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A term written like a defined term but defined nowhere

undefined-termon by default (info)Japanese / English

A term written like a defined one (its Affiliates) that is never defined

Example

How to fix

If it is a defined term miswritten, use the defined term. If it is a new term, define it where it is first used.

Why it matters

A Japanese contract defines its terms with the prefix 本 (本業務, 本サービス). A term in the same form that is never defined (本成果物) leaves the reader asking whether it was defined somewhere and what it means: either a definition is missing, or another defined term was miswritten. Only a document that defines at least one term with that prefix is read, and only the first use of each such term with no definition and no other-prefix form (本件業務) is reported. An English contract capitalises its defined terms (the Services); in a document with at least two definitions written with a defining word (“X” means, (the “X”)), a capitalised term inside a sentence that is defined nowhere (its Affiliates) is reported the same way.

What it does not flag

A document that defines no term with the prefix is not read. Defined terms and their other-prefix forms (本件業務, which defined-term-form reads), terms that start with a defined term (本サービス上, 本報告書提出後), the document's names for itself and its parts (本条, 本項, 本書, 本契約, 本利用規約, 本サイト), terms set in quotes anywhere or alone on an item of a definition list (② 本報告書: a definition chaff could not read) and terms that start with one, and single words (本人, 本日, 本社) are not reported. A defined term with 等 added (本報告書等) names a group, another term, and is reported. Each term is reported once, at its first use. English is read narrowly, since capitals also name laws, organisations and policies (the Federal Trade Commission Act, Acceptable Use Policies): a document with fewer than two definitions written with a defining word (“X” means, (the “X”)) is not read; and a word at the start of a sentence or after a mark, a modifier of a lower-case noun (the Premium plan), a run holding a word of the name lists (proper-name-word, places, weekdays and months, company forms, party roles), a reference to a part (Section 4, Schedule A), a name shown by the words around it (a number after it: Proposition 65; a longer name it starts: Post Holdings, Inc., Canton, Ohio, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; brackets right after it that define it: Certificate of Analysis (“COA”), the Closing (as defined in the Merger Agreement); initials that spell a term the document defines: “IRS” means the Internal Revenue Service; a party's capacity: Citibank, N.A., as Administrative Agent; words right after it that make it the title of an attached form: the Termination Certificate attached hereto), anything inside a heading, a link, bold, an HTML element, a table, a list item's label or a clause's run-in caption (5.8 No Representation or Warranty.), a word set in quotes or bold anywhere, a run holding a defined term in any case, and a word the document also writes in lower case (your Account and your account: an ordinary word or a screen's name) are not reported. Statutes, court decisions and patents are not read; the contract genre runs this rule.

Turning it off or relaxing it

This page is built from the rule's definition file:packages/chaff/rules/undefined-term.yaml