Intangible property, also known as incorporeal property, is something that a person or corporation can own and transfer to another person or corporation but has no physical substance, for example, brand identity or knowledge/intellectual property. It generally refers to statutory creations, such as copyright, trademarks, or patents. It excludes tangible property like real property (land, buildings, and fixtures) and personal property (ships, automobiles, tools, etc.). In some jurisdictions, intangible properties are referred to as choices in action. Intangible property is used in distinction to tangible property. It is helpful to note that there are two forms of intangible property: intangible legal property (discussed here) and competitive intangible property (the source from which intangible legal property is created but cannot be owned, extinguished, or transferred). Competitive intangible property disobeys the intellectual property test of voluntary extinguishment. It, therefore, results in the sources that create intellectual property (knowledge in its source form, collaboration, process engagement, etc.) escaping quantification.
Generally, ownership of intangible property gives the owner a set of legally enforceable rights over the reproduction of personal property containing specific content. For example, a copyright owner can control the reproduction of the work forming the copyright. However, intangible property forms a set of rights separate from the tangible property that carries the rights. For example, a copyright owner can control the printing of books containing the content. Still, the book itself is personal property that can be bought and sold without concern over the rights of the copyright holder.
In English law and other Commonwealth legal systems, intangible property is traditionally divided into pure intangibles (such as debts, intellectual property rights, and goodwill) and documentary intangibles, which obtain their character through the medium of a document (such as a bill of lading, promissory note or bill of exchange). The recent rise of electronic documents has blurred the distinction between pure intangibles and documentary intangibles.
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