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 West ...
, 7th ed.
In the law of evidence
An item of
evidence
Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field.
In epistemology, evidenc ...
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:
Containers
* Case (goods), a package of related merchandise
* Cartridge case or casing, a firearm cartridge component
* Bookcase, a piece of furniture used to store books
* Briefcase or attaché case, a narrow box to ca ...
. Materiality, along with
probative value, is one of two characteristics that make a given item of evidence
relevant
Relevant is something directly related, connected or pertinent to a topic; it may also mean something that is current.
Relevant may also refer to:
* Relevant operator, a concept in physics, see renormalization group
* Relevant, Ain, a commune ...
. 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 t ...
seeks to prove, or that the
prosecutor
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...
must prove in a
criminal case
Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law ...
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 is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...
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 agencies ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, 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 a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal o ...
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 required of a firm when soliciting shareholder votes. This statement is filed in advance of the annual meeting. The firm needs to file a proxy statement, otherwise known as a Form DEF 14A (Definitive Proxy Statemen ...
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 a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
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.
[
]
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 limited ...
, 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 ''primus'' ('first') and ''facies'' (' ...
'' 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