SUPPORT
Permissibility of Sale of Goodwill , Trademarks , Patents, Copyrights and Intellectual Property in Shariah Law.
1. It is permissible to sell the goodwill of a business, together with the other tangible assets, as part of a going concern, in one indivisible transaction.
2. The global Islamic Fiqh Academy, based in Jeddah, comprising leading global Shariah experts, had resolved in December 1988, ( resolution no: 43:5:5 ) that intellectual property, such as trademarks, patents, copyright, and inventions, enjoy protection in Shariah, belong to the holders of those rights, and are treated as property, which may be lawfully sold, transferred or disposed of because such intangible rights have acquired financial value through contemporary commercial usage. اصبح لها في العرف المعاصر قيمة مالية معتبرة لتمول الناس لها
Similarly, the Council of Shariah experts, representing AAOIFI, chaired by Mufti Taqi Usmani, has ruled that such intellectual property rights enjoy protection, may be lawfully transferred, for an agreed price, and that such rights must not be infringed by a third party, without the consent of the holder of the rights. ( Shariah Standard 42 : 3/3/3/1: adopted October 2009).
3. The well-known scholar of the Indian subcontinent, Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanwi(ra) expressed the opinion that the sale of a trade name per se , was permissible. ( Imdaad al Fataawa : 3:119 and 4:قياسًا على مسالة النزول عن الوظائف بمال في انه ثابت على وجه الاصالة دون دفع الضرر
4. Commercial goodwill may arise from many sources including trade name, reputation, customer connections, and other special attributes of the relevant business, securing a future income stream.
5. The later Hanafi jurists have, for example, permitted the sale of a right of way, because it is connected to the underlying land. لكونه حقا يتعلق بعين و هي الأرض . The Shafei and Hanbalī legal schools permit such sales absolutely, because the definition of property, capable of sale, in their interpretation is flexible and wide, and includes recognized benefits and rights.
6. On any basis, the sale of goodwill, as a component of a going concern business, is established in Shariah law by international custom( urf).و لتعارف الناس بماليتها و تقومها
قال العلامة الشيخ تقي العثماني فى كتابه القيم ، فقه البيوع:ان حق الاسم التجارى و العلامات التجارية، و ان كان فى الأصل حقا مجردا غير ثابت فى عين قاءمة ..... و لكنه أصبحت بعد التسجيل الحكومى ذات قيمة بالغة فى عرف التجار.... لان المالية كما يقول ابن عابدين رحمه الله تثبت بتمول الناس...
و ينبغي ان يجوز الاعتياض عنه على طريق التنازل و على وجه البيع...
راجع: فقرة ١١٣.....ملخصا.
( Note: the sale of electricity and gas is another clear example of the sale of an incorporeal right of commercial value, recognized in Shariah Law, although the subject matter is not tangible property.)
و ان عدم جواز الاعتياض عن الحق ليس على إطلاقه، كما ذكر علامة ابن عابدين فى رد المحتار تحت مطلب: في النزول عن الوظائف بمال.
No Zakah is payable on the market value of a trademark or copyright or patent unless the same was lawfully acquired for the purposes of resale and therefore constitutes stock on the Zakah valuation date.
M S Omar
28 July 2024