April 24, 2002, Alexandria, VA-Intangible assets, including intellectual property, are the building blocks of today's, and tomorrow's, economies. Yet, today's business headlines are dominated by news of inconsistencies, restated results, and dramatic changes in financial performance tied to misunderstood or ill-defined standards for reporting the financial value of intangible assets. Licensing executives, experts who work with these assets everyday, are cooperating with policy makers to develop reporting standards to accurately and consistently measure the value of the intangible assets. The Licensing Executives Society (USA and Canada (LES) will offer several presentations on this topic at its upcoming 2002 Spring Meeting, May 1-4, in Washington, DC.

The Spring meeting will feature Baruch Lev, Professor of Accounting and Finance at the New York University School of Business, and the leading authority on the management, measurement, and reporting of intangible assets. Professor Lev will provide an update on the status of regulations and policy directions at the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Internal Revenue and other standard-setting groups. LES is evaluating model reporting standards for intellectual property based on well-established practices, for the purpose of complete disclosure of the revenue and profitability from intellectual property assets.

LES has established an Intellectual Assets Reporting Standards Committee comprised of accounting experts, intellectual asset managers, academicians, lawyers, and industry representatives to monitor progress and provide perspectives on this issue.

In addition, on May 1, LES President James Malackowski will join Steven Wallman, former SEC Commissioner, Founder and CEO, FOLIOfn, Inc., to address a Congressional audience on the need for improved transparency and accountability in reporting intangible assets.

LES and its members look forward to providing input and guidance to policy makers as they address these increasingly complex yet essential public disclosure issues.

For more information on these events, visit the LES website at www.usa-canada.les.org.

The Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. & Canada), Inc. is a professional society comprised of more than 5,000 members engaged in the transfer, use, development, manufacture and marketing of Intellectual Property. Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. & Canada), Inc. is a member society of the Licensing Executives Society International, which has a worldwide membership of over 11,000 members in more than 27 national societies, representing over 80 countries.

Licensing Executives Society (USA and Canada)
1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 280
Alexandria, VA 22314