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ante exhibitionem billae (an-tee ek-si-bish-ee-
oh-nem bil-ee). Before the exhibition of the
bill; i.e., before a suit has begun.
ante litem motam (an-tee II-tern moh-tem).
[Law Latin "before the lawsuit was started"]
Before a legal dispute arose - i.e., at a time
when the declarant has no motive to lie.
ante meridiem (an-tee me-rid-ee-em). [Latin]
Before noon. -Abbr. a.m.; A.M.
ante mortem interest (an-tee mor-tem). [Lat-
in] An interest existing before (but not after) a
transferor's death.
ante natus (an-tee nay-tes). [Law Latin] A
person born before a certain political event that
affected the person's political rights; esp., a
person born before the signing of the Declara-
tion of Independence. Cf. POST NATUS.
antenuptial (an-ti-nap-shel), adj. See PRENUP-
TIAL.
antenuptial agreement. See PRENUPTIAL
AGREEMENT.
antenuptial gift. See prenuptial gift under
GIFT.
antenuptial will. See prenuptial will under
WILL.
anthropometry (an-thre-pom-e-tree). A system
of measuring the human body, esp. the size
relationships among the different parts. • Be-
fore the advent of fingerprinting, minute mea-
surements of the human body - taken and
compared to other persons' measurements -
were used to identify criminals and deceased
persons. Cf. BERTILLON SYSTEM.
antichresis (an-ti-kree-sis). [Latin "in place of
interest"] Roman & civil law. A mortgage in
which the mortgagee retains possession of the
mortgaged property and takes the fruits (such
as rents) of the property in lieu of interest on
the debt.
anticipated compromis. See general comprom-
is under COMPROMIS.
anticipation. Patents. The previous use, knowl-
edge, documentation, or patenting of an inven-
tion. • Any of these will negate the invention's
novelty, thereby preventing a patent or provid-
Anti-Injunction Act
ing a defense to an infringement claim. See
NOVELTY.
anticipatory breach. See BREACH OF CONTRACT.
anticipatory nuisance. See NUISANCE.
anticipatory offense. See inchoate offense un-
der OFFENSE.
anticipatory replication. See REPLICATION.
anticipatory repudiation. See REPUDIATION.
anticipatory search warrant. See SEARCH
WARRANT.
anticompetitive conduct. Antitrust. An act
that harms or seeks to harm the market or the
process of competition among businesses, and
that has no legitimate business purpose.
antideficiency legislation. See LEGISLATION.
antidestruction clause. A provision in a secu-
rity protecting a shareholder's conversion
rights, in the event of a merger, by granting
the shareholder a right to convert the securities
into the securities that will replace the compa-
ny's stock when the merger is complete. - See
convertible security under SECURITY.
antidilution provision. A convertible-security
provision that safeguards the conversion privi-
lege from share splits, share dividends, or other
transactions that might affect the conversion
ratio. See CONVERSION RATIO; DILUTION (2).
antidumping law. A statute designed to protect
domestic companies by preventing the sale of
foreign goods at less than fair value, as defined
in the statute (for example, at a price below
that of the domestic market). See DUMPING.
antidumping tariff. See TARIFF (2).
antifraud rule. See RULE lOB-5.
antigraph (an-ti-graf). Archaic. A copy or coun-
terpart of an instrument.
antigraphus (an-tig-re-fos), n. [Law Latin]
Hist. An officer who maintains tax revenues; a
comptroller.
Anti-Injunction Act. A federal statute provid-
ing that a federal court may not enjoin state-