Materiality is the significance of facts to the matter at hand.
Black's Law Dictionary
''Black's Law Dictionary'' is the most frequently used legal dictionary in the United States. Henry Campbell Black (1860–1927) was the author of the first two editions of the dictionary.
History
The first edition was published in 1891 by Wes ...
, 7th ed.
In the law of evidence
An item of
evidence
Evidence for a proposition is what supports the proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the proposition is truth, true. The exact definition and role of evidence vary across different fields. In epistemology, evidence is what J ...
is said to be material if it has some logical connection to a fact of consequence to the outcome of a
case
Case or CASE may refer to:
Instances
* Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design
* Special case, an instance that differs in a certain way from others of the type
Containers
* Case (goods), a package of relate ...
. Materiality, along with
probative value, is one of two characteristics that make a given item of evidence
relevant. This largely depends on the elements of the
cause of action
A cause of action or right of action, in law, is a set of facts sufficient to justify suing to obtain money or property, or to justify the enforcement of a legal right against another party. The term also refers to the legal theory upon which a ...
the
plaintiff
A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...
seeks to prove, or that the
prosecutor
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...
must prove in a
criminal case
Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail ...
to secure a conviction. Which issues must be factually proven are therefore a product of the underlying
substantive law
Substantive law is the set of laws that governs how members of a society are to behave.Substantive Law vs. Procedural Law: Definitions and Differences, Study.com/ref> It is contrasted with procedural law, which is the set of procedures for making, ...
.
In corporate and securities law
Within the context of
corporate
A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of s ...
and
securities law
Securities regulation in the United States is the field of U.S. law that covers transactions and other dealings with securities. The term is usually understood to include both federal and state-level regulation by governmental regulatory agencie ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, a fact is defined as material if there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable
shareholder
A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...
would consider it important in deciding how to vote their shares or invest their money. In this regard, it is similar to the
accounting term of the same name.
Materiality is particularly important in the context of securities law, because under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (also called the Exchange Act, '34 Act, or 1934 Act) (, codified at et seq.) is a law governing the secondary trading of securities (stocks, bonds, and debentures) in the United States of America. A land ...
, a company can be held civilly or criminally liable for false, misleading, or omitted statements of fact in
proxy statement
A proxy statement is a statement provided by a firm soliciting shareholder votes. The statement includes voting procedure and information, background information about the company's nominated directors, board compensation, executive compensation ...
s and other documents, if the fact in question is found by the court to have been material pursuant to Rule 10b-5.
In contract law
In the law of
contract
A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...
s, a ''material term'' in a contract is a term or provision that concerns significant issues, such as subject matter, price, quantity, type of work to be done, and terms of payment or performance.
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]
In patent law
In United States patent law
Under United States law, a patent is a right granted to the inventor of a (1) process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, (2) that is new, useful, and non-obvious. A patent is the right to exclude others, for a limit ...
, information is material to patentability and therefore subject to the duty of disclosure if
:(1) It establishes, by itself or in combination with other information, a ''prima facie
''Prima facie'' (; ) is a Latin expression meaning "at first sight", or "based on first impression". The literal translation would be "at first face" or "at first appearance", from the feminine forms of ' ("first") and ' ("face"), both in the a ...
'' case of unpatentability of a claim; or
:(2) It refutes, or is inconsistent with, a position the applicant takes in:
::(i) Opposing an argument of unpatentability relied on by the Office, or
::(ii) Asserting an argument of patentability.37 C.F.R. § 1.56
/ref>
See also
* Material witness
References
{{Reflist
Evidence law
Legal terminology