Etymology of Intellectual Assets: Domestic and Foreign Experience
Authors:   Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman, Stasovska Galyna M. 
Published: May 2024

At the present stage of development of global economic processes, intellectual assets play a special role as the main tool for monetizing the assets of enterprises in business and developing the economy in the country. In the context of the so-called new economy, cybernetic period, information age, every business owns intellectual assets, regardless of whether they have become separate into the economic and legal planes or not. Until recently, firms were rather sluggish in valuing these assets, often defining them as hidden business assets. Now, intellectual assets for business are quickly becoming the defining tools that allow you to distinguish your services and products from similar services and products of competitors. The challenge facing firms today is to develop an individual internal review plan for each service or product offered by the company, and integrating a new or an improved strategy for identifying intellectual assets into the overall business plan. In view of the above, in modern scientific thought, the need for a generalized definition of the concept of «intellectual asset», its classification and measurement methods, as well as the development of a taxonomy of this definition, is especially relevant. It is in this direction that conceptual, methodological, and practical difficulties arise. Thus, the aim of the article is to analyze the existing approaches to the concept of «intellectual asset» and generalize the essence of such approaches. In accordance with the set goal, a study of the theoretical foundations of the scientific category of «intellectual asset» has been carried out and based upon the findings, a generalized classification of intellectual assets has been presented. Based on the analysis of the results of both domestic and foreign studies, the importance of intellectual assets in creating competitive advantages for enterprises and their successful development is substantiated. In the process of conducting a scientific study, conceptual approaches to determining the essence of the concept of «intellectual asset» are analyzed, its classification is defined. It is found that each author gives his own understanding of the essence of this economic category. However, a review of sources does not provide an exhaustive understanding of the place of the term «intellectual asset» within the system of widely used terms: «intangible assets», «intellectual property», «nonmaterial assets». It is determined that all intellectual assets have a nonmaterial form, which is unique in nature and allows to provide economic benefits. A generalized classification of intellectual assets has been provided. It is determined that intellectual assets are an important element of the modern economy and play an important role in the competitiveness of enterprises and contribute to their successful development. Intellectual assets make it possible to increase the level of capitalization, and in the absence of sufficient financial resources and collateral, to provide the investor with additional guarantees of return on capital. That is, intellectual assets are a kind of reserves for future income. The main conclusions that can be drawn on the basis of this analysis are as follows: intellectual assets are nonmaterial assets that have value and can be identified; they are the basis of competitive advantages of enterprises and contribute to their successful development; intellectual assets can be classified according to various criteria, including the scope of use, the degree of clarity of definition and the degree of protection; for effective management of intellectual assets, it is necessary to develop a generalized definition of the concept of «intellectual asset», its classification and measurement methods, as well as to develop a taxonomy of this definition, since it is in this direction that conceptual, methodological, and practical difficulties arise. To improve the efficiency of intellectual assets management, enterprises need to: realize the importance of intellectual assets for their business; develop an intellectual asset management system that will include such elements; identification and valuation of intellectual assets; formation of a strategy for managing intellectual assets; development and implementation of measures to improve the efficiency of the use of intellectual assets; creation of a culture of intellectual asset management that will support its effective implementation.