Ownership is acquired by occupation and by intellectual creation. Ownership and other real rights over property are acquired and transmitted by law, by donation, by testate and intestate succession, and in consequence of certain contracts, by tradition.

According to Salmond, basically a person is said to acquire ownership in two ways: By operation of law, or By reason of some act or event. In modern times, the modes of acquisition of ownership may be either original or derivative

There are two modes of acquisition of ownership and they are original and derivative. Original mode when things which had not been owned before and can be acquired by possession. The things owned before ownership over that thing is by derivative mode. Original mode is of three types absolute, extinctive and accession.