking into account financial, legal and marketing aspects, fees are normally charged.
You want to estimate the value of your trademarks ?
