Noninfringement

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The condition of not violating or trespassing upon the rights, property, or legal claims of another party
2. The state of not breaching or encroaching upon the legal rights, properties, or claims held by someone else
3. A legal principle that signifies the absence of violation or encroachment on the rights or ownership of others

Etymology: "Noninfringement" is a plain formation: the prefix "non-" attached to "infringement," meaning the act of breaching or encroaching on someone else's rights. "Infringement" itself comes from the Latin "infringere," meaning "to break into pieces" or "to break off," built from "in-" (into) and "frangere" (to break), the same root that gives English "fracture" and "fragment." The sense of breaking a law or agreement developed from that idea of breaking something up or breaking through a boundary. Adding "non-" simply reverses the idea: a noninfringement is the absence of such a breach. Its use is concentrated in legal and patent contexts, where a party may be said to show noninfringement of a patent or copyright, meaning it has not used the protected invention or work without permission.