Define: Exclusive Right

An exclusive right refers to a legal entitlement or privilege granted to a person or entity that prohibits others from exercising the same right or engaging in certain activities. This right typically involves exclusive control, use, or ownership over a particular property, asset, or intellectual property. For example, an exclusive right to sell a property grants one real estate agent the sole authority to market and sell the property, excluding other agents from doing so during a specified period. Similarly, exclusive rights in intellectual property law, such as patents, copyrights, and trademarks, give the owner exclusive control over the use and exploitation of their creations or inventions, preventing others from reproducing, distributing, or using them without permission. Exclusive rights serve to protect the interests and investments of the rights holder, promote innovation and creativity, and maintain fair competition in various fields.

In Anglo-Saxon law, an exclusive right is a de facto, non-tangible prerogative existing in law (that is, the power or, in a wider sense, right) to perform an action or acquire a benefit and to permit or deny others the right to perform the same action or to acquire the same benefit. While a “prerogative” is in effect an exclusive right, the term is restricted to use for official state or sovereign (i.e., constitutional) powers.

Exclusive rights can be established by law or by contractual obligation, but the scope of enforceability will depend upon the extent to which others are bound by the instrument establishing the exclusive right; thus, in the case of contractual rights, only persons that are parties to a contract will be affected by the exclusivity.

Exclusive rights may be granted in property law and intellectual property law, as well as in relation to public utilities. Many scholars argue that such rights form the basis for the concepts of property and ownership.

Types of exclusive rights

Property

In relation to property, an exclusive right will, for the most part, arise when something tangible is acquired; as a result, others are prevented from exercising control of that thing. For example, a person may prohibit others from entering and using their land or from taking their personal possessions. However, an exclusive right is not necessarily absolute, as an easement may allow a certain level of public access to private land.

Intellectual Property

Most governments recognise a bundle of exclusive rights in relation to works of authorship, inventions, and identifications of origin. These rights are sometimes spoken of under the umbrella term “intellectual property.” An example is copyright, which grants a copyright holder a negative right to exclude others from exploiting their artistic or creative work. The position is generally similar to that of patents and trademarks. Exclusive rights arise from a grant of patent or registration of a trademark, while in other cases such rights may arise through use (e.g., copyright or common-law trademark).

Holding an intellectual property right generally means that the rights holder can maintain certain controls in relation to the subject matter in which the IP right subsists. For example, a person who buys a copy of a computer programme that is subject to copyright may use the software for personal use but will probably be prohibited from creating or distributing copies of that software, subject to certain exceptions such as fair use or fair dealing, which vary widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

History And Arguments

In Anglo-Saxon property law, exclusive rights have often been the codification of pre-existing social norms with regard to land or chattels.

In continental Europe, there is a view that copyrights, patents, and the like are the codification of some kind of moral right, natural right, or personality right. However, such arguments can only be consistently justified through instrumentalism or consequentialism, as exemplified by the reasoning evident in Article One of the United States Constitution that copyrights and patents exist solely “to promote the progress of science and useful arts.

Other

Privately granted rights, created by contract, may occasionally appear very similar to exclusive rights but are only enforceable against the grantee and not the world at large.

Quotes

It is agreed by those who have seriously considered the subject that no individual has, of natural right, a separate property in an acre of land, for instance. By a universal law, indeed, whatever, whether fixed or movable, belongs to all men equally and in common, is his property for the moment he occupies it, but when he relinquishes the occupation, the property goes with it. Stable ownership is the gift of social law and is given late in the progress of society. It would be curious then if an idea, the fugitive fermentation of an individual brain, could, of course, be claimed as exclusive and stable property. If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others to exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of everyone, and the receiver cannot dispose himself of it.

This site contains general legal information but does not constitute professional legal advice for your particular situation. Persuing this glossary does not create an attorney-client or legal adviser relationship. If you have specific questions, please consult a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.

This glossary post was last updated: 9th April 2024.