Fundamentals of business law

Business Law Midterm

One the Fourth of July, Pat and Mary were drinking beer with their friends Doug at Pat and Mary's house. They were shooting off Roman candles. Mary lit a Roman candle, but it failed to ignite. Doug said, "Let me see that," took it from her, and looked down into the firework. The firework exploded in Doug's face, causing 2nd degree burns and scratching his eye. Because they had all been drinking, Pat and Mary did not drive to the hospital, but called the ambulance to get Doug. The ambulance was delayed because of the holiday, and Doug's eye injury resulted in permanent blindness because of the delay in treatment. There is no liability for negligence. While Pat and Mary, as hosts, had a duty to protect Doug from known risks, they did not expose him to a known risk. Doug took the firework from Mary and looked into it; she did not point it at him. Moreover, while the firework was the proximate cause of an actual injury, there is no evidence that they failed to exercise reasonable care. The delay in treatment was caused by Pat and Mary not driving straight to the hospital, but this delay demonstrated them exercising reasonable care because they were too intoxicated to drive.

2. Roberta could use a combination of trademark (register for a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office), copyright (register with the U.S. Copyright Office), and patent protection to protect her game. Trademarks will protect the name of her game, copyright will protect the expression of her game, and a patent, which is more difficult to obtain, protects the idea behind her game. Roberta's best bet is to hire an attorney that handles intellectual property and have the attorney handle the patent application, even if Roberta is able to handle the trademark and copyright on her own, because a patent has to demonstrate a uniqueness and innovation that does not have to exist for the other two.

3. No, Leroy is not guilty of Larceny. He did commit the actus reus by taking the personal property of another. However, he lacked the mens rea required, which as the "specific intent to deprive the person of the property permanently." He believed the umbrella was his own and had no intent to deprive anyone else of property.

4. A reward poster for a lost dog is a unilateral contract. "I will pay you $1,000 for the return of my dog Zorro, in healthy and alive condition." The offer is the $1,000. The acceptance is the return of the dog, and a unilateral contract is only accepted by performance. A bilateral contract is a contract that is fulfilled by promises. The offer would be, "I will pay you $1,000 to purchase a puppy from your dog Zorro's litter." The acceptance is made with a promise to sell me that puppy. Now both parties are mutually obligated; I am obligated to pay the money for the puppy, while the seller is obligated to tender the puppy.

5. Tom and John enter into the following contract when John's daughter is born.

John promises to have Tom marry his daughter when she reaches the age of 18 in exchange for Tom lending John $50,000 to start a business. The contract is void because it is illegal; a person cannot promise to have his child marry someone in exchange for money (it is illegal to buy and sell brides). The contract is executor because it has not been fully performed. The contract is bilateral because both parties have obligations under the contract.