Intellectual property is generally known as "a set of intangibles assets that come alive or materialize themselves through their different forms of protection”. It is important to highlight the rating as an asset for this particular type of property and emphasis ought to be added to the fact that they acquire this category, only through applying any of "their different forms of protection"; inter alia, trademark, patent law or, for instance, by acquiring copyrights over protected works like software.
 
Arises then the concept of "intellectual asset", derived from what is known as the knowledge economy. Since the late nineteenth century and almost until the nineteen nineties of the last one, a physical or material perception of companies was the rule, measuring companies’ competitive advantages based on their tangible assets value, such as plants, warehouses, machinery, equipment, among others. It was only until this decade that intangible assets became so important, providing two different kind of value to companies: Book value (books) and market value (transactions). The difference between these two values ​​is what is initially defined as intellectual capital, which can be up to 90% of the commercial value of a company and is represented precisely in the assets described above: patents, trademarks, trade secrets, software, industrial designs, utility models, etc., etc.
 
Hence, the importance of having accurate valuing methodologies, applied by expert appraisers, in order to obtain the real value​​of each company, providing confidence to investors, shareholders, and even the government, with valuable information for transaction purposes, like internal management indicators, allowing the improvement of decision making and optimizing administrative and financial plans within companies.
 
Colombian Law No. 1673 - 2013 and its subsequent implementation Decrees, regulate the practice of valuation of intangible assets, "professionalizing" this activity to avoid disproportions that frequently appear while applying empirical or accommodated methodologies to a particular need, resulting in misguided values ​​of these kind of assets. The afore mentioned rules created inter alia, an Open Registry for Appraisers -RAA- (for its Spanish translation), demanding technical and academic training, creating a new category of professionals, and even punishing those who, without complying with these legal requirements, exercise any activity related to valuation of intangible assets.
 
In Rodriguez Azuero Contexto Intelectual we offer our clients professional advice on the subject matter, in accordance with legal requirements, as an excellent tool that allows them to identify and meet the value of each and every asset that constitutes the most important capital of today’s companies: its knowledge.