Contents

Introduces the book's subject: intangible property, and why 'assignment' rather than 'transfer' describes its movement. Explains the wide, unsatisfactory label 'chose in action', distinguishes bilateral from multilateral intangibles, notes trading in fungible intangibles, markets and collective enforcement, and sets out the book's four-Part structure.

Analyses the nature of intangible property, distinguishing between rights in rem and in personam. It evaluates the classification of choses in action within English law, identifies their defining characteristics, and examines the fragmentation of ownership. Finally, it addresses the significance of private international law regarding these interests.

Explores private international law within the context of assignment, addressing jurisdictional rules and choice of law. It examines the impact of Brexit on retained EU law, alongside the Brussels and Rome regimes. Additionally, it details the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments under common law and international conventions.

Examines private law causes of action and judgment debts, distinguishing them from public law rights. It analyses the nature, territoriality, and private international law aspects of these original choses in action, alongside the impacts of merger, estoppel, and compromise. It further differentiates rights of action from their eventual fruits.

Examines the nature of contractual rights as choses in action, covering jurisdictional rules and choice of law. Analyses the bilateral nature of contracts, the assignability of rights, and the impact of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999. Explores novation, vicarious performance, and the proprietary status of leases.

Analyses debt as a distinct contractual obligation and property interest. The chapter defines debt, examines its classification, and discusses private international law implications. It further explores distinctions between present, future, and contingent debts, alongside specific considerations for interest, syndicated loans, and the procedural differences between debt and damages.

Surveys the history of assignment, detailing the common law’s traditional prohibition based on personal rights and maintenance concerns. Explores the subsequent incursion of equity through the creation of trusts to circumvent legal restrictions, alongside modern statutory interventions, particularly section 136 of the Law of Property Act 1925.

Analyses the legal requirements for transferring intangible property, exploring the complexities arising from concurrent equitable and statutory regimes. It examines various modes of equitable assignment, the principle in *Milroy v Lord*, and the interrelationship between statutory provisions, ultimately restating the substantive distinctions between contract, trust, and assignment.

Examines property occupying the interface between intangibles and tangibles, including money, cryptocurrencies, and documentary intangibles. It analyses the legal character of money, the proprietary status of digital assets, and the principles governing negotiable instruments. Finally, it considers how dematerialisation and technological advancements impact these traditional legal categories.

Analyses the requirements for effective equitable assignments of choses in action under English law. It examines jurisdictional and private international law issues, the necessity of manifested intention, and subject matter certainty. It further details requirements regarding assignee identity and the formalities of form, notice, and consideration for valid transfers.

Analyses the requirements for creating trusts over choses in action via self-declaration or transfer to third-party trustees. It details essential certainties of intention, subject matter, and objects, alongside necessary formalities. Additionally, it addresses private international law implications and variations such as sub-trusts and directions to existing trustees.

Examines the equitable consequences of contractual undertakings to transfer rights or establish trusts. It analyses the doctrine of conversion, the necessity of specific performance and consideration, and the distinct treatment of such agreements at common law and in equity. It further explores the creation of trusts over contractual promises.

Analyses statutory assignments under Section 136 of the Law of Property Act 1925. It examines the provision’s procedural purpose in simplifying the enforcement of legal choses in action. The text details essential requirements, including absolute assignment, writing, and express notice, while addressing private international law implications and various non-requirements.

Examines the transfer of litigation rights, contrasting the adversarial paradigm with the restrictive doctrines of maintenance and champerty. It analyses how these rules evolved to permit mass assignments, collective proceedings, and third-party funding, while detailing exceptions for insolvency and the fruits of actions within modern English procedural law.

Analyses the Group Litigation Order regime, examining its background, procedural mechanics, and class member status. It addresses the binding effect of decisions, costs liability, limitation periods, and disclosure, while clarifying the role of test claimants and the specific indicators used to determine the legal standing of represented parties.

Analyses the Multiple Claimants Regime under the Civil Procedure Rules, particularly Part 19. It examines the legal framework for multi-party litigation involving assigned claims, addressing procedural mechanics, claimant status, costs, and res judicata. The text further evaluates jurisdictional issues, limitation periods, and the impact of representative proceedings on assignments.

Analyses the representative rule regime, examining the status of members and the procedural approach. It details filing fees, limitation periods, disclosure, and costs liability. Additionally, the chapter explores the binding nature of judgements and the implications of settlements by representative claimants, concluding with a summary of the regime's operation.

Examines the collective proceedings regime for competition cases, detailing its background and procedural features. It clarifies the status of class members, addressing filing fees, case management, and limitation periods. Additionally, the chapter considers costs liability, disclosure obligations, and the class representative's role in reaching settlements.

