Abandonment of a trademark occurs when the owner of the trademark deliberately ceases to use the trademark for three or more years, with no intention of using the trademark again in the future. When a trademark is abandoned, the trademark...
legal education and practice
abatement ab initio
Abatement ab initio is a rule in criminal law which negates a conviction if the defendant died before they could exhaust all appeals. In People v. Mount, a California Court of Appeals described the rule as dismissing or remanding a criminal...
abatement clause
An abatement clause is defined as a provision in a lease agreement that releases the tenant from paying rent if an act of God makes occupancy impossible or otherwise precludes the property from being used.
See also:...
Abercrombie classification
Abercrombie classification, taking its name from the case Abercrombie & Fitch Co. v. Hunting World Inc., refers to a system designating how generic a given trademark is for the purposes of intellectual property law. This system...
abnormally dangerous activity
An abnormally dangerous activity is related to tort law. The Restatement of Torts defines it as an activity that (1) is not of common usage, and (2) creates a foreseeable and highly significant risk of physical harm even when reasonable care...
absentee ballot
An absentee ballot is a paper ballot submitted, before an election day and often by mail, by a voter who is unable to attend the official polling station on election day. It is also referred to as an absentee vote. Generally, such a vote is...
absolute disparity
Absolute disparity is a calculation used to analyze a claim that a jury pool did not represent a fair cross-section of the community. For instance, a jury pool that is composed of only white jurors in a community that is predominantly Black....
absolute privilege
Absolute privilege, in defamation cases, refers to the fact that in certain circumstances, an individual is immune from liability for defamatory statements.
Absolute privilege applies to statements made in certain contexts...
abstention
The abstention doctrine is an authority that precludes federal courts from hearing cases within its jurisdictions, instead, giving state courts authority over the case. The policy behind this doctrine is rooted in federalism, and the interest...
abstract
Abstract refers to an abbreviated history of an official record. Some common usages of the term “abstract” in a legal sense include:
“Abstract of title” merely recites what the land records disclose without giving opinion or advice...