Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 2-15 - Protection of Trees and Plants Generally

• account review: includes activities related to account maintenance, monitoring, credit line increases, and account upgrades and enhancements. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-48-4
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Agreement: means a written contractual agreement between the merchant and the third-party delivery service. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-58-1
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Assistive technology device: means any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used or designed to be used to increase, maintain, or improve any functional capability of an individual with disabilities. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-45-1
• Assistive technology device dealer: means a dealer who is in the business of selling or leasing assistive technology devices. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-45-1
• Assistive technology device system: means the final product resulting from a manufacturer customizing, adapting, reconfiguring, refitting, refurbishing, or composing into a system one or more component products, whether or not new, that may be assistive technology devices or standard products of the same or other manufacturer. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-45-1
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Business: means a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, association, limited liability company, or other group, however organized and whether or not organized to operate at a profit, including a financial institution organized, chartered, or holding a license or authorization certificate under the laws of this state or any other state, or the parent, affiliate, or subsidiary of a financial institution. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-52-1
• Case law: The law as laid down in cases that have been decided in the decisions of the courts.
• Collateral costs: means expenses incurred by a consumer in connection with the repair of a nonconformity, including the costs of obtaining another device or service to substitute for the absence, due to a nonconformity or attempt to repair, of the device sold or leased to the consumer, if no loaner was offered to the consumer, except to the extent the person opposing liability for these costs shall prove that incurring these expenses was not reasonable in light of the sophistication of, and the means readily available, to the consumer. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-45-1
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Conforming replacement: means a new device in good working order that is identical to or has functional capabilities equal to or greater than those of the original device. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-45-1
• Consumer: means an individual who is also a resident of this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-48-4
• Consumer report: has the meaning ascribed to it in 15 U. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-48-4
• Consumer reporting agency: has the meaning ascribed to it in 15 U. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-48-4
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• Credit Score: A number, roughly between 300 and 800, that measures an individual's credit worthiness. The most well-known type of credit score is the FICO score. This score represents the answer from a mathematical formula that assigns numerical values to various pieces of information in your credit report. ^{Source: OCC}
• Customer: means the person, business, or other entity that places an order for merchant products through the marketplace. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-58-1
• Customer: means an individual who provides personal information to a business for the purpose of purchasing or leasing a product or obtaining a service from the business or whose personal information has been provided to another business from that business. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-52-1
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dealer: means the person who is the party, whether the seller or the lessor, to the contract with the consumer of sale or lease of the device. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-45-1
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Demand letter: means a letter, e-mail, or other communication asserting or claiming that the target has engaged in patent infringement;

  (2)  "Person" means any natural person or the estate of any natural person, or trust or association of persons, whether formal or otherwise, or any corporation, partnership, company, or any other legal or commercial entity;

  (3)  "Target" means a person doing business in Rhode Island:

  (i)  Who has received a demand letter or against whom an assertion or allegation of patent infringement has been made;

  (ii)  Who has been threatened with litigation or against whom a lawsuit has been filed alleging patent infringement; or

  (iii)  Whose customers have received a demand letter asserting that the person's product, service, or technology has infringed upon a patent. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-41.1-2

• Demonstrator: means an assistive technology device that would be new but for its use since its manufacture only for the purpose of demonstrating the device to the public or prospective buyers or lessees. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-45-1
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Early termination cost: means any expense or obligation that a lessor incurs as a result of both the termination of a written lease before the termination date set forth in that lease and the return of the device to the manufacturer. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-45-1
• Early termination savings: means any expense or obligation that a lessor avoids as a result of both the termination of a written lease before the termination date set forth in that lease and the return of the device to the manufacturer, which shall include an interest charge that the lessor would have paid to finance the device or, if the lessor does not finance the device, the difference between the total amount for which the lease obligates the consumer during the period of the lease term remaining after the early termination and the present value of that amount at the date of the early termination. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-45-1
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Finance charge: The total cost of credit a customer must pay on a consumer loan, including interest. The Truth in Lending Act requires disclosure of the finance charge. ^{Source: OCC}
• Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Improper means: includes theft, bribery, misrepresentation, breach or inducement of a breach of a duty to maintain secrecy, or espionage through electronic or other means;

  (2)  "Misappropriation" means:

  (i)  Acquisition of a trade secret of another by a person who knows or has reason to know that the trade secret was acquired by improper means; or

  (ii)  Disclosure or use of a trade secret of another without express or implied consent by a person who:

  (A)  Used improper means to acquire knowledge of the trade secret; or

  (B)  At the time of disclosure or use, knew or had reason to know, that his or her knowledge of the trade secret was:

