<div><div style="float:right;margin-bottom:10px;"><a  href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?text=sdasdasd&url=http://mashable.com/2011/09/15/apple-valuable-brand/"><img style="border:none;margin-right:5px;" src="http://5.mshcdn.com/wp-content/themes/v7/img/share-buttons/stumbleupon.png" align="right" /></a>
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<a  href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://mashable.com/2011/09/15/apple-valuable-brand/&service=bit.ly&source=mashable"><img style="border:none;margin-right:5px;" width="51" height="61" src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://mashable.com/2011/09/15/apple-valuable-brand/" align="right"/></a></div><div style="float:left;margin-bottom:10px;"><img src="http://5.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/apple_logo.jpg" alt="" title="apple_logo" width="275" height="" class="alignright size-full wp-image-505173" /></div><div style="clear:both;"></div></div><br/><a href="http://mashable.com/follow/topics/apple">Apple</a>'s brand is worth $39.3 billion, or 33% more than it was at the start of the year, according to a study from consulting firm Brand Finance. 

The London-based company looks at a company's cash flow and other financial metrics to assess the worth of its trademarks and other intellectual property. At the top of the heap is Google, whose IP is worth $48.3 billion -- and likely more after Thursday, when the search giant <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/09/google-buys-1023-patents-from-ibm.html" >bought</a> another treasure trove of patents from IBM. (Big Blue itself is currently in fourth place.) 

<center><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="http://mashable.com/2010/10/26/social-media-engaged-brands/">5 Most Engaged Brands in Social Media</a></strong></center>

Microsoft slipped to third place, a hair's breadth below Apple at $39 billion -- although <a href="http://mashable.com/follow/topics/windows-8">Windows 8</a> may change that equation.

This marks the first time, according to the report, that the world's top four most valuable brands are all tech companies. Coming in just below them: Walmart, GE, AT&T and Coca-Cola. A couple of banks with slipping reputations -- Wells Fargo and Bank of America -- round out the top 10.

[via <em><a href="http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/09/15/apples-brand-value-rises-to-no-2-in-the-world-after-google/" >Apple 2.0</a></em>]<div class="feedflare">
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