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functionary. A public officer or employee.[Blacks Law 8th]

functional rejection.See REJECTION.[Blacks Law 8th]

functional obsolescence.See OBSOLESCENCE.[Blacks Law 8th]

functional limitation.Patents. In a patent application, the definition of an invention by what it does rather than what it is. • A functional limitation is not inherently invalid, but it is examined closely because it tends to be too broad, claiming every possible way of doing the same thing. MPEP 2173.05(g). See functional rejection under…

functionality.Trademarks. The quality of having a shape, configuration, design, or color that is so superior to available alternatives that giving the first user exclusive trademark rights would hinder competition. [Cases: Trade Regulation 43. C.J.S. Trade-Marks, Trade-Names, and Unfair Competition §§ 49–50.] aesthetic functionality.A doctrine that denies protection to the design of a product or its…

functional feature.Trademarks. A design element that is either physically necessary to construct an article or commercially necessary to manufacture and sell it; a product’s attribute that is essential to its use, necessary for its proper and successful operation, and utilitarian rather than ornamental in every detail. • A functional feature is not eligible for trademark…

functional disease.See DISEASE.[Blacks Law 8th]

functional discount.See DISCOUNT.[Blacks Law 8th]

functional depreciation.See DEPRECIATION.[Blacks Law 8th]

functional analog.See ANALOG.[Blacks Law 8th]