claim limitation. Patents. In a patent application, a statement that describes the means for performing a specified function without reciting the structure, materials, or acts that support that function. • Claim limitations define the invention by distinguishing it from prior art. [Cases: Patents 101(3).]
A defined-contribution plan that provides for mandatory employer contributions without regard to employer profits. • Contributions are frequently stated as a percentage of employee compensation. [Cases: Pensions 28. C.J.S. Pensions and Retirement Plans and Benefits §§ 11–15.]
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bad-man theory. The jurisprudential doctrine or belief that a bad person’s view of the law represents the best test of what the law actually is because that person will carefully calculate precisely what the rules allow and operate up to the rules’ limits. • This theory was first espoused by Oliver Wendell Holmes in his
A utility-patent claim that incorporates a drawing or table by reference. • This claim is allowed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office only if there is no practical way to define the invention in words, but the invention is simple to illustrate with the drawing or table. See SQUIRES DOCTRINE.
equity-of-the-statute rule. In statutory construction, the principle that a statute should be interpreted according to the legislators’ purpose and intent, even if this interpretation goes beyond the literal meaning of the text. • Under this little-used rule, for example, if a statute defines jury-tampering to include a party’s “giving a juror food or drink,” the
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species (spee-sheez). 1. A taxonomic class of organisms uniquely distinguished from other classes by shared characteristics and usu. by an inability to interbreed with members of other classes. endangered species. A species in danger of becoming extinct; esp., under federal law, a species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant part
accidental-death benefit. An insurance-policy provision that allows for an additional payment (often double the face amount of the policy) if the insured dies as a result of an accident, as defined in the policy, and not from natural causes. — Abbr. ADB. [Cases: Insurance 2599. C.J.S. Insurance §§ 1094, 1096, 1170–1171.]
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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
school, n. 1. An institution of learning and education, esp. for children. [Cases: Schools 11. C.J.S. Schools and School Districts §§ 4, 74, 76, 396–398.] “Although the word ‘school’ in its broad sense includes all schools or institutions, whether of high or low degree, the word ‘school’ frequently has been defined in constitutions and statutes
The age, usu. defined by statute as 18 years, at which a person is legally capable of agreeing to a contract, maintaining a lawsuit, or the like. • A person may be authorized to make certain critical personal deci-sions at an earlier age than the general age of capacity, such as the decision whether to