Legal Definitions - mesne assignment

A mesne assignment refers to an intermediate transfer of rights, interests, or property from one party to another, occurring within a chain of transfers between the original grantor and the ultimate recipient. It is not the initial transfer, nor necessarily the final one, but rather one of the intervening transfers in a series.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Intellectual Property Rights: Imagine a software developer, Sarah, who creates a new mobile application. She initially assigns the copyright for her app to a small startup company, "InnovateTech Inc." A year later, a larger corporation, "Global Apps Ltd.," acquires InnovateTech Inc. and, as part of the acquisition, InnovateTech Inc. assigns all its intellectual property, including the copyright for Sarah's app, to Global Apps Ltd.

  In this scenario, the transfer of the app's copyright from InnovateTech Inc. to Global Apps Ltd. is a mesne assignment. It's an intermediate step in the ownership chain, occurring after Sarah's initial assignment to InnovateTech Inc. and before Global Apps Ltd. becomes the ultimate owner.

• Leasehold Interest in Real Estate: A property owner, Mr. Henderson, leases a commercial office space to "Prime Business Solutions" for a five-year term. After two years, Prime Business Solutions decides to relocate and assigns its remaining three-year leasehold interest to "Dynamic Enterprises." A year later, Dynamic Enterprises finds a more suitable location and assigns the remaining two years of the lease to "Future Innovations LLC."

  Here, the assignment of the lease from Prime Business Solutions to Dynamic Enterprises is a mesne assignment. Similarly, the subsequent assignment from Dynamic Enterprises to Future Innovations LLC is also a mesne assignment. Both are intermediate transfers of the leasehold interest, occurring after the original lease agreement between Mr. Henderson and Prime Business Solutions.

• Contractual Rights (Receivables): A manufacturing company, "Alpha Goods," sells a large order of products to a client and is owed $500,000. To improve its cash flow, Alpha Goods assigns its right to collect this payment (a receivable) to a financial institution, "Credit Solutions Bank." Credit Solutions Bank then bundles this receivable with others and assigns the entire package to a larger investment firm, "Global Capital Partners," as part of a securitization deal.

  The transfer of the right to collect the $500,000 payment from Credit Solutions Bank to Global Capital Partners is a mesne assignment. It's an intermediate transfer of the contractual right to receive payment, occurring after Alpha Goods' initial assignment to Credit Solutions Bank and before Global Capital Partners becomes the final holder of that right.