res nullius

from Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
RES NULLIUS. A thing which has no owner. A thing which has been abandoned by 
its owner is as much res nullius as if it had never belonged to any one. 
     2. The first possessor of such a thing becomes the owner, res nullius 
fit primi occupantis. Bowy. Com. 97. 
    

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