Title

In Property Law, a comprehensive term referring to the legal basis of the ownership of property, encompassing real and Personal Property and intangible and tangible interests therein; also a document serving as evidence of ownership of property, such as the certificate of title to a motor vehicle.

In regard to legislation, the heading or preliminary part of a particular statute that designates the name by which that act is known.

In the law of Trademarks, the name of an item that may be used exclusively by an individual for identification purposes to indicate the quality and origin of the item.

In the law of property, title in its broadest sense refers to all rights that can be secured and enjoyed under the law. It is frequently synonymous with absolute ownership. Title to property ordinarily signifies an estate in fee simple, which means that the holder has full and absolute ownership. The term does not necessarily imply absolute ownership, however; it can also mean mere possession or the right thereof.

The title of a statute is ordinarily prefixed to the text of a statute in the form of a concise summary of its contents, such as "An act for the prevention of the abuse of narcotics." Other statutes are given titles that briefly describe the subject matter, such as the "Americans with Disabilities Act." State constitutions commonly provide that every bill introduced in the state legislature must have a single subject expressed by the bill's title. Congress is under no such restriction under the U.S. Constitution, but House and Senate rules do have some guidelines for federal bills and statutes. Many, though not all, federal statutes have titles.

Under trademark law, if a publisher adopts a name, or title, for a magazine and uses it extensively in compliance with the law, the publisher may acquire a right to be protected in the exclusive use of that title. A trademark of the title can only be acquired through actual use of the title in connection with the goods, in this example, the magazine. Merely planning to use the title does not give rise to legally enforceable trademark rights.

Cross-references

Title Insurance; Title Search.

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title n. 1) ownership of real property or personal property, which stands against the right of anyone else to claim the property. In real property title is evidenced by a deed (or judgment of distribution from an estate) or other appropriate document recorded in the public records of the county. Title to personal property is generally shown by possession, particularly when no proof or strong evidence exists showing that the property is belongs to another, or that it has been stolen or known to be lost by another. In the case of automobiles and other vehicles title is registered with the state's Department of Motor Vehicles, which issues a title document ("pink slip") to the owner. 2) the name for one's position in a business or organization, such as president, general manager, Mayor, Governor, Duke. 3) the name for a legal case, such as Eugene Chan v. Runabout Taxi Company, Inc. which is part of the "caption" of the case. (See: real property, personal property, title search, pink slip, caption)

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TITLE, legislation That part of an act of the legislature by which it is known, and distinguished from other acts the name of the act.
     2. A practice has prevailed of late years to crowd into the same act a mass of heterogeneous matter, so that it is almost impossible to describe, or even to allude to it in the title of the act. This practice has rendered the title of little importance, yet, in some cases, it is material in the construction of an act. 7 East, R. 132, 134; 2 Cranch, 386. See Lord Raym. 77; Hard. 324; Barr. on the Stat. 499, n.

TITLE, persons. Titles are distinctions by which a person is known.
     2. The constitution of the United States forbids the tyrant by the United States, or any state of any title of nobility. (q.v.) Titles are bestowed by courtesy on certain officers; the president of the United States sometimes receives the title of excellency; judges and members of congress that of honorable; and members of the bar and justices of the peace are called esquires. Cooper's, Justinian, 416'; Brackenridge's Law Miscell. Index, h.t.
     3. Titles are assumed by foreign princes, and, among their subjects they may exact these marks of honor, but in their intercourse with foreign nations they are not entitled to them as a matter of right. Wheat. Intern. Law, pt. 2, c. 3, Sec. 6.

TITLE, literature. The particular division of a subject, as a law, a book, and the like; for example, Digest, book 1, title 2; for the law relating to bills of exchange, see Bacon's Abridgment, title Merchant.

TITLE, rights. The name of a newspaper a book, and the like.
     2. The owner of a newspaper, having particular title, has a right to such title, an an injunction will lie to prevent its use un lawfully by another. 8 Paige, 75. See Pardess. n. 170.

TITLE, pleading, rights. The right of action which the plaintiff has; the declaration must show the plaintiff's title, and if such title be not shown in that instrument, the defect cannot be cured by any of the future pleadings. Bac. Ab. Pleas, &c. B 1.