Assignment in legal terms means the transfer of a property right or title to some particular person under an agreement, usually in writing. Unless an assignment is qualified in some way, it is generally considered to be a transfer of the transferor's entire interest in the estate, chattel, or other thing assigned. An assignment is distinguished from a grant in that an assignment is usually limited to the transfer of intangible rights, including contractual rights, choses in action, and rights in or connected with property, rather than, as in the case of a grant, the property itself. For example, the payee may assign his or her rights to collect the note payments to a bank. Some contracts restrict the right of assignment, so the terms of the contract must be read to determine if assignment is prohibited. In a further example, a landlord may permit a lease to be assigned, usually along with an assumption agreement, whereby the new tenant becomes responsible for payments and other duties of the original lessee.
The owner of a trademark/mark may transfer, give or sell to another person the owner's interest in the trademark/mark. This type of agreement/gift is called an assignment, and the person who receives the owner's interest is called an assignee. An assignee has the right to exclude others from using the trademark/mark. To be enforceable, the assignment must be in writing and signed. It must also include the goodwill of the business connected with the mark.
An assignment, to be effective, must contain the fundamental elements of a contract generally, such as parties with legal capacity, consideration, consent, and legality of object. Words of an assignment are, assign, transfer, and set over; but the words grant, bargain, and sell, or any other words which will show the intent of the parties to make a complete transfer, will amount to an assignment.The deed by which an assignment is made is also called an assignment. In the absence of special statutory provision, no words of art and no special form of words are necessary to effect an assignment.
