Legal Definitions - incorporeal ownership

Incorporeal ownership refers to the ownership of an intangible right, rather than the ownership of a physical object or a tangible asset. It means possessing a legal claim or privilege that cannot be touched or seen, but which holds value and can be legally enforced or transferred.

Unlike owning a car or a house (which are physical things), incorporeal ownership involves having a right related to something, or a right to a specific benefit or action. This type of ownership is crucial in many areas of law and commerce because many valuable assets in modern society are not physical.

• Shares in a Publicly Traded Company

  When you own shares in a company, you do not physically own a piece of the company's buildings, equipment, or inventory. Instead, you own a right to a portion of the company's profits (through dividends), a right to vote on certain company matters, and a right to a share of the company's assets if it were to be liquidated. These rights are intangible; you can't hold them in your hand, but they represent a valuable form of ownership.

• A Software License Agreement

  If you purchase a license to use a particular software program, you typically do not own the software itself, nor do you own the underlying code or the intellectual property associated with it. What you own is the right to install and use that software according to the terms specified in the license agreement. This right is intangible; you cannot physically possess the "right to use," but it is a legally recognized and valuable form of ownership that allows you to benefit from the software.

• Mineral Rights

  In some jurisdictions, it is possible to own the right to explore for, extract, and profit from minerals (like oil, gas, or coal) from a specific piece of land, even if you do not own the surface land itself. This is a distinct form of incorporeal ownership. You do not own the physical minerals while they are still in the ground, nor do you own the land. Instead, you own the legal right to access the property for extraction and to claim the extracted resources. This right is intangible until the minerals are brought to the surface, but it is a valuable asset that can be bought, sold, or leased.