Trademark
In one sentenceA name, logo, or symbol that distinguishes the business's products or services from others, whose right of use is protected by registering it with the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property.
Simply put
Registration gives you an exclusive right to use the mark for the registered class of products or services, and prevents others from imitating it. The protection period and its renewal are in the Trademarks Law.
For accounting: a mark you buy or obtain in an acquisition is recorded as an intangible asset under IAS 38, while the costs of a mark you build yourself through advertising and marketing are expensed and not capitalized. If the mark's useful life is indefinite, it is not amortized but tested for impairment annually.
Worked example
A restaurant bought another restaurant's trademark for 300,000 SAR and estimates it will benefit from it for 10 years (a hypothetical finite life for illustration).
Cost of the purchased mark300,000 SAR
Annual amortization: 300,000 ÷ 1030,000 SAR
Carrying amount after two years: 300,000 − (30,000 × 2)240,000 SAR
Don't confuse it with
GoodwillGoodwill is a difference that arises in an acquisition and cannot be sold separately, while a trademark is an identifiable asset that can be sold or licensed on its own.