On January 1, 2016, Michigan Corp. purchased a trademark for $ 300,000, which had an estimated useful life of 15 years. In January 2020, Michigan paid $ 44,000 for legal fees in a successful defence of the trademark. The amortization expense for this asset for calendar 2020, should be

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The trademark was purchased for $300,000 and has an estimated useful life of 15 years. This means that the annual amortization expense is $300,000 / 15 = $20,000. The legal fees paid in 2020 are not capitalized as part of the trademark's cost, so they do not affect the amortization expense. Therefore, the amortization expense for 2020 is $20,000.