At the beginning of Year 1 , a company paid $ 24,000 for legal fees and other costs associated with the registration of a patent . The patent had a legal life of 20 years and an estimated useful life of 6 years . In January Year 2 the company paid $ 48,000 for legal fees in a successful defense of the patent in an infringement suit . The amount of straight - line patent amortization for Year 2 is $ 4,000 $ 13,600 $ 12,000