Trade Names

Trade Names or trademarks are words, phrases or symbols which identify a particular enterprise or product. When registered with the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office, they are protected legally for 20 years each.

Examples of trade names are: Kleenex, Excedrin and Sunkist. They increase marketability of products because of their immediate recognizability.

For accounting purposes trade names or trademarks need to be amortized over the periods benefited, not to exceed 40 years.

Learn how to analyze a balance sheet in terms of company's liquidity and solvency using financial ratios such as the current ratio, quick (or acid) ratio, debt to asset ratio and debt to equity ratio.