Examines the principle that contractual burdens generally cannot be assigned without novation, citing concerns regarding consent and performance. It explores specific legal exceptions where obligations transfer alongside benefits, including the unpaid vendor’s lien, restrictive covenants, leasehold obligations, share transfers, and the doctrine of conditional benefits.

Examines public policy and legislative constraints on the assignability of specific rights. It considers prohibitions against transferring public salaries and pensions to ensure recipients can perform duties or maintain themselves, explores the non-assignability of maintenance in matrimonial proceedings, and surveys various statutory regimes that restrict the transfer of rights.

Examines the non-assignability of personal obligations, where performance depends on the specific identity of the parties. It analyses the rationale that debtors should not perform for third parties against their bargain, establishes a test based on contractual construction at the time of agreement, and reviews relevant factors and instances.

Analyses prohibitions on assignment, distinguishing between personal undertakings, provisions rendering assignments ineffective, and those permitting contract termination. It examines the effects of these restrictions on assignors and assignees, assesses potential distinctions between legal and equitable choses, and evaluates methods for circumventing such prohibitions through trusts or virtual assignments.

Overviews the assertion and loss of ownership, contrasting tangible and intangible property through specific theft variants. It introduces the proprietary base concept, examines identification, following, and tracing mechanisms, and addresses priority rules. Finally, it considers the applicable law regarding title extinction and the consequences of valid or invalid transfers.

Analyses the effects of assigning bilateral and multilateral intangible property. It examines how contractual obligations transfer, limitations on damages, and the rule that assignees take subject to equities. The chapter further explores priority disputes under private international law and restrictions on varying contracts between debtors and assignors.

Distinguishes the extinction of intangible property from its transfer or priority disputes. Contrasts the physical destruction, abandonment, and combination of tangible assets with the legal processes affecting intangibles. Argues that while physical property can cease to exist, intangibles are extinguished through legal termination rather than physical loss.

Examines priority disputes where competing parties claim rights over the same intangible property. It explores the relativity of title, where English law favours the better right over absolute ownership. Detailed priority rules are established, focusing on conflicts between legal and equitable interests and the impact of parties' conduct.

Examines how dispossessed owners of intangible property vindicate their rights. It contrasts tangibles with intangibles, arguing that the latter cannot be stolen but only transferred via vitiated consent. The text explores the 'proprietary base', the principles of following and tracing, and procedural mechanisms for reversing impeachable transactions.

Examines the nature and classification of securities, distinguishing them from mere contracts. It defines shares, debt, and hybrid instruments, detailing their legal incidents. The text further explores the processes of allotment and issuance, providing an overview of how securities are held and transferred within both paper-based and electronic markets.

Examines the legal framework for holding and transferring paper-based shares and debt securities. It details registration requirements under the Companies Act 2006, the abolition of bearer shares, and the mechanisms for legal title transfer, including the nemo dat principle and the distinction between allotment, renunciation, and registration.

Analyses the legal framework for holding and transferring dematerialised securities under the 2001 Regulations. It examines the CREST system, the transition from paper to electronic forms, and the rise of nominee holdings. Crucially, it explores the nature of equitable interests and the implications of this digital regime for ownership.

Examines the holding and transfer of securities through immobilization. It details the role of central securities depositories and multi-tiered intermediary chains, analysing the legal nature of investor interests under contractual, bailment, and trust theories. Finally, it explains how book-entry systems effect transfers and considers potential areas for reform.

Examines systemic issues in aggregate intangible property dealings, distinguishing macro-property disputes from individual micro-property transactions. It scrutinises legal uncertainties within dematerialised and immobilised security markets, identifies risks arising from standardisation and lack of transparency, and defines the essential legal underpinnings and characteristics of modern financial markets.

Analyzes fungible contracts as tradable consumer assets, exploring potential exchanges to enhance consumer benefit. It examines breaches of obligation and evaluates the consumer class action as a procedural vehicle for vindicating rights, addressing specific challenges regarding proof of loss and the viability of collective legal remedies for mass-market claimants.

Analyses the distinction between bilateral and multilateral choses in action, focusing on how leases and intellectual property function as proprietary rights. It examines the transmission of obligations through privity of estate and explores whether the characteristics of these multilateral interests are expanding to encompass new categories of intangible assets.

Examines the creation and transfer of specific intellectual property rights, namely patents, copyright, moral rights, and trade marks. It details the distinct regulatory frameworks and statutory requirements governing the acquisition and devolution of these intangible assets, noting that rules vary significantly depending on the particular right in question.

Examines the four forms of consensual security under English law, distinguishing between possessory and non-possessory interests. It focuses on mortgages and charges as the primary mechanisms for securing intangible property, detailing their classification, creation, and enforcement, alongside the legal requirements for registration and the determination of priority.