omissa et male appretiata ([schwa]-mis-[schwa] et mal-ee [schwa]-pree-shee-ay-t[schwa]). [Law Latin] Hist. Things omitted and erroneously valued. “When an executor confirms and omits in the inventory part of the defunct’s effects, he may have the mistake corrected. But if he do not take steps for this purpose, any one interested in the succession may apply, either […]
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Patents. An inventor’s failure to take steps to protect an invention, such as by failing to claim the invention when disclosed in a patent application or by permitting an application to be abandoned, esp. by failing to file an answer to an office action within the time allowed. [Cases: Patents 107. C.J.S. Patents §§ 157–158.]
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sedition, n. 1. An agreement, communication, or other preliminary activity aimed at inciting treason or some lesser commotion against public authority. 2. Advocacy aimed at inciting or producing — and likely to incite or produce — imminent lawless action. • At common law, sedition included defaming a member of the royal family or the government.
combination. 1. An alliance of individuals or corporations working together to accomplish a common (usu. economic) goal. See COMBINATION IN RESTRAINT OF TRADE . 2. CONSPIRACY. 3. STRADDLE. 4. Patents. A union of old and new elements in an invention. • The term encompasses not only a combination of mechanical elements but also a combination
algorithm. Patents. A mathematical or logical process consisting of a series of steps, designed to solve a specific type of problem. • Algorithms were long considered abstract ideas and therefore unpatentable subject matter. But in 1998, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found valid a patent on financial software as “a practical
registrar. A person who keeps official records; esp., a school official who maintains academic and enrollment records. Cf. REGISTER(1).
body of a claim. Patents. The portion of a patent claim that defines the elements or steps of the invention. • The body of the claim follows the preamble and transition phrase. In a combination claim, the body of a claim sets forth the elements of a patentable combination. Cf. PREAMBLE(2); TRANSITION PHRASE.
Cohan rule (koh-han).Tax. A former rule that a taxpayer may approximate travel and entertainment expenses when no records exist if the taxpayer has taken all possible steps to provide documentation. • Since 1962, travel and entertainment expenses have been only partly deductible and must be carefully documented, but courts may apply the Cohan reasoning to
tracing, n. 1. The process of tracking property’s ownership or characteristics from the time of its origin to the present (tracing the vehicle’s history). • Parties in a divorce will be expected to trace the origins of property in existence at the time of marital dissolution in order to characterize each asset as separate or