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principal creditor A creditor whose claim or demand greatly exceeds the claims of other creditors.

principal demand See main demand under DEMAND (1).

principal fact 1. See fact in issue. 2. See ultimate fact.

principal fact 1. See fact in issue under FACT. 2. See ultimate fact under FACT.

principal in the first degree See PRINCIPAL (2).

principal in the first degree The perpetrator of a crime. - Also termed first-degree principal. "By a principal in the first degree, we mean the actual offender - the man in whose guilty mind lay the latest blamable mental cause of the criminal act. Almost always, of course, he will be the man by whom this act itself was done. But occasionally this will not be so; for the felony may have been committed by the hand of an innocent agent who, having no blamable intentions in what he did, incurred no criminal liability by doing it. In such a case the man who instigates this agent is the real offender; his was the last mens rea that preceded the crime, though it did not cause it immediately but mediately." J.w. Cecil Turner, Kenny s Outlines of Criminal Law 85-86 (16th ed. 1952).

principal in the second degree See PRINCIPAL (2).

principal in the second degree One who helped the perpetrator at the time of the crime. Also termed accessory at the fact; second-degree principal. See ABETTOR. 'The distinction between principals in the first and second degrees is a distinction without a difference except in those rare instances in which some unusual statute has provided a different penalty for one of these than for the other. A principal in the first degree is the immediate perpetrator of the crime while a principal in the second degree is one who did not commit the crime with his own hands but was present and abetting the principal. It may be added, in the words of Mr.Justice Miller, that one may perpetrate a crime, not only with his own hands, but through the agency of mechanical or chemical means, as by instruments, poison or powder, or by an animal, child, or other innocent agent acting under his direction." Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 736 (3d ed. 1982) (quoting Beausoliel v. United States, 107 F.2d 292, 297 (D.C. Cir. 1939)). 3. One who has primary responsibility on an obligation, as opposed to a surety or indorser. 4. The corpus of an estate or trust. 5. The amount of a debt, investment, or other fund, not including interest, earnings, or profits.

principal motion See main motion under MOTION (2).

principal obligation See primary obligation (2).

principal obligation See primary obligation (2) under OBLIGATION.

principal obligor A person who is under a duty of indemnity.

principal obligor See OBLIGOR.

principal officer See OFFICER (1).

principal officer 1. An officer with the most authority of the officers being considered for some purpose. 2. A United States officer appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Also termed primary officer. See United States officer.

principal place of business The place of a corporation s chief executive offices, which is typically viewed as the "nerve center.

principal place of business See PLACE OF BUSINESS.

principal receiver See RECEIVER.

principal receiver A receiver who is primarily responsible for the receivership estate. A principal receiver may ordinarily (1) act outside the state ofappointment, (2) sue in a foreign court, (3) exercise broad powers of assignment, and (4) handle all distributions. Also termed primary receiver; general receiver; original receiver.

Principal Register The list of distinctive marks approved for federal trademark registration. The register is maintained by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Only marks that are strong, distinctive, and famous are listed. 15 USCA § 1052. Cf. SUPPLEMENTAL REGISTER.

principal right A right to which has been added a supplementary right in the same owner. Cf. accessory right.

principal right See RIGHT.

principalis (prin-sa-pay-lis), adj. [Latin] Principal, as in principalis debitor ("principal debtor").

principle A basic rule, law, or doctrine.

principle of finality See FINALITY DOCTRINE.

principle of legality See LEGALITY (2).

principle of nonintervention See NONINTERVENTION.

principle of retribution See LEX TALIONIS.

print 1. Copyright. The impression made in a material by a die, mold, stamp, or the like; a distinctive stamped or printed mark or design. 2. FINGERPRINT.

printed-matter doctrine The rule that printed matter may not be patented unless it is a physical part of a patentable invention. For example, the doctrine has been used to deny patents for systems of representing sheet music and for methods of compiling directories. But it cannot be used to deny a patent for computer software.

