Defense Department. An executive department of the federal government, responsible for coordinating and overseeing military affairs and the agencies responsible for national security. • The Department was established as the National Military Establishment in 1947, by combining the War and the Navy Departments. Its name was changed to Department of Defense in 1949. The Department’s […]
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silence, n. 1. A restraint from speaking. • In criminal law, silence includes an arrestee’s statements expressing the desire not to speak and requesting an attorney. 2. A failure to reveal something required by law to be revealed. See estoppel by silence under ESTOPPEL. — silent, adj.
An application that can be filed up to a year before the patent application itself, in order to establish a date for prior art and constructive reduction to practice. • The PPA must include a full description of the invention, but claims, drawings, and prior-art disclosures are not required. — Abbr. PPA. — Also termed
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disembodied technology. Intellectual property. Know-how or knowledge that is in the form of information only. • Disembodied technology includes proprietary technology and information in the public domain. Cf. EMBODIED TECHNOLOGY.
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open source, adj. Of or related to software that includes human-readable source code and can be freely revised.
headnote. A case summary that appears before the printed judicial opinion in a law report, addresses a point of law, and usu. includes the relevant facts bearing on that point of law. — Also termed syllabus; synopsis; reporter’s syllabus. “The syllabus or headnote is a brief statement of the propositions of law decided in the
ejusdem generis (ee-j[schwa]s-d[schwa]m jen-[schwa]-ris also ee-joos- or ee-yoos-). [Latin “of the same kind or class”] A canon of construction that when a general word or phrase follows a list of specifics, the general word or phrase will be interpreted to include only items of the same type as those listed. • For example, in the
penal colony. A remote place of detention for convicts and political prisoners, usu. in an isolated part of a nation or in a nation’s extraterritorial holdings. • Historical examples include the Soviet Union’s gulags in Siberia and France’s penal colony on Devil’s Island off the coast of Guiana.
A conveyance that creates an estate. • Examples of primary conveyances include feoffment, gift, grant, lease, exchange, and partition. — Also termed original conveyance. Cf. secondary conveyance.
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Work that involves some frequent lifting and moving. • Under the Social Security Administration regulations for describing a worker’s physical limitations, medium work includes lifting up to 50 pounds, with frequent lifting or carrying of objects weighing up to 25 pounds. 20 CFR § 404. [Cases: Social Security and Public Welfare 140.40, 143.70–143.80. C.J.S. Social