Increasingly, an entity’s ability to generate profts comes from its intangible assets such as patents,
brands and customer relationships. These intangible assets were rarely separately recognised in business
combinations in the past and were typically subsumed in goodwill. There has been an increasing focus
on the identifcation, recognition and measurement of these intangible assets in a business combination.
Likewise, recognition and measurement of separately acquired and internally generated intangible assets
have also been attracting more attention.
An intangible asset is an identifable non-monetary asset without physical substance. The identifable
criterion is met when the intangible asset is separable (that is, when it can be sold, transferred or licensed),
or where it arises from contractual or other legal rights.