Reference no: EM132269253

Discussion 1

Real property is something like land and everything permanently fixed to the land, such as trees, house, and the minerals or quarries below the ground.

The primary characteristic of real property is indestructibility and immobility. Intellectual property is a personal property such as patents, copyrights, and trademarks. The two main features of the intellectual property include all rights relating to artistic, literary, and scientific work.

It involves the inventions of all fields related to human behavior. Personal Property is mainly acquired via a few basic methods such as manufacture, purchase, or gift and in some cases through the found property. The two main characteristics of the personal property are intangible and tangible.

Owners of personal, real, and intellectual property are treated differently since they do not have the same rights according to the law for many reasons such as the nature of the property, allocation of federal or state jurisdiction, and the development of law in each section.

Although all properties are protected each of them is under some types of laws. Each property is protected to suit the kind of property. For example, Trademarks is treated differently from the ownership of a vehicle. Trademarks are usually related to business while the vehicle is personal ownership meaning any issues that may arise would be treated differently.

Real property can be transferred from one owner to another as they wish as they have legal protection of real property transfer under the law. A real property owner chooses the individuals they want to sell the property to using verbal or written contract under the legal contract law, which protects both parties.

Due to the legal backing when selling the real property the society is able to continue with the flow of peoples' lives without extra headaches involved. Personal property is protected under the personal and business property. The owners have the right to protect his or her property under legal law.

Intellectual property can be quickly taken, but the law acts in favor of the owner. If no laws protecting intellectual property, people would be afraid to create or innovate new things, which significantly benefits society. People a peace of mind when they know the law will protect their ideas and have freedom of creating new items for the benefit of society.

Discussion 2

List two characteristics each of real, intellectual, and personal property.

Real Property

According to Rogers (2012) real property "includes land and all that is attached to it" (Sec. 11.3). This means that the actual property and any structure that is built on the property is considered real property. Also included in this property is any mineral or deposits below the ground that lie within the boundaries of the property.

Intellectual Property

This type of property consists of copyrights, trademarks and patents. Inventors will copyright or patent their ideas to keep others from reproducing them. Intellectual property has no physical existence and is intangible. This means that the idea of the trademarked or patented item is the physical property. Therefore, the legal trademark, patent, or copyright is the registered documents of ownership of the idea.

Personal Property

Personal property is actually a physical item such as a car, boat or dog. These items are moveable and tangible. "Intangible personal property does not have a physical existence such as stocks and bonds" (Rogers 2012).

Do owners of real, intellectual, and personal property each have the same rights under the law? List how each type of property is treated under the law.

The owners of these types of properties do not have the same rights under the law. Each property is made of different characteristics. Personal property, for example, is protected under common law.

The court system protects personal property. On the other hand, intellectual property is protected by the government to keep individuals from having their ideas stolen or reproduced. Lastly, real property such as real estate, can be obtained in several different ways. It can be bought, willed or built on and would have zoning and planning laws and regulations.

Explain why it is in the best interest of society to treat these types of property the same or differently.

The values set to each of these properties is different and should be treated separately. The acquisition of each of these properties is different. The process for this requires different steps to achieve. Basically, a different paper trail and filing location is required for each property.

References

Rogers, S. (2012). Essentials of Business Law [Electronic version].

Discussion 3

Do small businesses and privately held companies have ethical duties? If so, to whom would they owe this duty? Employees? Customers? Vendors?

A small business or private company is not required to ethical duties. Having ethics guide all the decisions made is a must, any individual who comes into contact with this company's product or service should all be shown respect. All businesses feel more of an ethical responsibility to their customers but their employees as well as vendors need to be shown this respect as without these individuals that profitable product or service could not exist.

Should the law impose ethical requirements on small businesses or privately held companies or can the marketplace police unethical business behavior? Provide support to justify your position.

The purpose of laws was to provide a guide for people to follow instead of simply doing as they feel to do. The market itself will police unethical behavior of a small or privately owned business through actions such as boycotting, etc. For example, years ago moms boycotted the Johnson&Johnson Company until they changed the formula of their products making them safer for the consumer.

Discussion 4

All businesses have ethical obligations and should be guided by the law to ensure all stakeholders involved are honest in their operations. A small business is also under the sanctions of Internal Revenue Service, although it qualifies for single taxation. Numerous stakeholders are involved in the operations of the business daily, and they have to rely on the ethical duties of their leaders. Privately companies or sole proprietorships are operated by a single person who has families to attend to for their success.

According to O'Leary and Lloyd (2004), public corporations should adopt the codes of ethics for the corporation's Chief Financial Officer and other senior officers. Any waivers of the corporation's conflict of interest should be reported immediately in the SEC filing. Some leaders of corporations and senior employees who educate others about the Code of Ethics might not follow the guidelines as they feel that they have become influential. But, all people in the business or not should act ethically by doing the right thing all the times.

All businesses are currently being evaluated by triple bottom line theory, which seeks to account a business's success based on its social responsibility achievements instead of the profits it gets. The first accountability is the ethics of egoism, which is when an organization provides for the shareholders using its resources as a strategy to increase profits. Lastly, the business must adhere to the rules and laws of decency and honesty towards other people. The business should not only take care of the shareholders but also the stakeholders such as customers, employees, and customers (Fieser, 2015).

Business in naturally cutthroat, but there are requirements for civil behavior and limitations on how an investor can go to defeat the competition. Lack of requirements and limits, the competition among businesses would lead to gang warfare and finally destroy the economic environment required for the operation of the businesses.

References

Fieser, J. (2015). Introduction to business ethics [Electronic version].

O'Leary, H., & Lloyd, S. M. (2004). Governance in the spotlight: What the Sarbanes-Oxley Act means for you. Trustee, 57(8), 15.