Law Dictionary

Real property is land and everything permanently attached to it, such as buildings and fixtures, together with interests in land like leases, easements and mortgages. In British Columbia, ownership and most interests in land are recorded in the land title register under the Land Title Act, which is the main evidence of who owns what.

Regulatory compliance means following the statutes, regulations, licences and permits that apply to a business's activities. For a BC business this typically includes employment standards, workplace safety, privacy, tax, consumer protection, licensing and industry-specific rules, at the federal, provincial and municipal levels.

A regulatory offence, often called a quasi-criminal offence, is a breach of a statute that protects public welfare, such as workplace safety, environmental or licensing laws. In British Columbia, most are strict liability offences: the Crown need not prove intent, but the accused avoids conviction by proving it took all reasonable care, called due diligence.

Remedies are what a court can order when a legal right has been breached. The main civil remedies are damages (money compensation), injunctions ordering a party to do or stop doing something, specific performance of a contract, declarations of rights, and restitution or an accounting of profits.

A remote court hearing is a court appearance in which some or all participants attend by video or telephone instead of in the courtroom. In British Columbia, whether a hearing proceeds remotely depends on the court rules, each court's current practice directions and the judge's discretion. Short chambers applications are often remote; trials are generally heard in person.

Remote witnessing is watching a person sign a document over live video instead of in the same room. In British Columbia, whether it is valid depends on the document: most commercial contracts need no witness at all, while wills, affidavits and Land Title Office instruments have their own witnessing requirements set by statute or the governing body.

Rescission is an equitable remedy that cancels a contract from the beginning and returns the parties to where they were before it was made, with money and property handed back. It is available for misrepresentation, mistake, duress, undue influence or unconscionability, and is lost through affirmation, delay or impossibility of restoring the parties.

A restrictive covenant is a promise not to do something. In land law, it is a registered restriction on the use of land, such as a limit on building height. In business, it refers to non-competition and non-solicitation clauses that restrain trade after a relationship ends.

A restrictive covenant is a contract term that limits a person's ability to compete with a business, or to solicit its customers or employees, after the relationship ends. In British Columbia, courts rarely enforce employee non-competes and will not rewrite overbroad clauses, but they routinely enforce reasonable non-competes given by sellers on the sale of a business.

A reversionary interest is the interest an owner keeps after granting a lesser interest, which entitles the owner to possession when that lesser interest ends. For example, a landlord who grants a lease keeps the reversion, and possession returns to the landlord at the end of the term.

A right of way is a registered right to pass over or use part of another person's land, for access, utilities or services. In British Columbia it is created either as an easement benefiting a neighbouring parcel or as a statutory right of way under section 218 of the Land Title Act, commonly granted to municipalities, utilities and the Crown.

Risk management is the process of identifying, assessing and reducing risks to a business, such as legal, financial, operational and reputational risks. It is a business management term rather than a legal one, although contracts, insurance and corporate structure are key legal tools for managing risk.

Royalties are recurring payments made to an owner for the right to use intellectual property, such as software, a trademark, a patent or a copyrighted work, or to extract natural resources. They are usually a percentage of sales or a fee per unit, set by contract, and royalties paid to non-residents of Canada generally attract withholding tax.

A royalty agreement is a contract in which the owner of intellectual property or another revenue producing asset grants rights to use it in exchange for ongoing payments. It defines the royalty base and rate, reporting, audit rights, minimum payments, territory, term and termination, and in British Columbia is interpreted under ordinary contract law.

A royalty audit is an examination of a licensee's books and records to check that royalties owed under a licence or royalty agreement have been calculated and paid correctly. In private licensing, the right to audit is a contractual right, not a legal process.

Royalty calculation is the method for working out the payment owed to the owner of intellectual property or resource rights for their use, such as a percentage of net sales, a fixed fee per unit, or a minimum annual royalty. For private licences, the formula is set by the contract.

A royalty clause is a term in a contract, such as a licence, franchise or publishing agreement, that sets out the royalties one party must pay another for using intellectual property or other assets, including the rate, the base, timing, reporting and audit rights.

A royalty contract is an agreement under which one party makes ongoing payments, called royalties, to another for the right to use an asset such as a patent, trademark, copyright, software or resource rights. It is commonly a licence agreement with royalty, reporting and audit terms.

A royalty dispute is a disagreement over royalties owed under a licence or royalty agreement, such as how they are calculated, whether they were reported and paid correctly, whether audit rights were honoured, or whether the licence still applies. In BC it is usually a breach of contract claim, sometimes combined with a question about the validity or ownership of the underlying intellectual property or resource interest.

Royalty distribution is the process of allocating royalties among the people entitled to them, for example among co-owners of a patent, members of a band, or a licensor and its sub-licensors. Who receives what is set by the licence and any co-ownership or partnership agreement, and for certain copyright uses by collective societies that collect and distribute royalties to rights holders.

Royalty income is money a person or business receives for allowing others to use its property, most often intellectual property such as patents, trademarks, copyright or know-how, or a resource interest such as a mineral royalty. It is usually calculated as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount per unit and is paid under a licence or royalty agreement.

A royalty interest is a right to receive a share of production or revenue from an asset without bearing the costs of operating it. Common examples are net smelter return royalties in mining, gross overriding royalties in oil and gas, and percentage royalties under intellectual property licences. Private royalty interests are created by contract and may or may not be an interest in land.

A royalty owner is the person or business entitled to receive royalty payments, usually the licensor of intellectual property or the holder of a royalty interest in a resource property. The entitlement comes from ownership of the underlying right or from a contract, such as a licence or royalty agreement, which sets the rate, reporting and audit rights.

A royalty payment is a payment by a licensee to the owner of a right, such as a patent, trademark, copyright or resource interest, in exchange for using it. Payments are usually a percentage of sales or a fixed amount per unit, are made on a schedule set by the licence, and are typically supported by reports the owner is entitled to audit.

A royalty rate is the amount a licensee pays for using a licensed right, expressed as a percentage of sales or profit or as a fixed amount per unit. Rates are negotiated case by case and depend on the industry, the strength and exclusivity of the right, the territory and the length of the licence. No law sets a standard rate for patent or trademark licences.