NOTE 5 — INTANGIBLE ASSETS

Intangible assets include patents purchased and patents acquired in lieu of cash in licensing transactions. Patents purchased are recorded based at their acquisition cost and patents acquired in lieu of cash are recorded at their fair market value. Intangible assets consisted of the following:

Intangible assets are comprised of patents with estimated useful lives between approximately 1 to 13 years. Once placed in service, the Company amortizes the costs of intangible assets over their estimated useful lives on a straight-line basis. Costs incurred to acquire patents, including legal costs, are also capitalized as long-lived assets and amortized on a straight-line basis with the associated patent. Amortization of patents is included as an operating expense as reflected in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. The Company assesses fair market value for any impairment to the carrying values.  Management concluded that there was impairment to the carrying value in the amount of $5,793,409 for the year ended December 31, 2015 and no impairment for the year ended December 31, 2014.

Amortization and depreciation expense for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 was $10,825,164 and $5,528,280, respectively.  Future amortization of current intangible assets, net is as follows:

Since November 2012, the Company has continued to add to its intangible assets, through either the purchase of intangible asset directly or purchasing entities holding intangible assets. During the years ended December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, the Company made the following intangible asset acquisitions: