Even if the the PROTOTYPES had FAILED, AS STATED IN THE FILM, WEREN'T HIS... they were THE companies.
Wayne Enterprises had not been made public at that point in
Batman Begins. At the time that Lucius provided Bruce with the Tumbler and the other pieces of technology, Wayne Enterprises was still a sole proprietorship owned by Bruce Wayne. They were, in fact, his.
Point taken. Though afterwards...even if he did own a majority, he still has taken the equipment without the knowledge or permission of the other shareholders. He, at least, should have taken it up for a vote.
No. If, in his capacity as owner of Wayne Enterprises before it became a public company, he chose to transfer ownership of the Tumbler and other equipment from Wayne Enterprises to himself in his capacity as a private citizen, it is not the right of the new shareholders to question or reverse his distribution of his own property prior to the company going public.
Does Batman think he's above the law? I think so.
It would be more accurate to say that Batman has determined that there is no real rule of law in Gotham, that the social contract has dissolved, and that there is no legitimate government in Gotham anymore, and that, in the absence of a functional local government, he, like any citizen, has the right to engage in vigilante activity until such time as a functional government is restored.
But how did he determine that? By just deciding?
Is that really any different than, say, how the people in Tehrir Square decided that
their government no longer functioned?
If someone came after him to stop HIS violence, would he allow himself to be put under arrest, or just decide that other person is a "villain?"
Well, this hasn't happened in the Nolanverse. But in the DC Comics Universe, when Superman did it, he evaded Superman before eventually persuading him that they were on the same side.
But, how could he possible argue the social contract is dissolved? There's a mayor. There's police.
Remember that scene in
Batman Begins where Carmine Falconi pulls a gun on him in a restaurant, and he points to all the members of the City Council and police officers and union officials nearby, and he declares that he wouldn't have any problems killing Bruce right in front of them?
That's how he can say the social contract is dissolved. Because the key players of the Gotham City government, including the City Council, D.A.'s office, and the Police Department, were under the thumb of organized crime -- either through bribery or through fear and intimidation. Simply put, the government of the City of Gotham was, by that point, little more in reality than just another front for the Mafia.