Personal Property and Bailments Chapter 17.1 Personal Property and Bailments

Objectives Upon completing this section, you will know how to: Identify tangible and intangible personal property Decide when a gift of personal property is completed Distinguish between lost, misplaced, and abandoned property Explain the law that applies to stolen property Discuss the law of patents, copyrights and trademarks

Personal Property Personal property- anything that can be owned, other than real property Tangible personal property- property that has substance and can be touched Examples: clothing, books, and cars

Intangible personal property- property that has no substance and cannot be touched Example: when someone owes you money, the right to receive the money is intangible personal property Example 1

Gifts of Personal Property 3 Requirements: donor- one making the gift-must intend to make the gift must be delivered donee- one receiving the gift-must accept the gift Example 2

Lost Property You have the legal duty to return the property to the owner if that person can be found. If you can’t find—keep it May use lost property Check local law—advertise or property authority Rewards- any finder of lost property is entitled to any reward offered if they knew about the reward when they surrender the property to its owner

Misplaced Property If property is found in a public or semipublic place it is not considered to be lost, but misplaced Must leave property with proprietor or manager Example 3

Intellectual Property Intellectual property- an original work fixed in a tangible medium of expression Examples: patents, copyrights, and trademarks Patent- exclusive right guaranteed by the federal government to make use or sell an invention US Patent and Trademark Office Lasts for 17 years New principle or idea Must be useful

Copyright- a right guaranteed to an author, composer, photographer, or artist to exclusively publish and sell an artistic or literary work US Copyright Office in Washington DC Lasts the life of the author + 70 years Trademark- distinctive mark, symbol, or slogan used by a business to identify goods and to distinguish them from products sold by others Lasts 10 years and must be renewed every 10 years

Bailments of Personal Property *Property in possession of others. Bailments- an agreement created by the delivery of personal property by the owner to someone who is not the owner for a specific purpose Bailee- person who has possession of personal property that belongs to someone else Bailor- person who owns the personal property in someone else’s possession

*The law of bailments defines rights and duties. Example 4

Principal Types of Bailments Business- contract with consideration Example 5

Great care- implied promise Example 6: George offered the use of his motorcycle to his friend, Andrea. This was a friendly gesture on George’s part with no thought to repayment. Andrea accepted the offer and borrowed the motorcycle to ride to a neighboring town. This is a bailment because Andrea made an implied promise to use the motorcycle with great care.

No agreement Example 7: John found a watch lying on the sidewalk. He picked it up and put it in his pocket. He later advertised in the local paper to find the true owner. This was a bailment because John was in possession of a watch that he did not own.

Mutual Benefit Bailments Mutual-Benefit Bailments- both the bailor and bailee receive some benefit The most common mutual-benefit bailments: 1. service or repair Example 8

2. storage Example 9

3. parking cars in a lot- bailment or renting a space bailment- the burden is on the bailee to prove that they were not negligent renting a space- burden of proof is on the owner of the car to prove negligence of the lot owner to recover a loss

4. security for a loan Example 10

Property- pledge Borrower- pledgor, owner of the property Lender- pledgee

Martin- bailee of a good belonging to the equipment company 5. renting goods from others- pay for the use and return it in good condition Example 11 Martin- bailee of a good belonging to the equipment company Rental company- bailor obligated to give Martin a sprayer free of defects

6. gratuitous bailment- free of charge Example 12 Example 13

Rights and Duties in Bailments The rights of the bailee are the duties of the bailor. Bailor’s Rights and Bailee’s Duties: receive services or money that was contracted for protected from harm (reasonable care) have the goods returned

Bailee’s Rights and Bailor’s Duties: pay for services or storage costs warn the bailee of any danger involved notice of any special care pick up the goods in a reasonable time

Bailee’s Rights and Duties Old law-3 degrees of care: great ordinary slight

New law- reasonable care under the circumstances Reasonable care- degree of care that a reasonable person would exercise to prevent the goods from being harmed If the bailee violates the terms of the bailment- bailee becomes an insurer of the goods

Insurer- one who is absolutely liable for any loss Repairs- mechanic’s lien on the property Lien- a right to hold the property until paid for and permission is granted from court to sell the goods Tortuous bailee- wrongfully retains possession of the lost property of another or is knowingly in possession of stolen property

Burden of Proof *Generally, when one person brings claim against another for negligence, the plaintiff has the burden of proving that the defendant was negligent. Example 14

Recent decisions by state and federal courts have changed this rule in the case of bailments. Many courts now say that the burden of proof should rest on the party who is in the best position to determine what actually happened to the goods.

Assignment Page 367 #1-6