INTANGIBLE ASSETS AND GOODWILL

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

The Company’s intangible assets consist of the following (in thousands):



	December 31, 2011							December 31, 2010
	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Carrying Amount		Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Carrying Amount		Amortization Period	Weighted Average Useful Life

Supply and distribution agreements	$	260,288	$	(97,114	)	$	163,174	$	264,491	$	(76,823	)	$	187,668	10 - 13 years	12 years

Technology	22,982		(22,708		)	274		23,549		(22,119		)	1,430		3 years	3 years

Patents	1,638		(1,399		)	239		1,638		(1,352		)	286		15 years	15 years

Customer lists	19,923		(19,150		)	773		20,338		(17,512		)	2,826		2 years	2 years

Internet domain names	5,215		(625		)	4,590		1,853		(126		)	1,727		2 - 20 years	12 years

Trade names	52,272		(21,192		)	31,080		53,099		(15,064		)	38,035		5 — 20 years	11 years

Other	345		(324		)	21		344		(286		)	58		3 — 10 years	4 years
Total intangible assets	$	362,663	$	(162,512	)	$	200,151	$	365,312	$	(133,282	)	$	232,030

Intangible assets with determinable lives are amortized on a straight-line basis. Intangible assets amortization expense is approximately $33.2 million, $34.3 million and $24.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

The annual estimated amortization expense for intangible assets for the next five years and thereafter is expected to be as follows (in thousands):



2012	$	29,630
2013	28,361
2014	28,287
2015	25,588
2016	23,007
Thereafter	65,278
	$	200,151

A substantial portion of the intangible assets relate to our Booking.com business. In addition, purchased intangibles increased by $94.5 million as a result of the acquisition of TravelJigsaw Holdings Limited (now known as rentalcars.com) in May 2010 (refer to Note 13).

A rollforward of goodwill for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 consists of the following (in thousands):



	2011			2010
Balance, beginning of year	$	510,894		$	350,630
Acquisition	—			105,313
Additional purchase price under earn-outs	—			61,620
Currency translation adjustments	(6,110		)	(6,669		)
Balance, end of year	$	504,784		$	510,894

A substantial amount of the Company’s goodwill relates to its acquisition of Booking.com. In addition, the acquisition of TravelJigsaw Holdings Limited in May 2010 (now known as rentalcars.com) increased goodwill by $105.3 million (refer to Note 13) and contingent purchase price consideration recorded in December 2010 related to the acquisition of priceline.com Mauritius Company Limited (formerly known as Agoda) in 2007 increased goodwill by $60.1 million (refer to Note 16).

As of September 30, 2011, the Company performed its annual goodwill impairment testing using standard valuation techniques. The estimated fair value of Booking.com, as well as the Company’s other reporting units, substantially exceeded their respective carrying values. Since the annual impairment test, there have been no events or changes in circumstances to indicate a potential impairment.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the aggregate amount of goodwill and a description of intangible assets, which may include (a) for amortizable intangible assets (also referred to as finite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, the amount of any significant residual value, and the weighted-average amortization period, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization (also referred to as indefinite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, and (c) the amount of research and development assets acquired and written off in the period, including the line item in the income statement in which the amounts written off are aggregated, if not readily apparent from the income statement. Also discloses (a) for amortizable intangibles assets in total and by major class, the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization, the total amortization expense for the period, and the estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization the carrying amount in total and by major class, and (c) for goodwill, in total and for each reportable segment, the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the period (including the aggregate amount of goodwill acquired, the aggregate amount of impairment losses recognized, and the amount of goodwill included in the gain (loss) on disposal of a reporting unit). If any part of goodwill has not been allocated to a reportable segment, discloses the unallocated amount and the reasons for not allocating. For each impairment loss recognized related to an intangible asset (excluding goodwill), discloses: (a) a description of the impaired intangible asset and the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method for determining fair value, (c) the caption in the income statement or the statement of activities in which the impairment loss is aggregated, and (d) the segment in which the impaired intangible asset is reported. For each goodwill impairment loss recognized, discloses: (a) a description of the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method of determining the fair value of the associated reporting unit, and (c) if a recognized impairment loss is an estimate not finalized and the reasons why the estimate is not final. May also disclose the nature and amount of any significant adjustments made to a previous estimate of an impairment loss.

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