Property Midterm MC

In a deed, Oscar conveys Blackacre “to Anne if the land is used for residential purposes

only.” What interests are created?

• A. Anne has a fee simple on condition subsequent, and Oscar has a right of entry.

• B. Anne has a fee simple determinable, and Oscar has a possibility of reverter.

• C. Anne has a contingent remainder, and Oscar has an alternative contingent

  remainder.

• D. Anne has a fee simple subject to executory limitation, and Oscar has an executory

  interest.

Omar conveys Whiteacre “to Avery for life, then to Avery’s children”. Is the interest in

Avery’s children valid under the traditional Rule Against Perpetuities?

• A. Yes, because Avery is the validating life.

• B. Yes, because Avery’s children are their own validating lives.

• C. Yes, because Omar is the validating life.

• D. No, because there is no validating life.

In a will, Orlando conveys Greenacre “to Abel for life, then to such of Abel’s

grandchildren then living.” Is the interest of the grandchildren valid under the

traditional Rule Against Perpetuities?

• A. Yes, because Abel is the validating life.

• B. Yes, because the grandchildren are their own validating lives.

• C. Yes, because Abel’s children are the validating lives.

• D. No, because there is no validating life.

Which of the following has NOT been proposed (in materials we have studied) for

reforming the traditional Rule Against Perpetuities?

• A. Waiting to see if an estate will vest remotely rather than considering hypothetical

  scenarios that might cause such remote vesting.

• B. Fixing a specific number of years beyond which interests must vest to be valid.

• C. Declaring that people of particular ages are not capable of having more children as a

  matter of law.

• D. Extending the doctrine of the Rule Against Perpetuities to cover future interests

  retained by the transferor.

5. Which of the following is the most widely embraced economic rationale for trademark

law?

• A. It gives firms an incentive to invest in the quality of their products.

• B. It provides an incentive for creators of artistic works that are expensive to create

  and cheap to copy.

• C. It provides monopoly conditions for the merchant given the trademark, which

  facilitates pricing in accordance with costs.

• D. Unlike the prior common law of unfair competition, trademark law does not allow

  recovery based on the defendant’s profits.

6. Which of the following would be a reason to protect a property entitlement with a

liability rule rather than a property rule?

• A. The difficulty of proving damages with reasonable certainty.

• B. The presence of monopoly holdout problems.

• C. The greater respect paid by liability rules to idiosyncratic or subjective value.

• D. The need to promote Kaldor-Hicks rather than Pareto efficiency.

7. Believing that he was dying, Desperate said to his son Worthless “My car is yours.”

Later, Desperate recovered from his illness, and refused to let Worthless have the car.

Worthless sues Desperate. Which of the following would be the WEAKEST defense for

Desperate?

• A. Promises to give a gift are unenforceable without consideration.

• B. Gifts are not valid without delivery.

• C. Gifts depend on manifested rather than subjective intention.

• D. Gifts causa mortis are not valid if the dying person recovers.

8. Singer made a music video entitled “Driving Without a License” that pictured a person

who looked a bit like Olivia Rodrigo running over pedestrians because she was so

distraught about her lost boyfriend. Rodrigo sues for copyright infringement in federal

district court, claiming the video infringed on her own video “Driver’s License”. Which

of the following is likely to be Singer’s best defense?

• A. The two works were not substantially similar.

• B. There was no registration on the copyright to Driver’s License until just before the

  lawsuit was brought.

• C. Singer’s video was protected as fair use.

• D. Copyright infringement cases can be brought only in state court.

9. Which of the following is an important difference between patent and copyright law?

• A. Patents last longer than copyrights.

• B. Patents protect against independent discovery while copyright law does not.

• C. Patent law allows injunctive relief while copyright law does not.

• D. Copyright law requires that the copyrighted material have utility while patent law

  does not.

10. Bill purchased the California property Wiseacre from Crook, unfortunately with a forged

deed, as the property was really owned by Absentee, and not Crook. Bill moved onto

the land, and built a small house on it. Four years later, Bill sold the land to Buyer, who

was shown the same forged deed. Buyer lived on the land for another 3 years, but did

not build anything on it. Neither Bill nor Buyer paid property taxes on the land. The

statute of limitations in California is 5 years. Buyer now claims the land by adverse

possession. Which of the following arguments by Absentee is likely to be the strongest?

• A. Tacking between Bill and Buyer is not permitted in these circumstances.

• B. The possession by Buyer was not open and notorious because Buyer did not build

  any structures on the land.

• C. Buyer and Bill believed they owned the land so their claim was not adverse to that of

  Absentee.

• D. Neither Buyer nor Bill paid the property taxes on the land.