Law terms starting with B

121 terms

"Bates Numbering" or "Bates Stamping" A system of sequentially numbering document pages in paper or electronic form as part of litigation discovery to uniquely identify each page scanned or…
Back spatter blood directed back toward the source of energy or force that caused the spatter; often associated with entrance gunshot wounds.
backbone The bones, muscles, tendons, and other tissues that reach from the base of the skull to the tailbone.
Backfiles Existing paper or microfilm files.
Background of the Invention A section heading in the specification of a U.S. patent application that includes a statement of the technical field of the invention and a description of…
Backup To create a copy of data as a precaution against the loss or damage of the original data.
Backup Data Backup data is information that is not presently in use by an organization and is routinely stored separately upon portable media, to free up space and…
Backup Tape Backup or disaster recovery tapes are portable media used to store data that is not presently in use by an organization to free up space but still allow…
Backup Tape Recycling Backup tape recycling is the process whereby an organizations backup tapes are overwritten with new backup data, usually on a fixed schedule (i.e.
Backup Tapes Magnetic tapes used to store copies of data, for use when restoration or recovery of data is required.
Bail Money or other security (such as a bail bond) provided to the court to temporarily allow a person's release from jail and assure their appearance in court.
Bail bond An obligation signed by the accused to secure his or her presence at the trial.
Bail Reform Act of 1984 A statute establishing criteria and procedures governing the release and detention of defendants in federal criminal cases.
Bailiff An officer of the court responsible for keeping order, maintaining appropriate courtroom decorum and custody of the jury.
Bailiff/Deputy The uniformed Hennepin County Sheriff's Deputy who "keeps the peace" and is available to deal with any threat to the peace, both inside and immediately…
bailment An agreement under which the bailee/licensee is permitted to use the tangible property of the bailor/ licensor under defined terms and conditions.
Balance Sheet A financial statement showing the nature and amount of a company's assets, liabilities and shareholders' equity.
balanced budget A budget in which receipts equal outlays.
Ballistics branch of physics that deals with the flights of projectiles.
Ballot Either in paper form or electronic, the mechanism for voters to show their vote preferences.
Bandwidth The amount of information or data that can be sent over a network connection in a given period of time.
Bankruptcy The legal proceedings by which the affairs of a bankrupt person are turned over to a trustee or receiver for administration under the bankruptcy laws.
bankruptcy administrator An officer of the judiciary serving in the judicial districts of Alabama and North Carolina who, like the U.S.
bankruptcy administrators Handle administrative matters in bankruptcy cases in Alabama and North Carolina; appointed by the U.S. Court of Appeals; take the place of U.S. trustees.
Bankruptcy appellate panels (BAPS) In the circuits that have them, BAPs share the appellate role of the district court in bankruptcy filings; composed of three bankruptcy judges.
Bankruptcy Code The informal name for title 11 of the United States Code (11 U.S.C. §§ 101-1330), the federal bankruptcy law.
bankruptcy court The bankruptcy judges in regular active service in each district; a unit of the district court.
bankruptcy estate All legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property at the time of the bankruptcy filing.
Bankruptcy Judge A judicial officer of the United States district court who is the court official with decision-making power over federal bankruptcy cases.
Bankruptcy law The area of federal law dealing with bankrupt persons or businesses.
bankruptcy petition The document filed by the debtor (in a voluntary case) or by creditors (in an involuntary case) by which opens the bankruptcy case.
bankruptcy reform act of 1978; bankruptcy amendments and judgeship act of 1984 Two federal laws that set out the organization and jurisdiction of the bankruptcy system.
Bar 1. Historically, the partition separating the general public from the space occupied by the judges, lawyers and other participants in a trial. 2.
bar code A small pattern of vertical lines that can be read by a laser or an optical scanner.
bar date Date set by the court for filing objections to pleadings.
Bar examination A state examination taken by prospective lawyers in order to be admitted and licensed to practice law.
Bar, Statutory A circumstance that prevents (bars) issuance of a valid patent. MPEP 2133.
Base Claim A claim from which another claim depends, either directly or indirectly. MPEP 608.01(n).
Base offense level The raw number or point score assigned by the sentencing guidelines to each offense.
base pair combination of 2 nucleotides (A and T or G and C) held together by weak hydrogen bonds; the DNA double helix is formed when a base pair of nucleotides in…
baseline An initial measurement that is taken at an early time point to represent a beginning condition, and is used for comparison over time to look for changes.
Basic De-duplication performed on a select and limited basis, such as for file names and types, and is usually based on the hash value of the entire electronic document.
Basic Patent The first member of a "family" of patents (which may or may not be the first member published).
basic patent or pioneer patent A broad patent that is the first in a given area.
batch processing The processing of a large amount of data, or multiple records, in a single step.
