ob contingentiam (ob kon-tin-jen-shee-[schwa]m). [Latin] Hist. 1. On account of connection; by reason of similarity. • This phrase appeared when there was a close enough connection between two or more lawsuits to consolidate them. 2. In case of contingency.
nationality. 1. NATION(1). 2. The relationship between a citizen of a nation and the nation itself, customarily involving allegiance by the citizen and protection by the state; membership in a nation. • This term is often used synonymously with citizenship. See CITIZENSHIP. 3. The formal relationship between a ship and the nation under whose flag
Polaroid test. Trademarks. A judicial test for trademark infringement, analyzing eight factors: (1) strength of the mark, (2) similarity between the marks, (3) proximity of the products’ markets, (4) effects on market expansion (ability to “bridge the gap”), (5) actual confusion, (6) the defendant’s good or bad faith, (7) quality of the products, and (8)
Copyright. A judicially created test for determining whether substantial similarity exists between two works in an action for infringement. • In the first step, the court dissects the copy-righted work’s structure and isolates each level of abstraction or generality (abstraction test). In the second step, the court examines each level of abstraction and separates out
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abstraction-filtration-comparison test. Copyright. A judicially created test for determining whether substantial similarity exists between two works in an action for infringement. • In the first step, the court dissects the copy-righted work’s structure and isolates each level of abstraction or generality (abstraction test). In the second step, the court examines each level of abstraction and
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colorable imitation. Trademarks. Any mark, whether or not created with an intent to deceive, whose resemblance to a registered mark is likely to cause confusion or mistake. See SIMILARITY. [Cases: Trade Regulation 181. C.J.S. Trade-Marks, Trade-Names, and Unfair Competition §§ 169, 172.]
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reverse-confusion doctrine. Intellectual property. The rule that it is unfair competition if the defendant’s use of a title that is confusingly similar to the one used by the plaintiff leads the public to believe that the plaintiff’s work is the same as the defendant’s, or that it is derived from or associated in some manner
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imitation. Trademarks. An item that so resembles a trademarked item as to be likely to induce the belief that it is genuine. See SIMILARITY. [Cases: Trade Regulation 339. C.J.S. Trade-Marks, Trade-Names, and Unfair Competition §§ 84, 86.] “The law of trade marks is of recent origin, and may be comprehended in the proposition that a