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Home » Law Dictionary » C » COMMERCE

COMMERCE

TheLaw.com Law Dictionary & Black's Law Dictionary 2nd Ed.

(A) As defined by the Lanham Act, trade that the federal government is authorized to regulate. To qualify for federal trademark protection and registration, a mark must have first been used in commerce. In practice, this means that a product or service must be sold outside of the state in which it originates, be advertised out of state or cater to travelers, such as a hotel, before it can qualify for trademark protection. (B) trade, contracts. The exchange of commodities for commodities; considered in a legal point of view, it consists in the various agreements which have for their object to facilitate the exchange of the products of the earth or industry of man, with an intent to realize a profit. Pard. Dr. Coin. n. 1. In a narrower sense, commerce signifies any reciprocal agreements between two persons, by which one delivers to the other a thing, which the latter accepts, and for which he pays a consideration; if the consideration be money, it is called a sale; if any other thing than money, it is called exchange or barter. 2. Congress have power by the constitution to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes. 1 Kent. 431; Story on Corst. 1052, et seq. The sense in which the word commerce is used in the constitution seems not only to include traffic, but intercourse and navigation.

Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition

Intercourse by way of trade and traffic between different peoples or states and the citizens or inhabitants thereof, including not only the purchase, sale, and exchange of commodities, but also the instrumentalities and agencies by which it is promoted and the means and appliances by which it is carried on, and the transportation of persons as well as of goods, both by land and by sea. Brennan v. Titusville, 153 TJ. S. 280, 14 Sup. Ct 829, 38 L. Ed. 719; Railroad Co. v. Fuller, 17 Wall. 568, 21 L. Ed. 710; Winder v. Caldwell, 14 How. 444, 14 L. Ed. 487; Cooley v. Board of Wardens, 12 How. 209,13 L. Ed. 996; TradeMark Cases, 100 U. S. 96 25 LL Ed. 550; Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheat 1, 6 L. Ed. 23; Brown v. Maryland, 12 Wheat 448, 6 L. Ed. 678; Bowman v. Railroad, 125 U. S. 465, 8 Sup. Ct 689, 31 L. Ed. 700; Lelsy v. Hardin, 135 U. S. 100, 10 Sup. Ct 681, 34 L. Ed. 128; Mobile County V. Kimball, 102 U. S. 691, 26 L. Ed. 238; Corfleld v. Coryell, 6 Fed. Cas. 546; Fuller v. Railroad Co., 31 Iowa, 207; Passenger Cases, 7 How. 401, 12 LL Ed. 702; Robbing v. Shelby County Taxing Dist., 120 U. S. 489, 7 Sup. Ct 592, 30 L. Ed. 694; Arnold v. landers, 56 Ohio St 417, 47 N. E. 60, 60 Am. St Rep. 753; Fry v. State, 63 Ind. 562, 30 Am. Rep. 238; Webb v. Dunn, 18 Fla. 724; Oilman v. Philadelphia, 8 WalL 724, 18 L. Ed. 96. Commerce is a term of the largest import It comprehends intercourse for the purposes of trade in any and all its forms, including the transportation, purchase, sale, and exchange of commodities between the citizens of our country and the citizens or subjects of other countries, and between the citizens of different states. The power to regulate it embraces all the instruments by which such commerce may be conducted. Welton v. Missouri, 91 U. S. 275. 23 L. Ed. 347. Commerce is not limited to an exchange of commodities only, but includes, as well, intercourse with foreign nations and between the states; and includes the transportation of passengers. Steamboat Co. v. Livingston, 3 Cow. (N. Y.) 713; People v. Raymond,’34 Cal. 492. The words “commerce” and “trade” are synonymous, but not identical. They are often used interchangeably; but, strictly speaking, commerce relates to Intercourse or dealings with foreign nations, states, or political communities, while trade denotes business intercourse or mutual traffic within the limits of a state or nation, or the buying, selling, and exchanging of articles between members of the same community. See Hooker T. Vandewater, 4 Denio (N. Y.) 353, 47 Am. Bee. 258; Jacob; Wharton. Commerce with foreign nations. Commerce between citizens of the United States and citizens or subjects of foreign governments; commerce which, either immediately or at some stage of its progress, is extraterritorial. U. S. v. Holliday, 3 Wall. 409,18 L. Ed. 182; Veazie v. Moor, 14 How. 573, 14 L. Ed. 545; Lord v. Steamship Co.. 102 U. S. 544, 28 L. Ed. 224. The same as “foreign commerce.” which see ira. Commerce with Indian tribes. Commerce with individuals belonging to such tribes, in the nature of buying, selling, and exchanging commodities, without reference to the locality where carried on, though it be within the limits of a state. U. S. v. Holliday, 3 Wall. 407. 18 I Ed. 182 j U. S. v. Cisna, 25 Fed. Gas. 424. Domestic commerce. Commerce carried on wholly within the limits of the United States, as distinguished from foreign commerce. Also, commerce carried on within the limits of a single state, as distinguished from Interstate commerce. Louisville N. R. Co. v. Tennessee R. R. Com’n (C. C.) 10 Fed. 701. Foreign commerce. Commerce or trade between the United States and foreign countries. Com. v. Housatonic R. Co., 143 If ass. 264. 9 N. BL 647; Foster v. New Orleans, 94 U. S. 246, 24 L. Ed. 122. The term is sometimes applied to commerce between ports of two stater states not lying on the same coast, e.g., New York and San Francisco. Internal commerce. Such as is carried on between individuals within the same state, or between different parts of the same state. Lehigh Val. R. Co. v. Pennsylvania, 145 U. S. 192, 12 Sup. Ct 806, 36 L. Ed. 672; Steamboat Co. v. Livingston, 8 Cow. (N. Y.) 713. Now more commonly called “intrastate” commerce. International commerce. Commerce between states or nations entirely foreign to each other. Louisville

Related Posts:

  • TRADEMARK OR SERVICE MARK
  • DESCRIPTIVE MARK
  • TRADEMARK REGISTRATION
  • TRADEMARK OWNERSHIP
  • ABANDONMENT (OF TRADEMARK)
  • DISTINCTIVE MARK

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