Intangible assets now make up 90 percent of all business value. In the Philippines, they have been an increasing subject of commercial transactions. Rowanie A. Nakan and Ritz Angelica R. Alejandro examine why IP valuation matters, and government initiatives to increase awareness. 

Intangible assets are gaining more importance in businesses today as compared to tangible assets. The Intangible Asset Market Value Study of Ocean Tomo shows that, since 2020, intangible assets now make up 90 percent of all business value, with the increase in share mainly driven by the Covid-19 pandemic. Relatedly, new World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) data shows that investments in intangible assets like brands, designs, data, and software have grown three times faster over the past 15 years than investment in physical assets like factories and machinery. 

In the Philippines, intangible assets have been the subject of commercial transactions. For instance, Filbert Tsai cited in his two-part article entitled “The most valuable asset of your company is missing, what’s next?” in Business Mirror in 2017, two case studies, one of which related to the acquisition by Globe Telecom Inc., a telecommunication company, of intangible assets from Bayantel Telecoms Inc. (BTI). Tsai noted that the acquisition was related to intangible assets, i.e.,  customer contracts, franchise and license. 

In another article by Brand Finance, entitled “Jollibee stands tall as ASEAN’s sole representative in global rankings”, Jollibee, the sole restaurant brand from the Philippines and also the ASEAN region to be featured in the latest Restaurants 2025 report by Brand Finance, has been accorded a brand value of US$2.5 billion, which surely must significantly contribute to the company’s overall value. 

Still, there is not much Philippine data on business value that is attributable to intangible assets. This may be because IP valuation, as a discipline and practice, is still developing in the country.  
 

Why IP valuation matters 

Intellectual property rights – which in the Philippines consists of copyrights and related rights, trademarks and service marks, geographical indications, industrial designs, patents, layout-designs (topographies) of integrated circuits – and protection of undisclosed information, are all considered as intangible assets, which may generate value even if they lack physical form.  

IP valuation is the process of assigning monetary value to IP. Unlike tangible assets, valuing IP is more complex as it can be assumption-driven and more subjective. It requires an understanding of various considerations, including the costs of development, the IP’s ability to generate revenue and the conditions in the market where the IP is to be utilized. 

With the growing importance of IP as an asset, whether for private or public institutions, it becomes imperative to adopt a formal, standardized, reliable, and ethical framework for IP valuation. 
 

IP valuation in the Philippines 

While the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines does not specifically mention IP valuation, the more recent Republic Act No. 10055 or the Philippine Technology Transfer Act, which is the law that facilitates the transfer, dissemination, and effective use, management, and commercialization of IP, technology and knowledge resulting from research and development funded by the government, mandates that the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) as chair and convenor, together with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Philippine Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHL) shall jointly issue the necessary guidelines on IP valuation, among others. 

In line with this, the Joint DOST-DTI-IPOPHL Administrative Order No. 001 entitled the Guidelines on Intellectual Property Valuation, Commercialization and Information Sharing of RA No. 10055 (the Joint Administrative Order) was issued in 2012, which prescribes the guiding principles on technology-based IP valuation that government funding agencies and research development institutions are encouraged to follow. Aside from this, the Joint Administrative Order likewise requires that the valuations be done by an interdisciplinary team since expertise in various fields is required for technology-based IP valuation. 

Moreover, under Joint DOST-IPOPHL Administrative Order No. 02-2010, otherwise known as the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 10055, a valuation report must be submitted to secure a fairness opinion report in support of directly negotiating the commercialization of government-funded technologies. 

Thus, the Philippine government has created an ecosystem, albeit mainly focused on government-funded endeavours, that normalizes the use of IP valuation reports as a guide to arrive at a fair and reasonable transaction. To sustain this ecosystem, there must be a pool of experts that can undertake the highly specialized and technical service of preparing IP valuation reports.  
 

IP valuation initiatives in the Philippines 

From October 2024 to April 2025, the Licensing Executives Society Philippines together with the Association for Management and Valuation of Intangibles (AMAVI), conducted a six-month IP Valuation Certification Training programme in Manila covering various topics on intellectual property, finance, valuation and other tools needed to be able to value IP. The training included 21 participants from both the private and public sectors. After completing the training programme, the participants submitted an IP valuation report and passed an examination to be awarded an IP Valuation Certificate.  

Aside from this, the WIPO and the IPOPHL, with support from Funds-In-Trust Japan Industrial Property Global (FIT/Japan) organized a National Training Seminar on IP Valuation in the Philippines on 22-24 October 2025. The training was held in support of one of the deliverables of the ASEAN IPR Action Plan 2016-2025, where the Philippines is considered as an ASEAN Member State, to conduct training programmes for IP valuers. 

WIPO also recently issued the working draft of the IP Valuation Tool Kit (ASEAN Region) that aims to professionalize IP valuation. The tool kit serves as guide for valuation professionals who already have a basic understanding of the IP valuation approaches and methodologies. 

While the IPOPHL conducted Advanced IP Valuation Training Courses in 2023 and 2024 were designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct valuation of intellectual property assets, the participants therein were not certified as IP valuation experts.   

With all these initiatives, certainly, the growing importance of IP valuation cannot be denied. But as explained in the IP Valuation Tool Kit (ASEAN Region), IP valuation is not merely about the knowledge of IP as certain principles should govern the IP valuation. These principles are competence, ethics and objectivity. As more people gain the required knowledge to value IP, the government, should ensure that IP valuation is done not just competently, but also ethically and objectively. Having a duty to protect and secure the exclusive rights of scientists, inventors, artists and other gifted citizens to their intellectual property and creations, the government should take the lead in ensuring that the value attributed to an IP is reasonable. Only then can valuing IP truly and fairly facilitate transfer of technology. 

Once the IP valuation ecosystem becomes more robust, with a sufficient number of experts to perform quality IP valuation services, there will be more incentive for the private sector to rely on IP valuation as a tool in commercial transactions relating to intangibles. Thus, IP becomes not just a form of legal protection, but also a viable economic asset.