South Dakota Accidents Definition

Legal and insurance terms explained plainly

You just got a letter that says your doctor, therapist, or insurance company needs information about your "activities of daily living," and the deadline to respond is close....

DEFINITION 2026-03-23

arising out of employment

You just got a letter that says your injury did not "arise out of employment," so your workers' compensation claim is denied. That phrase means there must be a real connection...

DEFINITION 2026-03-30

assistive device

People often mix up an assistive device with durable medical equipment, but they are not the same. Durable medical equipment usually means medically necessary items built for...

DEFINITION 2026-03-23

average weekly wage

You just got a letter that says your average weekly wage is being used to calculate what you will be paid after a work injury. That number is your employer's and insurer's...

DEFINITION 2026-04-03

bellwether trial

If this gets confused with a class action, an injured person can wrongly assume one trial will automatically decide compensation for everyone else. That is not how most...

DEFINITION 2026-03-21

cease and desist letter

A written demand telling a person or business to stop a specific action and not start it again, usually because the sender believes it violates their rights. A cease and desist...

DEFINITION 2026-03-26

copyright fair use

Can you use part of someone else's copyrighted work without getting permission? Sometimes, yes. Copyright fair use is a rule in federal law that allows limited use of protected...

DEFINITION 2026-03-25

copyright registration

Defense lawyers and insurers sometimes talk about this like a magic switch: no registration, no rights. That is misleading. Copyright registration is the formal process of...

DEFINITION 2026-03-29

DMCA takedown notice

The part people get wrong most often is that a DMCA takedown notice is not a court order and does not prove who is right about ownership. It is a formal request sent under the...

DEFINITION 2026-03-26

functional capacity evaluation

Miss this for what it is, and you can get boxed into the wrong job restrictions, cut off from benefits, or pushed back to work before your body is ready. A functional capacity...

DEFINITION 2026-03-23

going and coming rule

An employee usually is not covered by workers' compensation for injuries that happen while traveling to or from the regular workplace, because that commute is generally treated...

DEFINITION 2026-03-30

licensing agreement

The point that trips people up most is simple: owning something is not the same as having permission to use it. A licensing agreement gives one person or business the legal...

DEFINITION 2026-03-24

light duty

You'll usually see this in a work note from a doctor, an email from HR, or a call from the insurance adjuster saying you've been released to "light duty" with restrictions....

DEFINITION 2026-04-04

likelihood of confusion test

A legal standard courts use to decide whether one name, logo, package design, slogan, or other brand feature is so similar to another that ordinary buyers are likely to mistake...

DEFINITION 2026-03-27

non-compete vs non-solicitation

These clauses can hit your paycheck fast: one may try to keep you from taking a new job at all, while the other usually targets who you can contact after you leave. If a...

DEFINITION 2026-03-25

occupational disease

A medical condition caused or aggravated by hazards of a particular job or work environment. "Occupational" limits the condition to risks connected to the employment, not...

DEFINITION 2026-04-03

occupational therapy

Like learning to use a stiff gate hinge smoothly again after a hard winter, this form of rehabilitation focuses on restoring the everyday motions and problem-solving skills a...

DEFINITION 2026-03-23

patent infringement

You just got a letter that says a product, process, or design you make, use, sell, or import violates someone else's patent rights. That accusation points to patent...

DEFINITION 2026-03-26

patent prosecution

Defense lawyers may use this phrase to make a patent dispute sound like a criminal case or suggest someone was being "prosecuted" for wrongdoing. That is not what it means....

DEFINITION 2026-03-27

permanent partial disability

A lasting impairment that reduces, but does not eliminate, a person's ability to work or function. "Permanent" means the condition is not expected to fully heal, even after...

DEFINITION 2026-04-03

prior art search

Defense lawyers and other opponents use this phrase when they want to knock down a patent application or weaken a patent lawsuit. Their angle is simple: dig up older patents,...

DEFINITION 2026-03-30

return-to-work order

Miss this step after a job injury, and the damage can be immediate: wage-loss checks stop, the employer says work was available, and a claim that looked straightforward turns...

DEFINITION 2026-04-03

royalty agreement

The part that trips people up most is ownership: a royalty agreement usually does not transfer ownership of the underlying asset. It is a contract that lets one party use,...

DEFINITION 2026-03-29

scheduled injury

Miss this label, and a work injury claim can be valued the wrong way from the start. A scheduled injury is an injury to a body part that appears on a statutory list - usually a...

DEFINITION 2026-04-02

Stowers demand

What the insurance company does not want you to know is that a settlement demand can sometimes set up a later bad faith claim if the insurer refuses to protect its own...

DEFINITION 2026-03-22

temporary total disability

Not the same as a permanent injury, and not a payout just because you got hurt at work. It means you are temporarily unable to earn your usual wages because a job-related...

DEFINITION 2026-04-01

trade dress protection

The part that trips people up most is that trade dress is not a logo or a brand name. It is the overall look and feel of a product or its packaging when that appearance tells...

DEFINITION 2026-03-29

trade secret misappropriation

Miss this issue, and a business can lose its edge overnight while an employee, contractor, or competitor wrongly assumes "confidential" and "illegal to use" mean the same...

DEFINITION 2026-03-27

trademark infringement

Damage to your wallet can happen fast when another business uses a name, logo, slogan, or other brand marker close enough to confuse customers, steal sales, or trade on the...

DEFINITION 2026-03-26

trademark registration

The part that trips people up most is that registration does not create a brand from nothing. In most cases, trademark rights begin with actual use of a name, logo, slogan, or...

DEFINITION 2026-03-25

utility patent vs design patent

You might see this in a lawyer's letter, a patent application, or an email from a business partner: "We should file a utility patent, not just a design patent," or "Their...

DEFINITION 2026-03-25