BLS 7-9, 21, 43,45

Market-share liability: A theory under which liability is shared among all firms that manufactured and distributed a particular product during a certain period of time. This theory of liability is used only when the specific source of the harmful product is unidentifiable.

Privity of contract: The relationship that exists between the promisor and the promisee of a contract.

product liability: The legal liability of manufacturers, sellers, and lessors of goods to consumers, users, and bystanders for injuries or damages that are caused by the goods.

product misuse: A defense against product liability that may be raised when the plaintiff used a product in a manner not intended by the manufacturer. If the misuse is reasonably foreseeable, the seller will not escape liability unless measures were taken to guard against the harm that could result from the misuse.

statutes of repose: Basically, a statute of limitations that is not dependent on the happening of a cause of action. Statutes of repose generally begin to run at an earlier date and run for a longer period of time than statutes of limitations.

Strict liability: Liability regardless of fault. In tort law, strict liability may be imposed on defendants in cases involving abnormally dangerous activities, dangerous animals, or defective products.

Tolled: Temporary suspension of the running of a prescribed period (such as a statute of limitations). For instance, a statute of limitations may be tolled until the party suffering an injury has discovered it or should have discovered it.

unreasonably dangerous product: In product liability, a product that is defective to the point of threatening a consumer’s health and safety. A product will be considered unreasonably dangerous if it is dangerous beyond the expectation of the ordinary consumer or if a less dangerous alternative was economically feasible for the manufacturer, but the manufacturer failed to produce it.

Certification mark: A mark used by one or more persons, other than the owner, to certify the region, materials, mode of manufacture, quality, or accuracy of the owner’s goods or services. Examples of certification marks include the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” and “UL Tested.”

collective mark: A mark used by members of a cooperative, association, or other organization to certify the region, materials, mode of manufacture, quality, or accuracy of the specific goods or services. Examples of collective marks include the labor union marks found on tags of certain products and the credits of movies, which indicate the various associations and organizations that participated in the making of the movies.

Copyright: The exclusive right of authors to publish, print, or sell an intellectual production for a statutory period of time. A copyright has the same monopolistic nature as a patent or trademark, but it differs in that it applies exclusively to works of art, literature, and other works of authorship, including computer programs.

Dilution: With respect to trademarks, a doctrine under which distinctive or famous trademarks are protected from certain unauthorized uses regardless of a showing of competition or a likelihood of confusion. Congress created a federal cause of action for dilution in 1995 with the passage of the Federal Trademark Dilution Act.

Intellectual property: Property resulting from intellectual, creative processes. Patents, trademarks, and copyrights are examples of intellectual property.

License: In the context of intellectual property, a contract permitting the use of a trademark, copyright, patent, or trade secret for certain purposes. In the context of real property, a revocable right or privilege of a person to come on another person’s land.

Service mark: A mark used in the sale or the advertising of services, such as to distinguish the services of one person from the services of others. Titles, character names, and other distinctive features of radio and television programs may be registered as service marks.

Trade dress: The image and overall appearance of a product—for example, the distinctive decor, menu, layout, and style of service of a particular restaurant. Basically, trade dress is subject to the same protection as trademarks.

Trade name: A term that is used to indicate part or all of a business’s name and that is directly related to the business’s reputation and goodwill. Trade names are protected under the common law (and under trademark law, if the name is the same as the firm’s trademark).

Trade secret: Information or a process that gives a business an advantage over competitors who do not know the information or process.

Trademark: A distinctive mark, motto, device, or implement that a manufacturer stamps, prints, or otherwise affixes to the goods it produces so that they may be identified on the market and their origins made known. Once a trademark is established (under the common law or through registration), the owner is entitled to its exclusive use.

Cloud computing: The delivery to users of on-demand services from third-party servers over a network.

Cookies: A small file sent from a website and stored in a user’s Web browser to track the user’s Web browsing activities.

Cybersquatting: Registering a domain name that is the same as, or confusingly similar to, the trademark of another and then offering to sell that domain name back to the trademark owner.

Cyber torts: a tort committed via the internet

Distributed network: a network that can be used by persons located (distributed) around the country or the globe to share computer files.

Domain name: The series of letters and symbols used to identify a site operator on the Internet; part of an Internet “address.”

Goodwill: In the business context, the valuable reputation of a business viewed as an intangible asset.

internet service providers (ISPs): A business or organization that offers users access to the Internet and related services.

peer-to-peer (P2P) networking: The sharing of resources (such as files, hard drives, and processing styles) among multiple computers without the requirement of a central network server.

social media: Forms of communication through which users create and share information, ideas, messages, and other content via the Internet.

Typosquatting: A form of cybersquatting that relies on mistakes, such as typographical errors, made by Internet users when inputting information into a Web browser.

Act of state doctrine: A doctrine that provides that the judicial branch of one country will not examine the validity of public acts committed by a recognized foreign government within its own territory.

Civil law system: A system of law derived from that of the Roman Empire and based on a code rather than case law; the predominant system of law in the nations of continental Europe and the nations that were once their colonies. In the United States, Louisiana is the only state that has a civil law system.

Comity: A deference by which one nation gives effect to the laws and judicial decrees of another nation.

Confiscation: A government’s taking of a privately owned business or personal property without a proper public purpose or an award of just compensation.

Distribution agreement: A contract between a seller and a distributor of the seller’s products setting out the terms and conditions of the distributorship.

Dumping: The selling of goods in a foreign country at a price below the price charged for the same goods in the domestic market.

Export: To sell products to buyers located in other countries.

Expropriation: The seizure by a government of privately owned business or personal property for a proper public purpose and with just compensation.

International law: The law that governs relations among nations. International customs and treaties are generally considered to be two of the most important sources of international law.

