utility. 1. The quality of serving some function that benefits society; meritoriousness. 2. Patents. Capacity to perform a function or attain a result claimed for protection as intellectual property. • In patent law, utility is one of the three basic requirements of patentability, the others being nonobviousness and novelty. In the calculation of damages for […]
The strategy of wearing down the plaintiff by tenaciously fighting by whatever means anything the plaintiff presents and appealing every ruling favorable to the plaintiff, rather than presenting a meritorious case. • The tactic is named for the Russian city besieged by the Germans in World War II. The defenders refused to surrender and used
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give color, vb. Hist. To admit, either expressly or impliedly by silence, that an opponent’s allegations appear to be meritorious. • In common-law pleading, a defendant’s plea of confession and avoidance had to give color to the plaintiff’s allegations in the complaint or the plea would be fatally defective. See COLOR(2).
A group of legislators appointed to help a legislature conduct its business, esp. by providing careful consideration of proposals for new legislation within a particular field so that the entire body can handle its work efficiently without wasting time and effort on unmeritorious submissions. [Cases: States 34. C.J.S. States §§ 55–58.]
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valid, adj. 1. Legally sufficient; binding (a valid contract). 2. Meritorious ( that is a valid conclusion based on the facts presented in this case). — validate, vb. — validation, validity, n.