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THE POSITION OF THE LAW ON LOST AND FOUND ITEM.

A real life situation was created whereby a man lost an old and well cherished diamond chain and pendant worth several sum of dollars. The lost item in question was an object of inheritance from his great grandmother which got missing under an unexplainable  circumstance. The said chattel may be regarded as of inestimable value to the man.
  Several years later, an old farmer who was hired to work on a farm and  while in the course of ground digging suddenly discovered and find the aforementioned lost jewelry to his astonishment.
The question now arose as to whom among the three person is the rightful owner of the lost and found item in question?
  While some school of taught are of the opinion that the farmer may exercise an exclusive right of possession  vice a vize  ownership claim in respect of the lost and item, some other people are also of the opinion that the owner of the farm who has engaged the service of the farmer in the first instance is the rightful and legal owner based on the legal principle of “quid quid plantator,  solo solo cedit” which literarily mean that “ He who owns the land owns whatever that is attached to the said land’’
  But  the better position of the law with regards to this dicey situation has always been that a finder of a lost piece of item whether found lying on the ground surface or embedded under the soil  can rightly maintain a rightful claim of owner in respect of such lost item  to the exclusion of any other person on earth unless and until the real owner emerged with a better proof of ownership title as against the said finder.

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TRESPASS

Trespass has been variously defined as an unlawful interference with  one’s person, property  or rights.
At common law , trespass was a form of action brought to recover damages or monetary compensation for any injury to one’s person or property or relationship with one another  . In other words, any unauthorized intrusion or invasion of private premises or land of another.
Trespass to the person comprises three torts (legal injury) namely:-
(1) Assault , (2) battery, (3) false Imprisonment. All these are actionable per se i.e without the need to prove actual damage. They exist to protect the individual’s right to personal liberty, security, and dignity. 

ESSENTIAL  INGREDIENTS  OF  TRESPASS

Assault consists of any act which puts the victim in fear of a potential  attack  e.g  where  an assailant approaches  menacingly with a clenched fist, Knife , firearm or any other  weapon . It is sufficient  for  liability that a reasonable man would have been afraid in the circumstances (an objective not a subjective test ) It is not mandatory that the victim should be actually strucked (which would otherwise amount to  battery) the legal injury  which   the law seeks to prevent  here  is  apprehension  of  mental  anxiety.

Battery  on  the  other  hand  is  the  direct  application  of  force  to  the  plaintiff’s  body  for  example,  by  shooting  or  striking  him,  throwing  stones  at  him,  spitting  at  him  or  setting  a  dog  upon  him.
Battery  generally  connote  a  hostile  act  but  sometime  may  not  be  so  for  example, it  is  a  battery  to  kiss  a  woman  against  her  will,  or  holding  a  person’s  hand  in  the  cause  of  an  unlawful  arrest  or  taking  his  finger  print  unlawfully.  

False  Imprisonment   In  law  connote  any  wrongful  physical  restrain  of  a  person. It  is  not  limited  to  merely  locking  a  man  up  in  prison  but  equally  involve  any  restrain  upon  his  person  which  prevents  him  from  leaving  the  place  or  venue  where  he  is.
This  tort  will not  be  committed  unless  the  victim’s  freedom  of  movement  in  any  direction  is  restricted  and  there  is  no  reasonable  avenue  for  egress.
False  imprisonment  usually  involve  an  element  of  physical  force  against  the  victim,  but  force  is  not  necessarily  an  ingredient  to  be  proved  , the  use  of  authority  is  sufficient  for  instance,  where  a  police  officer  wrongfully  ordered  a  person  to  follow  him  to  the  station  for  questioning  , such  an  officer  may  be  said  to  have  committed  the  tort  of  false  imprisonment.

DEFENCES   TO  TRESPASS
(1)  Self – defence :- An  Assault  or  battery  is  justified  if  committed  in  self- defence  or  in  self –           defence  of  another  person  who  was  attacked  by  an  assailant.
(2)  Defence  Of  Property :-  An  assault  or  Battery  is  justified  if  committed  in  defence  of   the          defendant’s   own  property  ( whether  land  or  Chattels)  or  of  property  which  the  defendant  is         defending  as  agent  of  the  owner .  But  the  forced  used  most  be  no  more  than  necessary  i.e         must   be  proportional  to  that  used  by  the  assailant .

About  the  Author EMMANUEL BADA

IKEJA, LAGOS, NIGERIA

I am an Attorney-at-law, Solicitor, Chartered Mediator and Conciliator,Motivational Speaker,Consultant on Personal Development and Leadership Training and skill acquisition , an extrovert, my philosophy about life is rendering gratuitous service to humanity and touching lives positively.

Why You Need Patent Protection for Your Invention

US patent protection is critical in order to protect your invention. This article discusses the many reasons why filing for a patent application sooner rather than later is so important.

A patent is one of the many forms of intellectual property (patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets). Intellectual property or “IP” is about protecting “intangible” things, i.e. “intellectual” things or things of the mind. This is compared to “real” property which is about real estate. To break it down simply, patents protect inventions, like that new kitchen gadget, the novel online software, or unique medical device for example that an inventor has created. Trademarks protect the name or logo of the invention, typically for branding purposes, for example Nike is the trademark for their shoes. But Nike may have several patents that protect some of their novel shoe designs.

So why is getting a patent important? For several reasons. First, if you are a small inventor and you want to pitch your invention to companies, distributors, or investors. A primary concern is how you can protect the invention, and what will prevent others from stealing the idea. Protection of your invention boils down to two things, patent protection and/or a nondisclosure agreement (NDA). An NDA is a contract between the inventor and another party that forces the other party not to disclose to others what you are disclosing to them. But the problem with NDAs is that they are often ambiguous as to what is being disclosed and typically many companies will refuse to sign your NDA at all. Further, the NDA is only as good as the other person that signs it.

Patents in contrasts can be a much stronger right that allows the patent holder to sue infringers in court and to seek an injunction and damages, and in some cases of willfulness infringement, triple damages.

Further, an issued patent is a defined piece of property that you can sell in its entirety, or that you can license to allow other people the right to use what the patent is protecting. When you grant others a license you can receive patent royalties which can be very lucrative if negotiated properly. Another consideration is if you own a business that has issued patents and or other intellectual property like trademarks, it can greatly increase the value of the business if you ever intend to sell it or attract investors.

Other considerations, for marketing purposes having a “patented” product, or even a “patent pending” product adds so much credible to the company and the product or service itself in the mind of many consumers.

Lastly, you must have a patent in many cases if you want to sell you invention, particularly to larger companies. For example, many large companies have invention submission departments, but they will not even consider your idea and will actually return you idea to you if you do not have either an issued or pending patent. GM for example often will reject any new idea form outside the company if there is no patent in place.

If you are at the stage where you are ready to move forward for patent protection, make sure it is done properly by a competent and licensed patent attorney.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael N. Cohen, Esq.
Mr. Cohen is a licensed licensed patent attorney with offices located in Los Angeles and Orange County.

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