Legal Definitions - nonstatutory

Nonstatutory describes something that is not directly established, defined, or mandated by a specific written law (a statute) passed by a legislative body. Instead, its basis often comes from judicial decisions (known as common law or precedent), long-standing customs, or general principles of fairness and equity. In specialized areas like patent law, the term can also refer to subject matter that fails to meet specific requirements outlined in patent statutes, or to legal defenses that are based on equitable principles rather than statutory provisions.

• Example 1: Common Law Negligence

  Imagine a situation where a pedestrian slips and falls on a wet floor in a grocery store that had no "wet floor" sign. While many states have statutes that address aspects of premises liability, the fundamental legal concept of negligence—requiring a duty of care, a breach of that duty, causation, and damages—largely originated from centuries of judicial decisions, not a single legislative act. These judge-made rules form the basis of what is known as common law.

  This illustrates "nonstatutory" because the core principles determining whether the grocery store is liable for negligence are derived from judicial precedent (common law), rather than being solely created by a specific statute.

• Example 2: Industry Trade Customs

  Consider a long-standing practice in the construction industry where, upon completion of a project, the general contractor always provides a detailed "as-built" drawing to the client, even if it's not explicitly written into every contract or mandated by a specific state law. If a dispute arises where a client claims they were owed such a drawing, a court might consider this established trade custom when interpreting the contractual obligations between the parties.

  This demonstrates "nonstatutory" because the expectation for the "as-built" drawing arises from an accepted industry custom, a non-legislated practice, rather than a specific statute or a clause in the written contract.

• Example 3: Patentable Subject Matter

  A brilliant mathematician develops a groundbreaking new algorithm that significantly speeds up complex calculations. When they attempt to patent this algorithm, the patent office rejects the application. U.S. patent law statutes define what types of inventions are eligible for patent protection, generally excluding "abstract ideas" and "laws of nature." While the algorithm is innovative, it falls into the category of an abstract idea.

  This is an example of "nonstatutory" in the patent context because the mathematical algorithm, despite its ingenuity, does not meet the specific requirements for patentable subject matter as defined by the relevant patent statutes. It is therefore considered unpatentable because it fails to satisfy a *statutory* criterion.