This document discusses intangible assets, which are non-physical assets that provide future economic benefits. The key points covered are: intangible assets include things like patents, trademarks, and goodwill; purchased intangibles are recorded at cost while internally-created costs are expensed; intangibles have either definite or indefinite useful lives which determine if they are amortized; impairment tests are used to write down intangible asset values if recoverable amounts are less than carrying amounts; and research and development costs are always expensed when incurred due to difficulties in tracking costs and benefits.