Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
Function
n. 1. Activity that is appropriate to a particular business or profession <a court's function is to administer justice>. 2. Office; duty; the occupation of an office <presidential function>.
Functionality
Trademarks. A shape, configuration, design, or color that is so superior to available alternatives that giving the first user exclusive trademark rights would hinder competition.
Functionary
A public officer or employee.
Nonfunctional
n. Trademarks. A feature of a good that, although it might identify or distinguish the good from others, is unrelated to the product's use.
aesthetic functionality
A doctrine that denies protection to the design of a product or its container when the design is necessary to enable the product to function as intended. functional obsolescence See OBSOLESCENCE.
discretionary function
See DISCRETIONARY ACT.
discriminant function
An IRS method of selecting tax returns to be audited. 0 The method consists of (1) using a computer program to identify returns with a high probability of error (such as those showing a disproportionate amount of deductible expenses), and (2) having examiners manually review the selected returns to determine which ones should be audited. - Also termed DIF system.
functional depreciation
Depreciation that results from the replacement of equipment that is not yet worn out, but that is obsolete in light of a new invention or improved machinery allowing more efficient and satisfactory production.
functional depreciation.
See DEPRECIATION.
functional discount
1. A supplier's price discount given to a purchaser based on the purchaser's role (such as warehousing or advertising) in the supplier's distributive system. 0 This type of discount typically reflects the value of services performed by the purchaser for the supplier. If a functional discount constitutes a reasonable reimbursement for the purchaser's actual marketing functions, it does not constitute unlawful price discrimination and does not violate antitrust laws. 2. A supplier's price discount based on the purchaser's relative distance from the supplier in the chain of distribution.
functional discount.
See DISCOUN'
functional disease
A disease that prevents, obstructs, or interferes with an organ's special function, without anatomical defect or abnormality in the organ itself.
functional disease.
See DISEASE.
functional feature.
Trademarks. A design element that, in an engineering sense, is necessary to construct an article, or that, in a commercial sense, is necessary to manufacture a salable product; a product's attribute that is essential to its use, is necessary for its proper and successful operation, and is utilitarian in every detail, without containing any ornamental features. ( A functional feature is not eligible for trademark protection.
functional obsolescence
Obsolescence that results either from inherent deficiencies in the property, such as inadequate equipment or design, or from improvements in the property since its use began.
governmental function.
Torts. A government agency's conduct that is expressly or impliedly mandated or authorized by constitution, statute, or other law and that is carried out for the benefit of the general public. o Generally, a governmental entity is immune from tort liability for governmental acts. - Also termed governmental act; governmental activity. See PUBLIC-FUNCTION DOCTRINE. CE PROPRIETARY FUNCTION.
governmental-function theory
Constitutional law. A principle by which private conduct is characterized as state action, esp. for due-process and equal-protection purposes, when a private party is exercising a public function. Under this theory, for example, a political party (which is a private entity) cannot exclude voters from primary elections on the basis of race. - Also termed public-function rationale.
legislative function
1 The duty to determine legislative policy. 2. The duty to form and determine future rights and duties. See LEGISLATIVE POWER.
malfunction theory
Products-liability law. A principle permitting a products-liability plaintiff to prove that a product was defective by proving that the product malfunctioned, instead of requiring the plaintiff to prove a specific defect. 0 A plaintiff relying on the malfunction theory usu. must also prove that the product was not misused, and must disprove all reasonable explanations for the occurrence other than a defect.
means-plus-function clause
Patent law. An element in a patent claim, usu. in a claim for a combination patent, asserting that the design is a way to perform a given function or is a step in the process of performing a given function. ( The claim will be interpreted as including the structure or means stated in the patent, and reasonable equivalents, but not all possible means of achieving the same function. 35 USCA § 112. See combination patent under PATENT.
ministerial-function test
The principle that the First Amendment disallows judicial resolution of an employment-discrimination claim under Title VII, if the employee's responsibilities are religious in nature, as in acting as a liaison between a religion and its adherents, spreading faith, participating in church governance, supervising a religious order, and supervising participation in religious ritual and worship. 42 USCA § 2000e-1(a). See TITLE VII OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.
municipal function
The duties and responsibilities that a municipality owes its members.
proprietary function
Torts. A municipality's conduct that is performed for the profit or benefit of the municipality, rather than for the benefit of the general public. ( Generally, a municipality is not immune from tort liability for proprietary acts. - Also termed proprietary act. Cf. GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION.
public-function doctrine
See PUBLIC-FUNCTION TEST.
public-function rationale
See GOVERNMENTAL-FUNCTION THEORY.
public-function test
In a section 1983 suit, the doctrine that a private person's actions constitute state action if the private person performs functions that are traditionally reserved to the state. - Also termed public-function doctrine; public-function theory.
termed discretionary function
See DISCRETION; ABUSE OF DISCRETION.