Printers Ink Statute A model statute drafted in 1911 and adopted in a number of states making it a misdemeanor to print an advertisement that contains a false or deceptive statement.

prior 1. Preceding in time or order <under this court s prior order>. 2. Taking precedence <a prior lien>.

prior Criminal law. Slang. A previous conviction <because the defendant had two priors, the judge automatically enhanced his sentence>.

prior and persistent offender See RECIDIVIST.

prior and persistent offender Missouri law. See RECIDIVIST.

prior art Patents. Knowledge that is publicly known, used by others, or available on the date of invention to a person of ordinary skill in an art, including what would be obvious from that knowledge. Prior art includes (1) information in applications for previously patented inventions; (2) information that was published more than one year before a patent application is filed; and (3) information in other patent applications and inventor's certificates filed more than a year before the application is filed. The u.s. Patent and Trademark Office and courts analyze prior art before deciding the patentability of a comparable invention. 35 USCA §§ 102.

prior art See ART.

prior consistent statement See STATEMENT.

prior consistent statement A witnesss earlier statement that is consistent with the witnesss testimony at trial. - A prior consistent statement is not hearsay if it is offered to rebut a charge that the testimony was improperly influenced or fabricated. Fed. R. Evid. 801(d)(1)(B). Cf. consonant statement.

prior creditor See CREDITOR.

prior creditor A creditor who is given priority in payment from the debtor's assets.

prior inconsistent statement See STATEMENT.

prior inconsistent statement A witnesss earlier statement that conflicts with the witnesss testimony at trial. In federal practice, extrinsic evidence of an unsworn prior inconsistent statement is admissible if the witness is given an opportunity to explain or deny the statement - for impeachment purposes only. Fed. R. Evid. 613(b). Sworn statements may be admitted for all purposes. Fed. R. Evid. 80l(d) (1)(A).

prior laesit (pri-ar lee-sit). [Law Latin] Scots law. He (or she) first injured. The phrase usu. referred to the provocation for an assault.

prior lien See LIEN.

prior petens (pri-ar pet-enz). [Latin] The person first applying.

prior preferred stock Preferred stock that has preference over another class of preferred stock from the same issuer. The preference usu. relates to dividend payments or claims on assets.

prior preferred stock See STOCK.

prior publication Public disclosure of the basis for or existence of an invention, made before filing a patent application for the invention. If the publication was made more than a year before the application is filed, the patent is barred by statute. Publication occurs when the information is made available to any member of the general public. See limited publication under PUBLICATION.

prior restraint A governmental restriction on speech or publication before its actual expression. Prior restraints violate the First Amendment unless the speech is obscene, is defamatory, or creates a clear and present danger to society. The legal doctrine of prior restraint (or formal censorship before publication) is probably the oldest form of press control. Certainly it is one of the most efficient, since one censor, working in the watershed, can create a drought of information and ideas long before they reach the fertile plain of people s minds. In the United States, the doctrine of prior restraint has been firmly opposed by the First Amendment to the Constitution, and by the Supreme Court, perhaps most notably in the case of Near v. Minnesota, decided in 1931. But the philosophy behind that doctrine lives zestfully on, and shows no signs of infirmities of age." David G. Clark & Earl R. Hutchinson, Mass Media and the Law II (1970).

prior sale Patents. Sale or offer of sale of an invention before a patent is applied for. If the sale occurred more than one year before the application is filed, the patent is barred by statute. 35 USCA § 102(b).

prior sentence See SENTENCE.

prior sentence A sentence previously imposed on a criminal defendant for a different offense, whether by a guilty verdict, a guilty plea, or a nolo contendere.

prior-acts coverage A claims-made professional-liability policy indorsement that makes the effective date retroactive and extends the policy s protection to claims made and lawsuits filed during the policy period for negligent acts that occurred before the policy was actually purchased. - Also termed nose coverage. Cf. TAIL COVERAGE.

prior-appropriation doctrine The rule that, among the persons whose properties border on a waterway, the earliest users of the water have the right to take a n they can use before anyone else has a right to it. Cf. RIPARIAN-RIGHTS DOCTRINE.

