On behalf of The Law Office of Wickersham and Bowers posted in Family Law on Monday April 21st, 2025.
In Florida divorces, dividing property can be challenging, especially if one or both spouses own intellectual property. For professionals in creative or technical fields, patents, trademarks, copyrights, and royalty agreements may be the most valuable assets on the table. Because these assets are tied to future income and may not be easy to value, courts must weigh several factors when splitting them under Florida’s equitable distribution rules.
How Florida Classifies and Divides Intellectual Property
Florida courts treat most assets created during the marriage as marital property, even if only one spouse holds legal title. That includes intellectual property like trade secrets, business goodwill, and copyrighted material. If the asset was created before the marriage but increased in value during the marriage, part of that growth may still be considered marital.
In cases involving trade secrets, protective orders and NDAs are often used to keep proprietary business information private during and after the divorce process.
How to Value Intellectual Property
Valuing intangible assets like patents or copyrights is a critical step in dividing them fairly. The most common methods include:
- Cost Approach: Calculates how much it would cost to recreate the asset today. Works best for early-stage or undeveloped projects.
- Market Approach: Compares the asset to similar ones that have sold or been licensed. Often used for patents or trademarks with market data.
- Income Approach: Projects future income, such as royalties, then discounts it to reflect risk and present value.
- Relief-From-Royalty Approach: Estimates how much someone would pay to license the asset instead of owning it. This model blends the income and market approaches.
How to Structure the Split
Courts may award the intellectual property to the original creator and assign a share of future income, such as royalties or licensing fees, to the other spouse. In some cases, a buyout is negotiated instead based on the asset’s current appraised value. For incomplete or speculative IP, a formula may be used to divide any future earnings based on the portion created during the marriage.
At the Law Office of Wickersham & Bowers, we help clients handle complex asset division, including intellectual property rights. If your divorce involves patents, royalties, trademarks, or creative work, contact us today to schedule a consultation.
