If you found a prototype of a revolutionary new mobile phone lying on a public bench, what would you have done with it?

 If you found a prototype of a revolutionary new mobile phone lying on a public bench, what would you have done with it? 

Personally, I don't care if it is a revolutionary new one or not, I am not going to hold it as mine since I do not own it since it was supposed to be unintentionally relinquished or set down for later retrieval. Most of the time, I may be struggling within my mind. Should I pick it up and hand it to a police officer or just ignore it? Because some of the good guys in Taiwan who pick it up and try to deliver it to the police, or relinquish it to its owner, may be treated impolitely when the owner returns to get it back. The real world is not like a video game where you can hit someone or monsters freely, pick up the coin and pieces of equipment they dropped, and take possession of it. 

What would be the consequences of your chosen action?

In this case, I don't know if the owner has abandoned the prototype and intends to relinquish ownership in it, or not. If he(or she) did intend to relinquish ownership, the prototype probably belongs to the new owner, probably me. However, if the prototype was simply mislaid, then the finder must relinquish it once the rightful owner demands its return. If I refuse to return the mislaid prototype to its rightful owner, the owner probably sue me for conversion, which is considered a tort. In addition to the consequences, I reckon if it is really a prototype of a revolutionary new mobile phone, the owner or the creator, must be very anxious after mislaid it. The creator's hard work will go down the drain and it is a bad news for all humankind. Most people probably say that, what does it even matter to me if it is not my property. The truth is, everyone can be the victim. Even though you did not innovate anything, you still don't want to be invaded, stolen, or robbed. However, I believe some prizes are valid for encouraging honorable behaviors based on reciprocity.

Does the value of a parcel of land come only from the profits it can generate? If not, what makes land valuable? Does it have an “inherent” value that has nothing to do with human profit?

To my knowledge, the value of a parcel of land does not only from the profit it can generate. First of all, we are essentially one of the terrestrial animals. We are not Aquaman who can live and breathe underwater. So, the land supports our lives, to provide a place to live such as building a house on the land, even though the land does not generate any profit at all. How would you measure that with money? Secondly, the treasury underground such as water, raw materials, or petro oil. The inherent value of land would also arise from an ecological, landscape, cultural, heritage, scientific attribute, or characteristic of a natural resource or historic place. Living in the desert or the arctic are two different experiences.

A Brief Stroy

In 1998, on Malleny Street, Sydney, Bill Gertos noticed a house that was in dilapidation while visiting a client, and he learned that the person who originally lived here had passed away for a while after inquiring. Gertos then spent about A$150,000 to repair the house and rent it out. In 2017, he filed to claim for the ownership of the house based on squatter's rights. The descendants of the original owner learned it from the police's announcement and were aware of the situation.

This house was actually owned by a man named Henry Thompson Downie in 1927. The Downie family moved to Ashfield, New South Wales during Second World War. With the coming conversion of the house, Downey’s descendants are of course very disgruntled, claiming that Gertos has not fulfilled his obligation of public notification and therefore has no right to claim for the ownership.

The Squatter's Rights, Adverse Possession

The so-called adverse possession refers to a possessor who continuously and publicly occupies the other party’s property without the original owner’s consent. If the rightful owner does not claim to be the owner of the real estate within a certain period, this possessor can legally obtain the ownership. However, strictly speaking, the initial behavior of the occupier is not legal and risky. Before enough time has passed, the rightful owner still possibly sue the occupant with trespass. Until the required time period has passed, the rights of the occupier will be protected. In New South Wales, Sydney, this period was at least 12 years. 

How is intellectual property a true form of property? 

Different from physical property, such as real estate, jewelry, or cars, intellectual property is intangible personal property. It is the rights that protect your right to utilize your original creation except for the idea itself. Some intellectual property rights last for a specific amount of time, while others can theoretically last forever. So, to summarize, intellectual property is movable, intangible, and personal property. In addition, another intangible personal property that is shot to fame recently is NFT. A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a digital ledger (blockchain). NFTs can be associated with reproducible digital files such as photos, videos, and audio. In the simplest terms, NFTs transform digital works of art and other collectibles into one-of-a-kind, verifiable assets that are easy to trade on the blockchain.

Do you think it is appropriate for governments to protect intellectual property just like any other form of property? 

A patent grants the right to exclude others. The rule of law would protect your right to exclude against the intrusions of others and confers the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the patented product without a licensing agreement. I reckon that it is vital to protect intellectual property. The only question is, HOW? We all know how to protect our private land or house when someone trespass. But, are there the same way to protect those intangible things? To legally protect it like a legally enforceable contract, we have to define it first, to know what we are actually protecting. However, I believe the key point here is that we do not want to protect it way too much cause the monopoly exists forever or diminish innovation. Therefore, we must keep balancing it by analyzing consumers and producers. Other forms of property are mostly something we earned or purchased through exchange or trades. But, the government does not protect your land or house only for a limited time period or prevent others to build the same house with the same materials. Overall, I think it is inappropriate for governments to protect intellectual property just like any other form of property because they are inherently different. After all, creations from human minds are not the same as creations by mother nature or God. Finally, the procedures to get the rights still need to be improved. Many innovators and creators may be waiting for the results for months or even years and postpone many new products that may benefit or even change our world. Those rigorous application and approval processes with the government will kill those inventions.

Reference

Burke, K. (2020, March 7). Property developer makes $1.4M after claiming squatter's rights on Ashbury House. Domain. Retrieved December 10, 2021, from https://www.domain.com.au/news/property-developer-bill-gertos-make-1-4-million-after-claiming-squatters-rights-on-ashbury-house-937780/. 

Lau, T. & Johnson, L. (2011). The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business (Vol. 1). Flat World Knowledge.