Legal Definitions - assignable

The term "assignable" describes something—such as a right, a contract, or an interest—that can be legally transferred from one person or entity to another. When something is assignable, the person or entity receiving the transfer (known as the assignee) steps into the legal position of the person or entity making the transfer (the assignor). This means the assignee acquires the same rights and, often, the same obligations that the assignor originally held.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Lease Agreement: Imagine a tenant, Sarah, signs a one-year lease for an apartment. Her lease agreement explicitly states that the lease is "assignable" with the landlord's written consent. Six months into her lease, Sarah gets a new job in another city and needs to move. She finds a new tenant, Mark, who is willing to take over the remainder of her lease. With the landlord's approval, Sarah formally assigns her lease to Mark.

  Explanation: In this scenario, Sarah (the assignor) transfers her rights (to occupy the apartment) and her obligations (to pay rent, maintain the property) under the lease to Mark (the assignee). Mark now legally holds the lease for the remaining six months, with the same rights and responsibilities that Sarah originally had.

• Right to Payment from a Service Contract: A small marketing agency, "Creative Campaigns," completes a project for a client and is owed $15,000. To improve its immediate cash flow, Creative Campaigns decides to sell its right to receive this payment to a financial institution, "QuickCash Factors," for $14,000.

  Explanation: The right to receive the $15,000 payment from the client is "assignable." Creative Campaigns (the assignor) transfers this right to QuickCash Factors (the assignee). The client is then notified to pay the $15,000 directly to QuickCash Factors, which has acquired the same legal right to collect that payment that Creative Campaigns originally possessed.

• Intellectual Property Rights (Patent): An independent inventor, Dr. Chen, develops a groundbreaking new medical device and secures a patent for it. She later decides to sell her entire business, including all her intellectual property, to a large pharmaceutical company, "Global Pharma Inc."

  Explanation: Dr. Chen's patent rights are "assignable." By assigning the patent, Dr. Chen (the assignor) transfers full legal ownership of the patent to Global Pharma Inc. (the assignee). Global Pharma Inc. now holds all the exclusive rights to manufacture, use, and sell the patented medical device that Dr. Chen originally held, and can enforce those rights against any infringers.