prior-claim rule The principle that before suing for a tax refund or abatement, a taxpayer must first assert the claim to the Internal Revenue Service.

prior-exclusive-jurisdiction doctrine The rule that a court will not assume in rem jurisdiction over property that is already under the jurisdiction of another court of concurrent jurisdiction.

priori petenti (pri-or-i pa-ten-ti). [Latin "to the first person applying"] Wills & estates. The principle that when two or more persons are equally entitled to administer an estate, the court will appoint the person who applies first.

priority 1. The status of being earlier in time or higher in degree or rank; precedence. 2. Commercial law. An established right to such precedence; esp., a creditor s right to have a claim paid before other creditors of the same debtor receive payment. 3. The doctrine that, as between two courts, jurisdiction should be accorded the court in which pr~ceedings are first begun. 4. Patents & Trademarks. The status ofbeing first to invent something (and therefore be potentially eligible for patent protection)or to use a mark in trade (and therefore be potentially eligible for trademark registration).

priority award A final judgment by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office designating one party in an interference contest as the first inventor. - Also termed award in interference.

priority claim See CLAIM (5).

priority claim An unsecured claim that, under bankruptcy law, must be paid before other unsecured claims. The Bankruptcy Code sets forth nine classes of claims, to be paid in order of priority: (1) administrative expenses of the bankruptcy estate, (2) involuntary gap claims, (3) wage claims, (4) contributions to employee benefit plans, (5) claims of grain farmers and fishermen, (6) consumer deposits, (7) alimony, maintenance, and child-support claims, (8) tax claims, and (9) capital requirements of an insured depository institution.

priority contest See INTERFERENCE (3).

priority date See DATE.

priority date The date that will determine which applicant will get a patent in an interference proceeding. The priority date is also the cut-off date for prior art. In the Gnited States the priority date is the date of invention; in the rest of the world it is the date the patent application was filed. Cf. FIRST-TOFILE, FIRST-TO-INVENT.

priority lien See prior lien under LIEN.

priority of adoption Trademarks. Priority in designing or creating a trademark. Priority of adoption does not in itself confer the right to exclusive use ofa mark ifsomeone else was first to use it in commerce. - Also termed priority ofappropriation; priority ofinvention. Cf. priority of use.

priority of appropriation Trademarks. See priority of adoption.

priority of invention 1. Patents. The determination that one among several patent applications, for substantially the same invention, should receive the patent when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has declared interference. This determination depends on the date of conception, the date of reduction to practice, and diligence. 2. Trademarks. See priority ofadoption.

priority of liens The ranking of liens in the order in which they are perfected.

priority of use Trademarks. Priority in using a mark in actual commerce. The priority of use, not the priority of adoption, determines who has the right to protection. Cf. priority of adoption.

priority-jurisdiction rule See FIRST-TO-FILE RULE.

prior-relationship rape See relationship rape.

prior-relationship rape See relationship rape under RAPE.

prior-use bar See PUBLIC-USE BAR.

prior-use doctrine The principle that, without legislative authorization, a government agency may not appropriate property already devoted to a public use.

prior-user right The right of a first inventor to continue using an invention after someone else has patented it. This right protects first inventors in most countries from the harsh effects ofa first-to-file system.

prisage (pri-zij). A royal duty on wine imported into England. Prisage was replaced by butlerage in the reign of Edward I. Cf. BUTLERAGE.

prise1en auter lieu (pri-zal awn oh-tayl-yoo). [Law French "a taking in another place"] A plea in abatement in a replevin action.

prison (bef. 12c) A state or federal facility of confinement for convicted criminals, esp. felons. Also termed penitentiary; penal institution; adult correctional institution. Cf. JAIL.

