Final answer:
Noncurrent, intangible assets such as leasehold improvements, patents, and copyrights are subject to amortization, which is part of the broader category of intellectual property rights.
Step-by-step explanation:
Noncurrent, intangible assets such as leasehold improvements, patents, and copyrights are all subject to amortization. This accounting process spreads out their cost over a certain period, reflecting their consumption, expiry, or obsolescence. These assets are a part of what we call intellectual property, which includes various types of laws to protect the rights of inventors to produce and sell their inventions. The duration of these protections, such as patents and copyrights, varies by country, with international efforts underway to harmonize intellectual property laws worldwide. These protections have economic implications, including the creation of private benefits for inventors and positive externalities that may spill over to third parties.