Editing Assignment (law) (section)

==Special rules for assignment of certain rights==

===Property rights===
{{Property law}}
{{See also|Rule in Dumpor's Case|Privity of estate}}
[[Real property]] rights can be assigned just as any other contractual right. However, special duties and liabilities attach to transfers of the right to possess property. With an assignment, the assignor transfers the complete remainder of the interest to the assignee. The assignor must not retain any sort of reversionary interest in the right to possess. The assignee's interest must abut the interest of the next person to have the right to possession. If any time or interest is reserved by a tenant assignor then the act is not an assignment, but is instead a sublease.

The liability of the assignee depends upon the contract formed when the assignment takes place. However, in general, the assignee has privity of estate with a lessor. With privity of estate comes the duty on the part of the assignee to perform certain obligations under covenant, e.g. pay rent. Similarly, the lessor retains the obligations to perform on covenants to maintain or repair the land.

If the assignor agrees to continue paying rent to the lessor and subsequently defaults, the lessor can sue both the assignor under the original contract signed with the lessor as well as the assignee because by taking possession of the property interest, the assignee has obliged himself to perform duties under covenant such as the payment of rent.

Unlike a Novation where consent of both the lessor and lessee is required for the third party to assume all obligations and liabilities of the original lessee, an assignment does not always need the consent of all parties. If the contract terms state specifically that the lessor's consent is not needed to assign the contract, then the lessee can assign the contract to whomever the lessee wants to.

Absent language to the contrary, a tenant may assign their rights to an assignee without the landlord's consent. In the majority of jurisdictions, when there is a clause that the landlord may withhold consent to an assignment, the general rule is that the landlord may not withhold consent unreasonably unless there is a provision that states specifically that the Landlord may withhold consent at Landlord's sole discretion.

===Partnership rights===
A person can also assign their rights to receive the benefits owed to a partner in a [[partnership]]. However, the assignee can ''not'' thereby gain any of the assignor's rights with respect to the operation of the partnership. The assignee may not vote on partnership matters, inspect the partnership books, or take possession of partnership property; rather, the assignee can only be given the right is to collect distributions of income, unless the remaining partners consent to the assignment of a new general partner with operational, management, and financial interests. If the partnership is dissolved, the assignee can also claim the assignor's share of any distribution accompanying the dissolution.

===Intellectual property rights===
{{See also|Transfer (patent)}}

Ownership of intellectual property, including [[patent]]s, [[copyright]]s, and [[trademark]]s, may be assigned, but special conditions attach to the assignment of patents and trademarks. In the [[United States]], assignment of a patent is governed by [[statute]], {{USCode|35|261}}. Patent rights are assignable by an "instrument in writing". Title in a patent can also be transferred as a result of other financial transactions, such as a [[merger]] or a [[takeover]], or as a result of operation of law, such as in an [[inheritance]] process, or in a [[bankruptcy]].  An assignment of a patent can be recorded with the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]]. Although such recording is not required, if an assignment is not recorded at the USPTO within three months or prior to a subsequent assignment, the assignment will be void against a subsequent assignee without notice of the earlier, unrecorded assignment.

With respect to a trademark, the owner of the mark may not transfer ownership of the mark without transferring the [[Goodwill (accounting)|goodwill]] associated with the mark.

Companies sometimes request from employees that they assign all intellectual property they create while under the employment of the company. This is typically done within an Employment Agreement, but is sometimes done through a specific agreement called Proprietary Information and Inventions Agreement (PIIA).

===Personal injury torts===
The standard rule is that [[personal injury]] [[tort]] causes of action are not assignable as a matter of [[Public policy (law)|public policy]].<ref name=Stark2003>Stark T. (2003). ''Negotiating and Drafting Contract Boilerplate'', [http://www.starklegaled.com/downloads/sample-nadcp-3.2.pdf Ch. 3: Assignment and Delegation]. ALM Publishing.</ref><ref>''Pony v. County of Los Angeles'', 433 F.3d 1138 (9th Cir. 2006).</ref> These should be distinguished from final settlements or judgments resulting from lawsuits brought on such causes of action, which may be assignable.

===Legal malpractice===
In the majority of jurisdictions, assignments involving fraud or [[legal malpractice]] causes of action are void as against public policy.<ref>''Cowan Liebowitz & Latman, PC v. Kaplan'', 902 So. 2d 755, 759-760 (Fla. 2005).</ref>

===Non-compete agreements===
[[Case law]] has held that an employee's [[covenant not to compete]] is assignable where one business is transferred to another.<ref>Law Offices of Stimmel, Stimmel & Roeser, [https://www.stimmel-law.com/en/articles/assignments-basic-law Assignments; The Basic Law], accessed 29 June 2023</ref>

===Assignment in bankruptcy law===
{{main|General assignment}}
A general assignment or assignment is a concept in bankruptcy law in which an insolvent entity's assets are assigned to someone as an alternative to a bankruptcy.