Most founders can tell you what their equipment is worth, what their receivables look like, and roughly what a competitor paid for a similar business. Yet ask them what their intellectual property (IP) is worth, and the conversation usually stalls.

This is a problem, and not a small one. For technology companies, consumer brands, creative businesses, and increasingly for businesses in almost every sector, intellectual property is a primary source of value. It's the reason customers choose your brand over a cheaper alternative. It's the asset an acquirer is really interested in buying. It's what a licensing partner is paying to access. And yet it rarely appears on a balance sheet in a way that reflects its commercial reality, which means most business owners are carrying their most important asset without any real sense of what it's worth.

That needs to change, particularly if you're planning to raise investment, negotiate a licensing agreement, consider a sale, or find yourself in a dispute where the value of your IP is suddenly central to the outcome.

Why valuation is harder than it looks

Valuing IP is not like valuing equipment or property. There's no market price to consider. Every IP asset is unique in its scope, its remaining term, its commercial application, and the competitive advantage it actually creates. The gap between what IP costs to create and what it is worth commercially can be enormous - in either direction. For example, a trade mark built over twenty years of brand investment may be worth multiples of what it cost to register. Similarly, a patent developed at significant expense may have limited commercial value if the market moved in a different direction.

The result is that IP valuation requires judgment as much as methodology. But there are three recognised approaches that professional valuers use and understanding them helps you engage with the process meaningfully.

The three main approaches

The cost approach values IP based on what it would cost to recreate it - the development investment behind a software platform, the years of marketing spend behind a brand, the R&D cost of a patented process. It's a useful floor, but it consistently undervalues IP because it ignores the commercial advantage the asset actually creates and often doesn’t take into account market variables along the way. What something cost to build is rarely what it is worth to own.

The market approach values IP by reference to comparable transactions - what similar assets have sold or licensed for in arm's-length deals. In principle, this is compelling. In practice, comparable data is often unavailable, confidential, or insufficiently similar to be directly useful. IP assets are inherently unique, which makes like-for-like comparisons genuinely difficult.

The income approach values IP based on the future economic benefit it is expected to generate whether through direct licensing revenue, the competitive advantage it enables, or the premium pricing or market share it protects. This is generally the most commercially meaningful of the three approaches and the one most commonly applied in professional valuations. It requires assumptions about future revenue, discount rates, and the specific contribution of the IP asset to that revenue but it grounds the valuation in what actually matters to a buyer, investor, or licensee.

What drives the number

Whichever approach is applied, several factors consistently influence IP value. The strength and scope of protection matters: registered rights in multiple jurisdictions are worth more than unregistered rights in one market. The remaining term of protection matters: a patent approaching expiry is a different asset from one with fifteen years remaining, while a trade mark that can be renewed indefinitely carries a different profile altogether. The commercial importance of the IP to the business's revenue is central - IP that is peripheral to the business model is worth far less than IP that sits at its core. The competitive landscape matters: the question isn't just whether you have protection, but whether that protection actually keeps competitors out. And enforceability matters: IP that has been tested and upheld carries more weight than rights that have never been challenged.

When to get a professional valuation

For significant transactions such as an investment round, an acquisition, a major licensing negotiation, or a dispute, a formal valuation by a qualified expert is not optional. It adds credibility to your position, provides a defensible basis for negotiation, and often uncovers value that the business owner hadn't quantified. An experienced IP attorney can connect you with the right expertise and help you prepare the underlying documentation that any serious valuation requires.

The businesses that understand what their IP is worth are the ones best placed to protect it, leverage it, and realise its full value when it matters most.

Written by Sara-Jane Pluke, Partner and Head of IP, international law firm Eversheds Sutherland