General Glossary Terms

A court order banning certain actions. The order forbids one person from harassing, harming, or even contacting another person. The person being harmed must request the temporary restraining order from a judge. After the temporary order has been issued, the court holds a second hearing to hear the other person’s side of the story. The court will then decide if the order should be made permanent.

A continuation of wages offered by the Bureau of Worker’s Compensation for employees unable to work following a worker’s compensation claim. Employees who accept this plan will receive between 72-66 percent of their wages while off work. They typically have no employer health benefit coverage under this temporary disability plan (especially problematic if workers without benefits are diagnosed with something unrelated to their workplace which is serious and expensive like cancer).

Part of the Educational Amendment of 1978 to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Enacted to ensure that sexual discrimination and harrassment does not occur. Ensures that both males and females receive equal and fair treatment in all areas of public schooling, including but not limited to: financial aid, admissions, housing, educational programs and activities and athletics.

Confidential, non-public information about a business. Trade secrets can include business methods, ideas, recipes, or anything else a company deems especially important to its future livelihood. Protection against revealing trade secrets sometimes comes in the form of non-disclosure agreements or may be included as points in an employment agreement.

Trademarks or service marks,(also referred to just as "marks"), protect brands, brand names, symbols, logos, devices, and designs applied to products or used in connection with services. A trademark can be words, a design, a color, a sound, a smell and even the way something feels as long as it is distinctive. The USPTO issues federal mark registrations used "in commerce," which is generally in more than one state. Only marks with final USPTO federal registration can be shown with the "®" symbol. Federally registered marks are benefited by: the owner’s ability to take action in federal court on behalf of the mark; the owner's ability to legally enforce the mark nationwide; the owner's ability to use the filing date of the U.S. application in a foreign registration to predate registrations in foreign countries; and the owner's ability to record the registration with the U.S. Customs Office (to prevent the importing of infringing foreign goods). U.S. federal trademark registrations are valid for 10 years after registration, providing that the owner uses the mark during the terms and an "Affidavit of Use" has been filed between the fifth and sixth years following registration. States also issue state trademark protection. Federal trademarks are issued and enforced by each country.

Sometimes referred to as a “petit jury," or small jury, to compare it with a grand jury. Jury trials tend to result from serious crimes and include a judge and a group of jurors, who have been chosen and approved from a pool of people. The jury listens to the evidence presented and finds the facts of the case while the judge interprets the law in the case. At the end of a trial, juries make a decision about the guilt or innocence of the accused. The actual penalty for the crime is set by the judge.