Bates Number Sequential numbering used to track documents and images in production data sets, where each page is identified by a unique production number.
Bates Production Number A bates production number is a tracking number assigned to each page of each document in the production set.
Battery A beating or wrongful physical violence. The threat to use force is an "assault;" the actual use of force is a battery, which usually includes an assault.
Baud Rate The number of times per second a communications channel changes the carrier signal it sends on a phone line.
BBS (Bulletin Board System) A computer system or service that users access to participate in electronic discussion groups, post messages and/or download files.
BCS Boston Computer Society, one of the first associations of PC/Apple users and one of the largest and most active.
Beginning Document Number or BegDoc# The Bates Number identifying the first page of a document or record.
Bench The seat occupied by the judge. More broadly, the court itself.
bench trial Trial without a jury in which a judge decides the facts.
Bench warrant An order issued by a judge for the arrest of a person.
Beneficiary A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract.
benefit claim the claiming by an applicant in a nonprovisional application of a benefit of an invention disclosed in a prior-filed copending (under examination at the…
Bequeath To give a gift to someone through a will.
Bequests Gifts made in a will.
Best evidence Primary evidence; the best evidence available. Evidence short of this is "secondary.
Best Mode The way of implementing the inventive concept contemplated by the inventor on the filing date of the patent application. MPEP 608.
Beyond a reasonable doubt The burden of proof that the State must establish in a criminal action.
Bi-Tonal A bi-tonal image uses only black and white.
BIA business impact analysis
Bibliographical/Objective Coding Extracting objective information from electronic documents such as date created, author/recipient/copies, and associating the information with a specific…
Bile A fluid made by the liver and stored in the gallbladder. Bile is excreted into the small intestine, where it helps digest fat.
Bill Your bill is the statement of your account. Your bill will tell you the total amount that you owe us as of the end of the last billing period.
binary Mathematical base 2, or numbers composed of a series of zeros and ones. Since zero's and one's can be easily represented by two voltage levels on an…
binding precedent A prior decision by a court that must be followed without a compelling reason or significantly different facts or issues.
bio-sequence listings a document that must be included only if a nucleotide or amino acid sequence is part of the invention.
Biological Material Material referenced in the disclosure of a patent application that is capable of self-replicating, either direclty or indirectly.
Biology the science that studies living organisms.
BIOS (Basic Input Output System) The set of user-independent computer instructions stored in a computers ROM, immediately available to the computer when the computer is turned on.
Bit A bit ( B inary dig IT ) is the smallest unit of computer data. A bit consists of either 0 or 1. There are eight bits in a byte.
Bit Map A Bit Map provides information on the placement and color of individual bits and allows the creation of characters or images by creating a picture…
Bit Stream Backup Bit stream backups, also referred to as mirror image backups, are comprised of the backup of all areas of a computer hard disk drive or another type of…
blackout period the period between the date the examining attorney approves the mark for publication and the date of issuance of the Notice of Allowance.
Blind or Double-Blind Sample Technique a type of proficiency testing where the member is not aware that the sample/case under analysis is a quality assessment sample.
Blog Blogs, also referred to as Web logs, are frequent, chronological Web publications consisting of links and postings.
Blood borne pathogens pathogenic microorganisms in blood or other body fluids that can cause disease in people.
Bloodstain transfer resulting when liquid blood comes into contact with a surface.
BMP A Windows file format for storing bit map images.
Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences A board of senior examiners that hears appeals of adverse patentability decisions of examiners. MPEP 1202, MPEP 1203.
Bona fide In good faith, without fraud.
Bond A long-term debt instrument with the promise to pay a specified amount of interest and to return the principal amount on a specified maturity date.
Booking The process of photographing, fingerprinting and recording identifying data of a suspect. This process follows the arrest.
bookmark A link to a Web site or page previously visited.
Boolean Boolean logic (named for the British-born Irish mathematician George Boole) is way to express relationships in logic arguments using the following three…
Boolean Search The term 'Boolean' refers to a system of logic developed by an early computer pioneer, George Boole.
Boot To start up or reset a computer.
Boot Sector The very first sector on a hard drive which contains the computer code (boot strap loader) necessary for the computer to start up and the partition table…
Bound supplement A supplement to a book or books which updates the material in permanent form. See pocket part.
bounty a reward offered for a piece of fugitive information.
bounty hunter information holders and sharers. People who respect and appreciate the power and value of knowledge.
bounty poster information seekers. People looking for a valuable piece of fugitive information and willing to pay a generous reward for its location.
BPAI Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences
BPAIIS Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences Information System
BPI (Bits Per Inch) BPI measures data densities in disc and magnetic tape systems.
BPS bits per second.
Brady material In Brady v. Maryland, the Supreme Court held that evidence or other information known to the prosecution which is material to a case and favorable to the…