The share of the marital property required to be transferred to the spouse during divorce process. The tangible assets can be assessed where the identification of intangible assets will be somewhat difficult. The property interests are quantifiable and can be shared accordingly in connection with tangible assets who are in existence. But spouse also interested in intangible property during divorce. The intellectual property issues in marital property also requires reasonable split to the spouse. The Intellectual property rights include copyright, trademarks, geographical indications rights, industrial designs, patent etc.
The property rights, inheritance rights and other personal rights known is single personal rights. Intellectual property right is dual right i.e. property rights as well as civil right. In the present scenario, sometimes the most valuable assets seem to be intangible assets. Hence the interested spouse seeks equitable distribution of such intangible assets. The courts started the process of identifying, classifying and valuing the intellectual property.
The spouse has right the share of completed work for such existing Intellectual property. Some states in United States follow on the principle of “equitable distribution”. For example, North Carolina follows “Equitable distribution”. It is not just 50-50 split but ensures fairness and equitable distribution on all available on all assets.