Materiality (law)
Evidence |
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Part of the law series |
Types of evidence |
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Authentication |
Witnesses |
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Other common law areas |
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Materiality is the significance of facts to the matter at hand.[1]
In the law of evidence
An item of
In corporate and securities law
Within the context of
Materiality is particularly important in the context of securities law, because under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, a company can be held civilly or criminally liable for false, misleading, or omitted statements of fact in proxy statements and other documents, if the fact in question is found by the court to have been material pursuant to Rule 10b-5.[5]
In contract law
In the law of contracts, a material term in a contract is a term or provision that concerns significant issues, such as subject matter, price, quantity, type of work to be done, and terms of payment or performance.[1]
In patent law
In United States patent law, information is material to patentability and therefore subject to the duty of disclosure if
- (1) It establishes, by itself or in combination with other information, a prima facie case of unpatentability of a claim; or
- (2) It refutes, or is inconsistent with, a position the applicant takes in:
- (i) Opposing an argument of unpatentability relied on by the Office, or
- (ii) Asserting an argument of patentability.[6]
See also
References
- ^ a b Black's Law Dictionary, 7th ed.
- ^ See Rule 401 of the Federal Rules of Evidence.
- ISBN 1-58778-176-X
- ^ Reasonable Investor(s), Boston University Law Review, available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2579510
- ^ See TSC Industries, Inc. v. Northway, Inc., 426 U.S. 438 (1976)
- ^ 37 C.F.R. § 1.56