International organizations: In international law, a term that generally refers to an organization composed mainly of nations and usually established by treaty. The United States is a member of more than one hundred multilateral and bilateral organizations, including at least twenty through the United Nations.

National law: law that pertains to a particular nation

normal trade relations (NTR) status: A status granted through an international treaty by which each member nation must treat other members at least as well as it treats the country that receives its most favorable treatment. This status was formerly known as most-favored-nation status.

Sovereign immunity: A doctrine that immunizes foreign nations from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts when certain conditions are satisfied.

Adjudication: The process of resolving a dispute by presenting evidence and arguments before a neutral third party decision maker in a court or an administrative law proceeding.

Administrative law judge: One who presides over an administrative agency hearing and has the power to administer oaths, take testimony, rule on questions of evidence, and make determinations of fact.

Administrative process: procedure used by administrative agencies in fulfilling their three basic functions, rulemaking, enforcement, and adjudication

Bureaucracy: A large organization that is structured hierarchically to carry out specific functions.

Delegation doctrine: A doctrine based on Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution, which has been construed to allow Congress to delegate some of its power to make and implement laws to administrative agencies. The delegation is considered to be proper as long as Congress sets standards outlining the scope of the agency’s authority.

Enabling legislation: A statute enacted by Congress that authorizes the creation of an administrative agency and specifies the name, composition, purpose, and powers of the agency.

exhaustion doctrine: In administrative law, the principle that a complaining party normally must have exhausted all available administrative remedies before seeking judicial review.

Final order: The final decision of an administrative agency on an issue. If no appeal is taken, or if the case is not reviewed or considered anew by the agency commission, the administrative law judge’s initial order becomes the final order of the agency.

Initial order: In the context of administrative law, an agency’s disposition in a matter other than a rulemaking. An administrative law judge’s initial order becomes final unless it is appealed.

Interpretive rules: A nonbinding rule or policy statement issued by an administrative agency that explains how it interprets and intends to apply the statutes it enforces.

Legislative rules: An administrative agency rule that carries the same weight as a congressionally enacted statute.

Notice-and-comment rulemaking: An administrative rulemaking procedure that involves the publication of a notice of a proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, a comment period for interested parties to express their views on the proposed rule, and the publication of the agency’s final rule in the Federal Register.

Rulemaking: The process by which an administrative agency formally adopts a new regulation or amends an old one.

Environmental impact statement: a formal analysis required for any major federal action that will significantly affect the quality of the environment to determine the action’s impact and explore alternatives

environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG): Relates to a set of standards for a company’s behavior used by socially conscious investors to screen potential investments.

Nuisance: common doctrine under which the persons may be upheld liable for using their property in a manner that unreasonably interferes with others’ rights to use or enjoy their own property.

potentially responsible party (PRP): A party liable for the costs of cleaning up a hazardous waste disposal site under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.

Sustainability: Maintaining the natural environment such that it will adequately satisfy the needs of not only this generation but, more importantly, future generations.

toxic torts: A civil wrong arising from exposure to a toxic substance, such as asbestos, radiation, or hazardous waste.

Antitrust laws: Laws protecting commerce from unlawful restraints and anticompetitive practices.

Attempted monopolization: An action by a firm that involves anticompetitive conduct, the intent to gain monopoly power, and a “dangerous probability” of success in achieving monopoly power.

Concentrated industry: An industry in which a single firm or a small number of firms control a large percentage of market sales.

Divestiture: A company’s sale of one or more of its divisions’ operating functions under court order as part of the enforcement of antitrust laws.

Exclusive-dealing contract: An agreement under which a seller forbids a buyer to purchase products from the seller’s competitors.

Group boycott: An agreement by two or more sellers to refuse to deal with a particular person or firm. 

Horizontal merger: a merger between two firms that are competing in the same market

Horizontal restraint: any agreement that restrains competition between rival firms competing in the same market

Market concentration: The degree to which a small number of firms control a large percentage of a relevant market.

Market power: The power of a firm to control the market price of its product. A monopoly has the greatest degree of market power

Monopolization: The possession of monopoly power in the relevant market and the willful acquisition or maintenance of that power, as distinguished from growth or development as a consequence of a superior product, business acumen, or historic accident. 

Per se violations: a restraint of trade that is so anticompetitive that is deemed inherently (per se) illegal

Predatory pricing: The pricing of a product below cost with the intent to drive competitors out of the market.

Price discrimination: a seller’s act of charging competing buyers different prices for identical products or services

Price-fixing agreement: An agreement between competitors to fix the prices of products or services at a certain level.

resale price maintenance agreement: An agreement between a manufacturer and a retailer in which the manufacturer specifies what the retail prices of its products must be.

restraints of trade: Any contract or combination that tends to eliminate or reduce competition, effect a monopoly, artificially maintain prices, or otherwise hamper the course of trade and commerce as it would be carried on if left to the control of natural economic forces.

rule of reason: A test used to determine whether an anticompetitive agreement constitutes a reasonable restraint on trade. Courts consider such factors as the purpose of the agreement, its effect on competition, and whether less restrictive means could have been used.

Treble damages: Damages that, by statute, are three times the amount of actual damages suffered.

Tying arrangement: A seller’s act of conditioning the sale of a product or service on the buyer’s agreement to purchase another product or service from the seller.

Vertical merger: the acquisition by a company at one stage of production of a company at a higher or lower stage of production (as when a company merges with one of its suppliers or retailers).

vertical restraint: A restraint of trade created by an agreement between firms at different levels in the manufacturing and distribution process.

vertically integrated firms: A firm that carries out two or more functional phases (manufacturing, distribution, and retailing, for example) of the chain of production.