Intangible assets are accounted for at cost and, as the useful lives are, with the exception of goodwill, finite, amortized in a scheduled manner in equal annual amounts over the relevant utilization period. Intangible assets are written down if there are indications of impairment (see “Impairment”) and if the recoverable amount is lower than amortized costs. The write-downs are reversed with effect on profit, if the reasons for the impairment losses no longer apply, to the maximum of amortized costs.

The amortization period for commercial patents, licenses and product know-how is a maximum of ten years. The remaining useful life of the product know-how is less than one year.

In the Group income statement, the amortization of product know-how is shown under cost of sales. The amortization of other intangible assets is included in the Group income statement under the various functional cost headings (cost of sales, research and development expenses, selling, general and administration expenses).

According to IFRS 3, goodwill is not amortized on a scheduled basis, only if a need for impairment loss exists. A recorded impairment loss on goodwill may not be reversed in subsequent periods.