Binder and Nestler on Profit Splits

Christof Binder and Anke Nestler have published an article titled Valuation Of Intangibles And Trademarks—A Rehabilitation Of The Profit-Split Method After Uniloc in the May 2016 issue of les Nouvelles (link here).  The authors argue in favor of using data from purchase accounting, which "is the process of classifying, valuing and accounting for all of the assets and liabilities that are included in the acquisition of a business," in determining royalties for the use of intellectual property.  From the article:

A profit-split analysis for a trademark or other intangible asset attempts to quantify what share of the profit of the business is attributable to the subject asset. Based on this asset-specific profit, its value can be calculated. Despite the adverse Uniloc decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 2011, profit-split is an important, if not essential, element in the valuation of intangibles. In the wake of Uniloc, the method needs not only a vindication, but also a refinement based on case-specific facts and data. Purchase accounting data reported in financial statements can provide both. . . .

Purchase accounting data is helpful to gain a deep understanding of the transaction values of intangible assets, and their expected contribution to future prof-its of the acquired businesses. Such data is helpful to reconcile and redirect the profit-split method which has long been an important method for valuing intangible assets. With ample purchase accounting data available as comparables in the public domain, in-depth case-specific peer group analyses become possible. This will not only improve the quality of the profit-split method itself, but also make an important contribution to the overall accuracy of the valuation of intangibles in general.

For previous blog posts on Dr. Nestler's work, see here and here.