Business Law and the Legal Environment: Ethics, Courts, Torts, and Intellectual Property

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering ethics theories, constitutional powers, court systems, civil trial procedures, tort law, patents, trademarks, trade dress, and copyrights based on lecture notes.

Utilitarian Ethics

An ethical theory originated by John Stuart Mill (1806–73) stating that a correct decision is one that maximizes overall happiness and minimizes overall pain.

Deontological Ethics

An ethical theory derived from the Greek word for 'obligation,' asserting that the results of an action are not as important as the underlying reason for making the decision.

Kant's Categorical Imperative

A central deontological principle requiring that an individual should only act on principles that they would want applied as universal laws for everyone.

Rawlsian Justice

A theory of justice developed by John Rawls (1921–2002) proposing that individuals must evaluate fairness through a 'veil of ignorance' and apply the difference principle because people are born with varied life prospects where luck matters.

Front Page Test

An ethical decision-making tool where an individual evaluates a difficult choice by considering how they would feel if their actions went viral.

Moral Universalism

The ethical position holding that certain types of behaviors are always right or always wrong, regardless of what people think.

Moral Relativism

The ethical belief that a decision may be acceptable even if it is not in keeping with one's own ethical standards, acknowledging differing cultural or individual norms and standards.

Stare Decisis

A foundational doctrine in common law meaning 'let the decision stand,' requiring courts to adhere to precedents established in prior rulings.

Bystander Cases Rule

The common law rule establishing that an individual has no legal duty to assist someone in peril unless they created the danger, with exemptions for special relationships such as between a therapist and patient.

Supremacy Clause

A constitutional mandate establishing that federal law and the United States Constitution take precedence over conflicting state legislative powers.

Judicial Review

The power of the judicial branch to examine and determine the constitutionality of legislative enactments and executive actions.

Pleadings

The formal pre-trial legal documents exchanged between parties, consisting of the complaint, service, answer, counterclaim, and motions such as a judgment on the pleadings or motion to dismiss.

Discovery

The formal pre-trial stage of litigation that involves interrogatories, depositions, production of documents and materials, and physical and mental examinations.

Summary Judgment

A pre-trial ruling issued by a court when there are no disputed issues of material fact and the dispute presents only issues of law.

Voir Dire

The preliminary stage of a jury trial where prospective jurors are questioned to determine their qualifications and impartiality.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

Procedures used to resolve legal disputes outside of formal court litigation, primarily consisting of negotiation, arbitration, and mediation.

Tort Law

A branch of law that provides a private civil remedy for acts that interfere with an individual's physical security, freedom of movement, or cause damage to property.

Transferred Intent

A legal doctrine in intentional torts where a defendant's intent to commit a wrongful act against one individual is legally transferred to another unintended person who is harmed.

Negligence

A tort composed of five necessary elements: duty of care, breach of that duty, actual cause, proximate cause, and damages.

Negligence Per Se

A finding of negligence that occurs when a defendant breaches a statutory duty of care designed to protect the public without requiring independent proof of unreasonable conduct.

Defamation

Intentionally making a false statement of fact about a plaintiff that harms their reputation and is published to at least one third party, requiring proof of actual malice if the plaintiff is a public figure.

Libel

A defamatory statement communicated through written publication.

Slander

A defamatory statement communicated through oral publication.

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED)

An intentional tort consisting of an intentional act amounting to extreme and outrageous conduct that results in severe emotional distress to another individual.

Patentability (35 U.S.C. §101)

The statutory standard stating that whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any improvement thereof, may obtain a patent.

PHOSITA

An acronym for 'Person Having Ordinary Skill In The Art,' representing the legal standard used to assess patent enablement and non-obviousness.

America Invents Act (AIA)

The 2013 United States patent reform statute that shifted the patent system from a 'first to invent' standard to a 'first to file' system.

Markman Hearing

A specialized pre-trial hearing in patent litigation designated for claim construction to interpret the precise scope and meaning of patent claims.

Trademark

A distinctive mark, word, name, or symbol used to identify and associate goods or services with a specific source.

Fanciful Trademarks

The most inherently distinctive category of marks, consisting of entirely invented or made-up words such as Kodak, Exxon, or Polaroid.

Arbitrary Trademarks

Trademarks that use real, common words that have no inherent connection or relation to the associated product or service, such as Apple or Dove.

Suggestive Trademarks

Trademarks that hint at or suggest a characteristic of the underlying product or service without directly describing it, such as Jaguar, Microsoft, or Netflix.

Descriptive Trademarks

Trademarks that directly describe an ingredient, quality, or characteristic of the product or service, such as Sharp, British Airways, or Best Buy.

Generic Trademarks

Terms that simply serve as the common generic name for a product or service, which cannot be legally protected, such as Aspirin, Band-Aid, or Thermos.

Descriptive Fair Use

A trademark defense that protects the use of a descriptive mark to accurately describe the alleged infringer's own product.

Nominative Fair Use

A trademark defense that protects using another party's trademark to describe, identify, criticize, or refer to the trademark owner's actual product.

Trade Dress

The overall image, appearance, packaging, configuration, architecture, or décor of a product or service that serves as a distinctive designator of origin.

Two Pesos v. Taco Cabana (505 U.S. 763 (1992))

A landmark United States Supreme Court decision holding that inherently distinctive trade dress is protectable under the Lanham Act without requiring proof of secondary meaning.

Copyright

An exclusive legal protection automatically secured the moment an original work of authorship is fixed in a tangible medium of expression, lasting for the creator's exclusive right of 70 years.

Derivative Work

A new, original copyrighted work based upon one or more preexisting works (such as films adapted from plays, remixes, or fan fiction), which requires a license to prevent infringement.