Trade secrets (know-how) accepted for accounting: legal and economic aspects

Abstract

The article deals with the economic aspects of the application of the norms on trade secrets (know-how) in connection with the constant transformation of approaches to the legal protection of this intellectual property object in the Republic of Belarus. The article considers the issues of valuation of trade secrets (know-how), reflection of operations with them in accounting, validity of their inclusion in the intangible assets of the organisation. The conclusion is made that due to the interest of the Republic of Belarus in strengthening the innovation component of the economy, it is advisable to return to the possibility of transferring the right to use the information constituting trade secrets (know-how) under the agreement rather than the information itself. This is connected with the legal definition of the object of intangible assets as a set of property rights. The authors propose to use a systematic approach to changing the rules on the acceptance of property rights to intellectual property objects for accounting as intangible assets, which can be facilitated by the choice of one of the proposed models.