What Is Intellectual Capital?

Intellectual Capital, which during 2000 accounted for over one-tenth of the U.S. GDP, or one trillion dollars, is usually divided into seven areas:

1. The Brand, an on-going identity conveying the values of the enterprise, its products and services, and ultimately its role in the customer or consumer’s lifestyle.
   
   
2. Intellectual Property and Goodwill, to include trademarks, patents, licenses, trade secrets, and Intellectual Property Strategies.
   
   
3. The active intelligence, energy, and creativity of an organization, including knowledge, know-how, trade secrets, information, data, and the ability to innovate and to take products and services to the marketplace.
   
   
4. Corporate Culture, with its ways of doing business, its rituals, and its practices.
   
   
5. The people, with their abilities, talents, and relationships.
   
   
6. The experience and history of the organization and its “Corporate Memory.”
   
   
7. Intellectual materials, or the work product of the day, which is the new capital used to create new wealth.

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