Law Dictionary Definitions

beta testing.Intellectual property. The process of testing products and services, esp. software, under real-life conditions. • Consumers often engage in beta testing at no cost in exchange for reporting to the developer how satisfied they are, any problems they encounter, and any suggested improvements. To protect a trade secret or to avoid a statutory bar,…

beta-test agreement.Intellectual property. A software license agreement, usu. between a software developer and a customer, permitting the customer to use the software program in a “live” environment before its release to the general public. • Beta-test agreements differ from more conventional software licenses in that they typically (1) have more significant limitations on liability; (2)…

bet,n. Something (esp. money) staked or pledged as a wager. [Cases: Gaming  1.] — bet,vb. — betting,n. — bettor,n. layoff bet.A bet placed by a bookmaker to protect against excessive losses or to equalize the total amount placed on each side of the wager. See LAYOFF BETTOR. [Cases: Gaming  73.][Blacks Law 8th]

best use.See highest and best use under USE(1). [Blacks Law 8th]

bestow,vb. To convey as a gift <bestow an honor on another>. — bestowal,n. [Blacks Law 8th]

best-mode requirement.Patents. The requirement that a patent application show the best physical method known to the inventor for using the invention. Cf. ENABLEMENT REQUIREMENT. [Cases: Patents  98. C.J.S. Patents §§ 137–139.][Blacks Law 8th]

best interests of the child.Family law. A standard by which a court determines what arrangements would be to a child’s greatest benefit, often used in deciding child-custody and visitation matters and in deciding whether to approve an adoption or a guardianship. • A court may use many factors, including the emotional tie between the child…

best mode.Patents. The best way that the inventor knows to work the invention described and claimed in a patent or patent application. • A patent application must disclose the best mode known to the inventor at the time of the filing. Failure to disclose the best mode can render a patent invalid. 35 USCA § 112,…

best-interests-of-the-child doctrine.Family law. The principle that courts should make custody decisions based on whatever best advances the child’s welfare, regardless of a claimant’s particular status or relationship with the child. • One important factor entering into these decisions is the general belief that the child’s best interests normally favor custody by parents, as opposed to…

best-evidence rule.The evidentiary rule providing that, to prove the contents of a writing (or a recording or photograph), a party must produce the original writing (or a mechanical, electronic, or other familiar duplicate, such as a photocopy) unless it is unavailable, in which case secondary evidence — the testimony of the drafter or a person…