Property Concepts

Patent Requirements

1) Patentability(process, machine, manufacture, any composition of matter) 2) Novelty 3) Utility 4) Non-obviousness (is an advancement over the prior art) 5) Enablement (can be used by one of ordinary skill)

Requirements for Copyright Protection

1) Originality 2) Work of Authorship 3) Fixation in a Tangible Medium

bundle of rights for the copyright holder

refers to the exclusive rights granted to the owner of a copyright, including the rights to reproduce, distribute, perform, display, and create derivative works from the copyrighted material. And the right to exclude or license others from doing so.

Elements of Infringement

1) P holds a valid copyright 2) d copied the work 3) the copying was unauthorized and the amount copied is substantial.

Fair Use Defense

Courts consider 1)purpose and and character of the use 2) nature of the copyrighted work 3) substantiality of the portion used in relation to the whole work 4) effect on the market value of the copyrighted work.

Requirements for Trademark Protection

1) Distinctive 2) Non-functionality 3) First use in trade A trademark must be distinctive, used in commerce, and must not cause confusion with existing marks. It should identify and distinguish goods or services.

Lost vs Mislaid Property

Lost property refers to items that the owner unintentionally left behind and cannot locate, while mislaid property refers to items that the owner placed somewhere but forgot. The distinction affects the rights of finders and owners in property law only in America not England. Mislaid - Owner Wins, Lost - Finder Wins

Adverse Possession

Must Be 1)Actual 2)Exclusive 3)Open and Notorious 4) Hostile and under claim of right (no permission) 5) Continuous and uninterrupted 6) Statutory period requirements must be met.

Requirements for a gift:

1) Donative intent(now not in the future) 2) Delivery 3) Acceptance A valid gift requires the giver to intend to give it, delivery must occur, and the recipient must accept it. 3 kinds of delivery: Manual, Constructive, and Symbolic, symbolic was traditionally only accepted the modern trend is to accept it.

Categories of waste

Affirmative (voluntary acts that had injurious effects), Permissive (failure to act) Ameliorative (improvement that enhances property value) and Waste by Abandonment (giving up possession). These categories help distinguish different ways a tenant can misuse a property.

to A and her heirs but if Greenacre is used for any purpose other than agricultural purposes, then O has the right to reenter and take possession

This is a fee simple subject to a condition subsequent, where Grantor O retains a right of reentry if the condition is violated.

to A and her heirs so long as greenacre is used for residential purposes only

A has a fee simple determinable, and O has a possibility of reverter which doesn’t have to be expressly stated.

The Rule in Shelley’s Case

If one instrument creates a life estate in A and the remainder in fee simple in A's heirs, then A is treated as having a fee simple estate. This rule merges the life estate and the remainder, preventing the creation of a contingent remainder.

Rule against Perpetuities

A common law rule that prevents the indefinite postponement of the vesting of future interests in property. It ensures that interests must vest within a certain time frame, typically measured by lives in being plus twenty-one years. 1) Interests in Contingent Remainders Executory Interests and Class Gifts 2) Certain to vest or terminate no later than twenty-one years after the death of the last identifiable living person at the time of the interest's creation. 3) The future events must be identified 4)find the validating life 5) test lives by asking is there some possible chain of events that the contingency may remain unresolved after that persons death + 21 years? if you can say no you’ve found a validating life if you can’t the interest is void.

Unities required for Joint Tennacy

The four unities required for joint tenancy are unity of time, title, interest, and possession. These unities ensure that all joint tenants acquire their interest at the same time, through the same instrument, with equal shares, and have equal rights to possess the property.

Community Property

Acquired during the marriage ½ before or by gift, devise, or descent is separate property

Fair Housing Act Protects

against discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability. Civil Rights Act of 1866 only bars racial discrimination but is broader in that it extends beyond dwellings to sale and conveyances.

Landlords Duties

Duty to Deliver possession, maintain premises, and provide habitable conditions. American Rule merely legal possesion English rule both legal and actual possession.

Breach of the covenant of Quiet Enjoyment

1) wrongful conduct by the landlord 2) Substantial interference with enjoyment 3) vacation of the premises

Statute of Frauds

memo of sale signed by party to be bound, covers description and price.

Exceptions include part performance and estoppel

Remedies for Breach of a Contract of Sale

1) Damages 2) Specific performance 3) Retention or restitution of the deposit

General Warranty Deed, Special Warranty, Quitzclaim

General protects buyer against defects by the grantor and previous, special is just the grantor, while quitclaim transfers whatever interest the grantor has without warranties.

Recording Acts (Deeds)

Race (first recorder wins) Notice (bona fide purchaser protected) and Race-Notice (first to record and without notice of prior claims).

Types of Notice

Actual (personal knowledge) Record (Revealed by Title Search) Inquiry (duty to investigate relevant circumstances)

Easement Types

Benefits Land (Appurtenant) Benefits no land (In gross)

Easements can be implied based on a prior existing use. (quasi easement)

creation of easement

An easement can be created through express agreement, implication, necessity, or prescription, allowing the holder certain rights over another's land.

termination of easement

The ending of an easement can occur through several means such as expiration, abandonment, merger of the dominant and servient estates, or through the destruction of the easement. It may also terminate if it becomes unnecessary or if the holder of the easement releases the rights.

covenant

in law $ valid written contract in comp with sof, intention to attach to the land, touches and concerns the land and notice, in law all that + horizontel for burden and vertical privity

Eminent Domain Proccess

1 indentify wanted property 2try to buy voluntarily 3 start condemnayion proceess 4notify property owners 5 gov establishes authority to condenm 5 determine fair compensation and 6 proceed with acquisition.