Chapter 8 The Property System October 20th 2014 8 0 Introduction Concepts of Property and Ownership Property Tangible and intangible items that can be owned Ownership Right to possess and the right to exclude others from use or possession In the United States legal persons including juridical persons can own acquire transfer and sell property o Legal Person Human being or entity such as a corporation or government that is recognized as a possessor of certain legal rights o Juridical Person To have legal personality meaning to be capable of having legal rights and duties within a certain legal system such as to enter into contracts sue and be sued Concepts of Property and Ownership Nonhuman animals cannot own property o Can be a beneficiary of a trust in many states Beneficiary Person or entity that receives the benefit of a contract trust or other legal instrument Trust Legal instrument created for the benefit of a beneficiary including animals Not everything is subject to ownership o Human body and body parts Organ donation gifting only 8 1 Personal Property Learning Objectives Classification of Property bailment with it Distinguish between personal property and real property Understand classifications of property Understand the concept of bailment and the legal duties associated with Examine methods of acquisition of personal property Real Property Land and certain things that are attached to it or associated o Real Estate Refers to real property Estate Refers to ownership interests o Virtual stores are not forms of real property o Virtual money like Bitcoin can be used to purchase real properties Classification of Property Personal Property Not real property Tangible Property o Definition Tangible personal property refers to property except land or buildings that can be seen weighed measured felt touched or otherwise perceived by the senses Chattel Moveable tangible personal property o Fungible Property that is not uniquely identifiable and is subject to easy mutual substitution Includes sweet crude oil company shares bonds precious metals and currencies Each unit is identical to every other unit o Intangible property Does not physically exist but subject to ownership principles including acquisition transfer and sale Right to payment under a contract Tangible personal property generally does not include assets without a physical form such as stocks bonds copyrights deeds liquor licenses etc These items are intangible assets Classification of Property Fixture Something that used to be personal property but has become attached to the land so that it is legally a part of the land o Tangible personal property until affixed to real property o Doctrine of waste Prohibition of removal of fixtures Purchase of home with stair life for handicap access to second floor Properties classified by ownership o Private Property Owned by someone or something juridical person that is not the government o Public property Owned by the government Personal property and real property can be private or public Are Human Genes Patentable Human genes may not be patented the Supreme Court ruled unanimously June 13th 2013 The decision is likely to reduce the cost of genetic testing for some health risks and it may discourage investment in some forms of genetic research The case concerned patents held by Myriad Genetics a Utah company on genes that correlate with an increased risk of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer o The price of the test for Angelina Jolie more than 3 000 was partly a product of Myriad s patent putting it out of reach for some women o A considerable price drop is expected The court s ruling which drew a sharp distinction between DNA that appears in nature and synthetic DNA created in the laboratory The Justices ruled that isolated DNA could not be patented but the synthetic DNA created in the laboratory complementary DNA or cDNA should be protected under the patent laws Licensing Technology in the Form of Seeds Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Monsanto s Soybean Patent self replacing technologies https www youtube com watch v GTyp4Tqepv0 t 27 Methods of Acquisition of Personal Property Production Involves creating the property o When NDA is isolated from the Human Body Should it Be Subject to Ownership by Patent Purchase Involves trade of valuable consideration o Most common method of acquisition o Uniform Commercial Code governs transactions involving the sale of goods and the purchase of supplies between merchants Uniform Commercial Code UCC Model statue that seeks to provide uniformity to contracts law among the different states Gift Voluntary transfer of property o Donor Person who gifts property o Donee Person who receives gifted property o Conditional Gift Requires a condition to be met before the gift will transfer Donation of 2 5 million dollars to athletic academic center on condition that matching sum is donated from private sources Methods of Acquisition of Personal Property Property that someone finds can be classified in several ways o Abandoned Property Category of personal property in which the owner has intentionally relinquished the property o Lost property Category of personal property where the property has been unintentionally relinquished by its owners o Mislaid property Category of personal property where the property has been placed by the owner for the owner s later retrieval but the owner has forgotten where it is It is generally considered theft under California law if one finds lost property under circumstances that give him knowledge of or means of inquiry as the true owner and yet appropriates the property for his own use without first making reasonable and just efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him Methods of Acquisition of Personal Property If the finder refuses to return lost or mislaid property to its rightful owner the owner can sue for conversion o Conversion Intentional substantial interference with the chattel of Treasure Trove Category of found property consisting of money or another precious metals o Finders keepers losers weepers Fungible items Bailment Arrangement in which the rightful possessor of personal property gives the property to someone who has agreed to hold the property and who has a duty to return it Bailor Someone who is in the rightful possession of property who gives the property to someone else to hold Bailee Someone who is in the possession of someone else s property and who agrees to accept the