Also known as: identify goods · identified goods · identifying goods · goods identification
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A process that enables a buyer to obtain an identifiable and therefore insurable interest in goods before taking possession from the seller. The goods are identified in any manner agreed to by the parties.
Imperial Motors contracted to sell ten custom vehicles to Inertia Dynamics. After Imperial repudiated the deal before building the cars, it identified specific chassis and assigned serial numbers to the contract. Inertia Dynamics then suspended its payments and demanded delivery of those identified units under its remedies for breach.
Isaiah Ishikawa agreed to buy fifty tons of corn from Iris Energy's next harvest before any crop was planted. Because no specific corn existed or was designated to the contract at formation, Ishikawa obtained only a contractual right rather than a present ownership interest in any grain.
Irene Ingalls bought a one-third undivided share of a specific silo of wheat already stored and measured at Imperial Motors. The parties' identification of that exact bulk gave Ingalls an immediate insurable ownership interest as a co-owner even before she took physical delivery.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Icarus Aviation ordered twenty drones described only as units from the manufacturer's upcoming production run. Because the drones had not been manufactured or assigned identifying numbers at contracting, the buyer held no present property interest and the deal operated solely as a contract to sell once the items came into existence.
A buyer obtains a present ownership interest only when the goods are both existing and identified to the contract. Until identification occurs, the buyer holds only contractual rights even if the parties use present-sale language.
Once goods are identified to the contract the buyer may recover those specific units or obtain specific performance. Identification also permits the buyer to suspend performance while pursuing other remedies.
The contract operates only as a contract to sell future goods. No title passes until the goods come into existence and are later identified to the agreement.
…Co. , 248 U.S. 90, 97 (1918); see also Hanover Star Milling Co. v. Metcalf , 240 U.S. 403, 412–413 (1916). It helps consumers identify goods and services that they wish to purchase, as well as those they want to avoid. See Wal-Mart Stores, supra , at 212–213; Park ’N Fly, Inc. v. Dollar Park & Fly, Inc. , 469 U.S. 189, 198…