Regulated trade terms bind licensees to their defined meanings

Evidence

The terms used in the contract were words that have been given a definite meaning by the regulations and decisions under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. The respondent is licensed under the Act. The melons were sold in interstate commerce. When terms which have been given a definite meaning under the Act are used by licensees, in transactions governed by the Act, it can not later be maintained that a different meaning was intended. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 1576

Categorization

• XREF: Illustrates the general interpretive principle that background statutory schemes fix the meaning of ordinary contractual words — resonates with the institutional-role theme where the surrounding system of official settlements shapes private arrangements. — connects to: Invisible institutional arrangements coordinate activity as much as visible technology does. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 1008; Undefined technical terms in statutes take the meaning trade usage gives them. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 2643; Government trade terms function as optional facilities that private parties may adopt or replace — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 1110 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Commerce requires irreducible minimum certainty about legal meaning #expands (0.80) — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 4856
• Natural-kind categories license inferences but forbid membership change #complicates (0.75)