prison breach A prisoner s forcible breaking and departure from a place of lawful confinement; the offense of escaping from confinement in a prison or jail. Prison breach has traditionally been distinguished from escape by the presence of force, but some jurisdictions have abandoned this distinction. Also termed prison breaking; breach ofprison. Cf. ESCAPE (2). "Breach of prison by the offender himself, when committed for any cause, was felony at the common law: or even conspiring to break it. But this severity is mitigated by the statute de frangentibus prisonam, I Edw. II, which enacts that no person shall have judgment of life or member, for breaking prison, unless committed for some capital offence. So that to break prison, when lawfully committed for any treason or felony, remains still a felony as at the common law; and to break prison, when lawfully confined upon any other inferior charge, is still punishable as a high misdemeanor by fine and imprisonment." 4 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 130-31 (1769).

prison camp A usu. minimum-security camp for the detention of trustworthy prisoners who are often employed on government projects.

Prison Litigation Reform Act A federal statute designed to reduce the number offrivolous lawsuits and petitions filed by prisoners and to reduce the power of federal courts over state prison systems. 110 Stat. 1321-66¬1321-77 (1996).

prisoner 1. A person who is serving time in prison. 2. A person who has been apprehended by a law-enforcement officer and is in custody, regardless of whether the person has yet been put in prison. Cf. CAPTIVE (1). "While breach of prison, or prison breach, means breaking out of or away from prison, it is important to have clearly in mind the meaning of the word prison. If an officer arrests an offender and takes him to jail the layman does not think of the offender as being in prison until he is safely behind locked doors, but no one hesitates to speak of him as a prisoner from the moment of apprehension. He is a prisoner because he is in prison ... whether he were actually in the walls of a prison, or only in the stocks, or in the custody of any person who had lawfully arrested him ....., Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 566 (3d ed. 1982) (quoting 2 Hawk. P.c. ch. 18, § I (6th ed. 1788)).

prisoner at the bar Archaic. An accused person who is on trial.

prisoner of conscience Human-rights law. A person who is imprisoned because of his or her beliefs, race, sex, ethnic origin, language, or religion. The range of«beliefs" that fall within this definition is not settled but may include political ideologies and objections to military service, esp. in wartime.

prisoner of war A person, usu. a soldier, who is captured by or surrenders to the enemy in wartime. Also termed captive. Abbr. POW.

prisoner s dilemma A logic problem often used by law-and-ecol1omics scholars to illustrate the effect of cooperative behavior involVing two prisoners who are being separately questioned about their participation in a crime: (1) ifboth confess, they will each receive a 5-year sentence; (2) if neither confesses, they will each receive a 3-year sentence; and (3) if one confesses but the other does not, the confessing prisoner will receive a I-year sentence while the silent prisoner will receive a 10-year sentence. See EXTERNALITY.

prist (prist). [Law French]. Ready. In oral pleading, this term was used to express a joinder of issue.

privacy act See PRIVACY LAW (1).

Privacy Act of 1974 An act that regulates the government s creation, collection, use, and dissemination of records that can identify an individual by name, as well as other personal information. 18 USCA § 552a.

privacy law 1. A federal or state statute that protects a person s right to be left alone or that restricts public access to personal information such as tax returns and medical records. Also termed privacy act. 2. The area oflegal studies dealing with a person s right to be left alone and with restricting public access to personal information such as tax returns and medical records.

privacy privilege See PRIVILEGE (3).

privacy privilege A defendant s right not to disclose private information unless the plaintiff can show that (1) the information is directly relevant to the case, and (2) the plaintiff s need for the information out-weighs the defendant s need for nondisclosure. This privilege is recognized in California but in few other jurisdictions.

privacy, invasion of See INVASION OF PRIVACY.

privacy, right of See RIGHT OF PRIVACY.

privata delicta (pri-vay-ta di-lik-ta). [Latin] Roman law. Private wrongs; torts. See DELICT. Cf. PUBLICA DELICTA.

privatae leges (pri-vay-tee lee-jeez). [Law Latin] Scots law. Personal laws. These were laws, such as a pardon, that affected a single individual, not a class of people.

private 1. Relating or belonging to an individual, as opposed to the public or the government. 2. (Of a company) not having shares that are freely available on an open market. 3. Confidential; secret.

private act See special statute under STATUTE.