Home > West's Encyclopedia of American Law > Acquiescence

Conduct recognizing the existence of a transaction and intended to permit the transaction to be carried into effect; a tacit agreement; consent inferred from silence.

For example, a new beer company is concerned that the proposed label for its beer might infringe on the TRADEMARK of its competitor. It submits the label to its competitor's general counsel, who does not object to its use. The new company files an application in the PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE to register the label as its trademark and starts to use the label on the market. The competitor does not file any objection in the Patent Office. Several years later, the competitor sues the new company for infringing on its trademark and demands an accounting of the new company's profits for the years it has been using the label. A court will refuse the accounting, since by its acquiescence the...