Also known as: tack · tacks · tacked
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A doctrine permitting successive periods of adverse possession or prescriptive use to be combined when the possessors are in privity. Privity exists through a direct relationship such as a conveyance of the benefited estate. The combined periods satisfy the statutory requirement of continuous possession or use.
A doctrine permitting successive periods of adverse possession or prescriptive use to be combined when the possessors are in privity. Privity exists through a direct relationship such as a conveyance of the benefited estate. The combined periods satisfy the statutory requirement of continuous possession or use.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A doctrine allowing a trademark owner to claim the priority date of an earlier mark when the later mark is the legal equivalent and consumers regard the two as essentially the same. The new mark must serve the same identificatory function without creating a gap in use.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A doctrine allowing a trademark owner to claim the priority date of an earlier mark when the later mark is the legal equivalent and consumers regard the two as essentially the same. The new mark must serve the same identificatory function without creating a gap in use.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Tanner Thompson bought lakeside property believing the fence marked the true boundary. His predecessor had occupied the disputed strip for twelve years under the same mistaken belief. When Tobias Thomas challenged the claim after ten more years, the periods combined because the successive owners were in privity through the deed transfer.
Thomas Thompson used a trail across neighboring land for nine years. He then conveyed his parcel to Tessa Takahashi, who continued the identical use for another six years. Because the transfer conveyed the benefited estate, the periods tacked to establish a prescriptive servitude.
Taliah Tang acquired a painting from a seller who had held it adversely for seven years. She maintained possession for another eight years before the original owner sued. The consecutive periods combined through privity created by the sale, satisfying the limitations period for title.
Talia Torres crossed a private road on adjacent property for eight years while operating her store. After selling the store to Thunderbolt Motors, the company continued the identical crossing for seven more years. The successive uses by parties in privity satisfied the prescriptive period for an easement.
Tobias Thomas occupied a shoreline cabin each summer for fourteen years under a mistaken deed description. He sold the cabin to Trinity Pharmaceuticals, whose officers continued the seasonal use for six additional years. The combined periods met the statutory requirement because the parties shared privity through the conveyance.
Tessa Takahashi maintained a fence enclosing extra acreage for eleven years. After conveying the parcel to Triumph Manufacturing, the company continued the identical enclosure and use for nine more years. The successive adverse periods combined through the deed transfer to quiet title in the company.
Privity exists when one possessor transfers the benefited estate to the next by deed, will, or intestacy. The doctrine then combines the periods to meet the statutory requirement. Without such a relationship, an interruption resets the clock.
Supporting sources
Seasonal use consistent with the nature of the property satisfies continuity. Courts treat summer occupancy of recreational land the same as year-round use of other parcels. The periods still tack when privity exists.
Supporting sources
Yes. Successive users may tack periods when a transfer conveys either the inchoate servitude or the benefited estate. The use must remain open and without effective interruption throughout the combined period.
Supporting sources
Trademark tacking requires the marks to be legal equivalents that consumers view as the same. Property tacking requires privity between successive possessors. Both doctrines preserve priority or time already accrued but operate under distinct tests.
Supporting sources
…question because the law’s breadth made it unconstitutional under any standard. The majority could easily have taken Ladue ’s tack here. The Town of Gilbert’s defense of its sign ordinance—most notably, the law’s distinctions between directional signs and others—does not pass strict scrutiny, or intermediate scrutiny,…