Some areas of personal property law are similar to the law of real property， others differ dramatically. The most significant difference is in the basic body of law that governs the sale of property. Generally speaking， real property sales are governed by the common law of contracts—a body of primarily state case laws， while sales of personal property are governed mainly by the Uniform Commercial Code—a body of state statutory laws. The dominant component of a transaction determines whether the whole transaction is governed by the UCC or by the common law of contracts.
Ownership， or title， of most personalty is evidenced by possession. When a piece of personal property is not owned by others， one can obtain title to it merely by taking possession. For example， abandoned property is available to the general public， and whoever takes possession of it becomes its owner. Property is generally deemed to have been abandoned if it is found in such a condition that it is apparent that the true owner has no intention of returning to claim the item.
Two other types of personal property in this connection are lost and mislaid property. Property is generally deemed to have been lost if it is found in a place where the true owner likely did not intend to leave it， and where it is not likely to be found by the true owner. At common law， the finder of a lostitemcould claim the right to possess the item against any other person in the world except the true owner. Most jurisdictions have now enacted statutes requiring that the finder of lost property turn itin to the proper authorities； if the true owner does notarrive to claim the property within a certain period of time， the property is returned to the finder as his own. Property is generally deemed to have been mislaid or misplaced， if it is found in a place where the true owner likely did intend to leave it， but then simply forgot to pick it up again. The finder of a misplaced object has a duty to turn it over to the owner of the premises， on the theory that the true owner is likely to return to that location to search for the misplaced item. If the true owner never shows up， the property goes to the owner of the premises.
Intellectual property is intangible and is often created and defined by law. Patents， trade secrets， copyrights and trademarks all fall in this category. A patent protects invention. Trade secrets are items of information such as customer lists， formulae， and even recipes， that are useful to a business and kept secret by the business. A copyright protects original works， such as books， advertisements， musical works and radio or television works. A trademark is a name used to distinguish some goods from others.
taxation /t k sei n/n.税收；课税；税款
tangible / t ndbl/adj.有形的；可触摸的；切实的n.有形资产
leasehold / li sh uld/n.租赁；租赁权adj.租赁的
tenancy / ten nsi /n.租用或租赁期
personalty / p s nlti/n.[律]动产[复数personalties]
intangible /in t ndbl/adj.难以捉摸的，难以理解的；无形的n.无形资产
patent / peit nt/n.专利，专利权
trademark / treidm k/n.（注册）商标
fee si m pl e absol ute estate 继承者有绝对处理权处理地产
condi ti onalestate有限不动产
l i fe estate（死后不得由后人继承的）终生产业；终生财产
tenancy atwi l l不定期租赁
peri odi c tenancy定期租赁
tenancy for years按年期租赁
1. ontractual right （契约权利） ： A contractual right is a claim， on other persons， that is cknowledged and perhaps reciprocated among the principals associated with that claim. pecialized contractual rights existas partof a“contract”or agreementbetween persons to whom these rights belong.
2.bandoned property （废弃财产，已放弃产权财产） ： Property is generally deemed to ave been abandoned if it is found in a placewhere thetrueowner likely intended to leave it， but is in such a condition that it is apparent that the true owner has no intention of returning to claim the item. Abandoned property generally becomes the property of whoever should find it and take possession of it first， although some states have enacted statutes under which certain kinds of abandoned property—usually cars and wrecked ships and aircraft—become the property of the state.
3. ost and mislaid property （丢失物和错放物） ： Property is generally deemed to have een lost if it is found in a placewhere thetrueowner likely did not intend to set itdown， and where it is not likely to be found by the true owner. At common law， thefinder of a lost item could claim the right to possess the item against any other person in the world except the true owner. Property is generally deemed to have been mislaid （ some courts refer to it as“misplaced”） if it is found in a place where the true owner likely did intend to set it， butthen simply forgotto pick itup again. For example， a walletfound in a shop lying on a counter near a cash register will likely be deemed misplaced rather than lost. Under common law principles， the finder of a misplaced object has a duty to turn it over to the owner of the premises， on the theory that the true owner is likely to return to that location to search for his misplaced item. If the true owner never shows up， the property becomes that of the owner of the premises.
4. angible property （有形财产） ： Tangible property in law is， literally， anything which an be touched， and includes both real property （ or， in civil law systems， immovable roperty） and personal property （ or moveable property） ， and stands in distinction to ntangible property.
