Identity - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition identity

Definition :

Identity. The being the same person or thing as represented or believed to be.

Identitas vera colligitur ex multitudine signorum. Bacon, (True identity collected from a multitude of signs.)

See Hubback on Succession, pp. 438 et seq.; Best on Evidence, 10th ed., s. 517, as to identification generally, and ss. 517 A.B.C. for curious cases of mistaken identity--such as the Tichborne Case in 1867-1872, and the beck Casein 1896 and 1904. For forms of evidence and affidavits of identity, see Dan. Ch. Pr.

Identity, means the identical nature of two or more things, esp., in patent law, the sameness in two devices of the function performed, the way it is performed, and the result achieved. Under the doctrine of equivalents, infringement may identical to the claimed invention, Black's Law Dictionary 7th Edn., p. 748.