(law, US) A legal rule in most patent systems that allows a court to hold a party liable for patent infringement when the infringing device or process does not fall within the literal scope of a patent claim, but nevertheless is equivalent to the claimed invention.

A policy which stated that the Soviet Union had the right to intervene in places where capitalism threatened communism.

prosperity theology.

(law) A rule under which a federal court in the United States will decline to exercise jurisdiction over a lawsuit because the suit could or should instead be heard by a state court.

plural of abstention doctrine

(philosophy, metaphysics, theology) Necessarianism, especially as espoused by Joseph Priestley.

The ancient belief that herbs resembling various parts of the body can be used to treat ailments of those parts.

plural of castle doctrine

(law) A legal doctrine that designates a person's abode, or any legally occupied place, such as a vehicle or workplace, as a place in which that person has protections and immunities permitting him or her to use force to defend against intrusion.

The convention in the United Kingdom that restricts the police and intelligence services from tapping the telephones of Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords.