Intellectual property rights (IPRs) include registered trade marks and designs, franchise rights, copyrights, and patents. HMRC states that new types of IPRs are coming into existence all the time, and because of developments in technology and the way in which intellectual property is dealt with in commercial transactions, it is an area in which their views are developing1. The tax treatment of various IPRs is considered below.
Registered and unregistered trade marks
Registered trade marks are assets for capital gains tax purposes within the meaning of TCGA 1992, s 21 as the rights attached to them are a form of property. The Trade Marks Act 1994, s 24 provides that a registered trade mark can be transferred either in connection with the goodwill of a business or independently of it. This is in contrast to an unregistered trade mark which is an intrinsic part of the goodwill of a business, and does not exist as a separate capital gains tax asset2.
Following registration, a trade mark will revert back to its unregistered status if
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