Being intangible creations of human intellect, intellectual property (IP) includes a wide range of novel ideas, cultural and literary pieces, scientific inventions, computer software, technological designs and know-hows, research results, or planning projects. As IPs are not tangible, the valuation process in Vietnam now encounters several difficulties.
According to related experts, the program ‘Valuation of Intellectual Property from Scientific Research Results’ especially aids IP management units to evaluate the current valuation process and identify possible obstacles or limits so that feasible solutions can be raised.
Because of the specific features, it is quite hard for scientific-technological research to be valued, let alone complicated legal procedures and invention description.
At the moment various scientific-technological projects are being carried out in Vietnam, yet the matter of IP rights for research results is not properly focused.
Therefore, experts of this field stated that IP valuation in the nation should follow three basic methods of cost approach, market approach, and income approach. Accordingly, the market approach will depend on the comparison and analysis of one IP to similar IPs with existing price transactions in the market. The cost approach, meanwhile, is based on the cost to reproduce a duplicate asset using present market prices. The last approach identifies IP value through current value of incomes, money flows, as well as money saved thanks to the IP; as a result, the IP value is the up-to-date value of the expected future income flow arising from the IP with suitable discount.
As said by Mr. Nguyen Huu Can, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Intellectual Property Research Institute, IP is the deciding factor to attract consumers to a certain product or service. Hence, it is the responsibility of state management units to successfully value IP from scientific-technological research results.
Mr. Vo Hung Son, Head of the Division of IP Management (a member of the HCMC Department of Science and Technology), shared that in order to precisely identify profit from the use of scientific-technological research results, the IP valuation process can be done when partners transfer the use right of research results or contribute their own capital via these results as well as IP.
