Firm resources such as intellectual property and brand equity are important to a firm because: A. Having such resources allows for a firm to achieve competitive parity. B. They are tangible and have a high degree of resource mobility. C. Once created, maintaining such resources takes little managerial effort. D. They are intangible, costly to imitate and can lead to sustained competitive advantage(s).

The correct answer is D) They are intangible, costly imitate and can lead to sustained competitive advantages.

Explanation:

That category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect is referred to as Intellectual Property. The common types of intellectual properties are copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets.  

Brand equity simply refers to the perceived worth of a brand by it's owners and by the public. For example, if one pays more for a Gillette Razor then for another kind of razor, it's because they have a positive brand perception of Gillette so they pay more for it even when they know they can get it for less elsewhere.

Brand equity and intellectual property are complementary in promoting  innovation within an enterprise. Not only are the combined effects greater than the individual effects,  when the latter is relatively weak, the former’s positive effect on innovation is obviously weakened and may even crowd out innovation.

One of the thing that a company can do for itself is to protect its intellectual property assets and use them as tools in developing a brand image for itself and the goods and services it provides.

Cheers!

d. the economy will face inflation.