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Branding Taxation, Xuan-Thao Nguyen, Jeffrey A. Maine

Georgia Law Review

Branding is important not only to businesses, but also to the economy. The intellectual property laws and tax laws should thus further the legitimate goals of encouraging and protecting brand investments while maintaining a sound tax base. Intellectual property protections for branding depend on advertisement and enforcement, both of which demand significant amounts of private investment by firms. Although one would expect similar tax treatments of both categories of investment, the categories are actually treated as vastly different for federal income tax purposes. Under the current tax system, advertising costs incurred to foster brand equality are generally expensed whereas litigation …