Companies and individuals invest significant time and expense in cultivating and promoting their brands to build recognition, awareness, and consumer association in the market place. With the growth of social media and other digital channels, brand messaging and brand value have become more susceptible to rapidly amplified movement (either positive or negative), given the viral nature of these channels. For entities involved in brand transactions and disputes, the dollar value of trademarks, trade dress, brands, and rights of publicity have become issues of great economic importance.

Stout professionals are frequent authors and presenters with substantial experience in valuing brands, trademarks, and right of publicity, as well as assessing damages associated with trademark/trade dress infringement and claims of false advertising. Our intellectual property (IP) professionals have cross-disciplined experience in both litigation and non-litigation engagements across a wide variety of products, services, and industries.

In litigation matters, our experts routinely provide analysis and expert testimony on issues including:

• Quantification of actual damages, including lost profits, lost royalties, and corrective advertising
• Determination of defendant’s profits
• Market penetration
• Use of social media and web analytics to inform various analyses, including exposure to relevant messaging
• Apportionment of the relative contribution of false advertising content to consumer purchase decisions

In valuation engagements, our experts regularly value trademarks, trade dress, brands, and right of publicity for various purposes, including:

• Transaction advisory, including for purchase/sale, licensing, joint ventures, etc.
• Financial reporting, including purchase price allocations and impairment testing
• Corporate tax compliance regarding related-party transactions
• Trust and estate tax planning and compliance
• Use of intellectual assets for capital raising