Property is an external thing that can be owned or possessed. Property can be divided into two categories: tangible
and intangible. The word tangible refers to something that has a definable physical form that can be felt or
touched. The word intangible refers to something that cannot be perceived by the senses.
1. Tangible and Intangible Property
Department of Pharmacy (Pharmaceutics) | Sagar savale
Mr. Sagar Kishor Savale
[Department of Pharmaceutics]
avengersagar16@gmail.com
2015-2016
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2. Tangible property
In law is, literally, anything which can be touched, and includes both real property (or, in civil law
systems, immovable property) and personal property (or moveable property), and stands in
distinction to intangible property. In English law and some Commonwealth legal systems, items
of tangible property are referred to as choses in possession (or a chose in possession in the
singular). However, some property, despite being physical in nature, is classified in many legal
systems as intangible property rather than tangible property because the rights associated with the
physical item are of far greater significance than the physical properties. Principally, these are
documentary intangibles. For example, a promissory note is a piece of paper that can be touched,
but the real significance is not the physical paper, but the legal rights which the paper confers, and
hence the promissory note is defined by the legal debt rather than the physical attributes. A unique
category of property is money, which in some legal systems is treated as tangible property and in
others as intangible property. Whilst most countries legal tender is expressed in the form of
intangible property ("The Treasury of Country X hereby promises to pay to the bearer on
demand...."), in practice bank notes are now rarely ever redeemed in any country, which has led to
bank notes and coins being classified as tangible property in most modern legal systems
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3. Intangible property
Also known as incorporeal property, describes something which a person or corporation can have
ownership of and can transfer ownership of to another person or corporation, but has no physical
substance. 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 property are referred to as choses
in action. Intangible property is used in distinction to tangible property. It is useful to note that
there are two forms of intangible property - legal intangible property (which is discussed here)
and competitive intangible property (which is the source from which legal intangible property is
created but cannot be owned, extinguished, or transferred). Competitive intangible property
disobeys the intellectual property test of voluntary extinguishment and 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 reproduction of personal property containing certain
content.
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4. For example, a copyright owner can control the reproduction of the work forming the copyright.
However, the intangible property forms a set of rights separate from the tangible property that
carries the rights. For example, the owner of a copyright can control the printing of books
containing the content, but the book itself is personal property which 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 in 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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5. Tangible and Intangible Property
Property is an external thing that can be owned or possessed. Property can be divided into two categories: tangible
and intangible. The word tangible refers to something that has a definable physical form that can be felt or
touched. The word intangible refers to something that cannot be perceived by the senses.
Tangible Property
Tangible property consists of real property and personal property. Real property is property that does not
move, such as land and the things that are attached to or built on that land.
Personal property is property that can be moved or any other tangible property that can be owned. Personal property
is also called chattels. Chattels that are attached to the land and that cannot be removed without damaging the land are
called fixtures. Examples of fixtures are built-in bookcases and ceiling fans.
Intangible Property
Intangible property consists of property that lacks a physical existence. Examples of intangible property include
checking and savings accounts, options to buy or sell shares of stock, the goodwill of a business, a patent, and spousal
love and affection.
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