  (I)  Derived from or through a person who had utilized improper means to acquire it;

  (II)  Acquired under circumstances giving rise to a duty to maintain its secrecy or limit its use; or

  (III)  Derived from or through a person who owed a duty to the person seeking relief to maintain its secrecy or limit its use; or

  (C)  Before a material change of his or her position, knew or had reason to know, that it was a trade secret and that knowledge of it had been acquired by accident or mistake. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-41-1

• in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
• Individual with disabilities: means any individual who is considered to have a mental or physical disability or impairment for the purposes of any other law of this state or of the United States, including any rules or regulations under this state or of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-45-1
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Loaner: means a device provided to the consumer for use by the user free of charge that need not be new, nor identical to, nor have functional capabilities equal to or greater than those of the original device, but that meets the following conditions:

  (i)  It is in good working order;

  (ii)  It performs at a minimum the most essential functions of the original device in light of the disabilities of the user; and

  (iii)  Any differences between it and the original device do not create a threat to safety. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-45-1

• Manufacturer: means :

  (i)  The person who manufactures or assembles an assistive technology device;

  (ii)  The person who manufactures or assembles a product that becomes a component product of an assistive technology device system, to the extent such product is itself ordinarily an assistive technology device; and

  (iii)  Agents of a person described in subsection (13)(i) or (13)(ii) of this section, including an importer, a distributor, factory branch, distributor branch, and any warrantors of the manufacturer's devices, provided that such agents shall not include, with respect to a particular transaction, the dealer, unless the dealer is also a person described in subsection (13)(i) or (13)(ii) of this section. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-45-1

• Marketplace: means the third party's proprietary online communication platform where customers can view and search the menus of merchants and place an order for merchant products via the third party's website or mobile application for delivery or by the third-party delivery service, or an independent contractor of the third-party delivery service, to the customer. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-58-1
• Misappropriation: means :

  (i)  Acquisition of a trade secret of another by a person who knows or has reason to know that the trade secret was acquired by improper means; or

  (ii)  Disclosure or use of a trade secret of another without express or implied consent by a person who:

  (A)  Used improper means to acquire knowledge of the trade secret; or

  (B)  At the time of disclosure or use, knew or had reason to know, that his or her knowledge of the trade secret was:

  (I)  Derived from or through a person who had utilized improper means to acquire it;

  (II)  Acquired under circumstances giving rise to a duty to maintain its secrecy or limit its use; or

  (III)  Derived from or through a person who owed a duty to the person seeking relief to maintain its secrecy or limit its use; or

  (C)  Before a material change of his or her position, knew or had reason to know, that it was a trade secret and that knowledge of it had been acquired by accident or mistake. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-41-1

• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• National Credit Union Administration: The federal regulatory agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions. (NCUA also administers the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which insures the deposits of federal credit unions.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means a natural person, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision or agency, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-41-1
• person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
• Person: means any individual, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, cooperative, association, government or governmental subdivision or agency, or other entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-48-4
• Personal information: means the following information that identifies, relates to, describes, or is capable of being associated with a particular individual: his or her signature; social security number; physical characteristics or description; passport number; driver's license or state identification card number; insurance policy number; bank account number; credit card number; debit card number; any other financial information or confidential health care information, including all information relating to a patient's health care history; diagnosis condition; treatment; or evaluation obtained from a health care provider who has treated the patient which explicitly or by implication identifies a particular patient. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-52-1
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Proper identification: means proper identification as defined in 15 U. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-48-4
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Record: means any material, regardless of the physical form, on which personal information is recorded or preserved by any means, including written or spoken words, graphically depicted, printed, or electromagnetically transmitted. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-52-1
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Security freeze: means a notice placed in a consumer's credit report at the request of the consumer and subject to certain exceptions, that prohibits the consumer reporting agency from releasing the consumer's credit report or score related to the extension of credit. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-48-4
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Term A: means the year following the date the device is first delivered into the possession of the consumer. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-45-1
• Term B: means the two (2) years following the date the device is first delivered into the possession of the consumer. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-45-1
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• Trade secret: means information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process, that:

  (i)  Derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and

  (ii)  Is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-41-1

• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Truth in Lending Act: The Truth in Lending Act is a federal law that requires lenders to provide standardized information so that borrowers can compare loan terms. In general, lenders must provide information on ^{Source: OCC}
• United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8
• unsolicited fax: means any document or documents consisting of advertising material for the lease, sale, rental, gift offer, or other disposition of any realty, goods, services, or extension of credit that meet both of the following requirements:

  (1)  The documents are addressed to a recipient with whom the initiator does not have an existing business or personal relationship. See Rhode Island General Laws 6-47-1