Process

A process is a mode of treatment of certain materials to produce a given result. It is an act, or a series of acts, performed upon the subject-matter to be transformed and reduced to a different state or thing.

In Practice. The means of compelling a defendant to appear in court, after suing out the original writ, in civil, and, after indictment, in criminal, cases. In a broader sense all writs and mandates issued in the course of the proceeding. 15 Pla. 410. The method taken by law to compel a compliance with the original writ or commands of the court.

In a strict sense, "process" is confined to the mandate of a court under its seal, whereby a party or an officer of the court is commanded to do certain acts. Thus, the summons used in many states, signed by plaintiff's attorney only, is not process. 12 Minn. 80; J7 Ore. 564. In civil causes, in all real actions and for injuries not committed against the peace, the first step was a summons, which was served in personal actions by two persons called summoners, in real actions by erecting a white stick or wand on the defendant's grounds. If this summons was disregarded, the next step was an attachment of the goods of the defendant, and in case of trespasses the attachment issued at once without a summons. If the attachment failed, a distringas issued, which was continued till he appeared. Here process ended in injuries not committed with force. In case of such injuries, an arrest of the person was provided for. See "Arrest." In modern practice some of these steps are omitted; but the practice of the different states is too various to admit tracing here In the English law, process in civil causes is called "original" process, when it is founded upon the original writ; and also to distinguish it from mesne or intermediate process, which issues pending the suit, upon some collateral interlocutory matter, as, to summon juries, witnesses, and the like. "Mesne" process is also sometimes put in contradistinction to "final" process, or process of execution; and then it signifies all process which intervenes between the beginning and end of a suit. 3 BI. Comm. 279. And this is the modern usage. 31 N. J. Law, 231. In Patent Law. The art or method by which any particular result is produced. A process, eo nomine, is not made the subject of a patent in our act of congress. It is included under the general term "useful art." Where a result or effect is produced by chemical action, by the operation or application of some element or power of nature, or of one substance to another, such modes, methods, or operations are called "processes." A new process is usually the result of discovery; a machine, of invention. The arts of tanning, dyeing, making waterproof cloth, vulcanizing india rubber, smelting ores, and numerous others, are usually carried on by "processes," as distinguished from "machines." But the term "process" is often employed more vaguely in a secondary sense, in which it cannot be the subject of a patent. Thus, we say that a board is undergoing the process of being planed, grain of being ground, iron of being hammered or rolled. Here the term is used subjectively or passively, as applied to the material operated on, and not to the method or mode of producing that operation, which is by mechanical means, or the use of a machine, as distinguished from a process. In this use of the term it represents the function of a machine, or the effect produced by it on the material subjected to the action of the machine, and does not constitute a patentable subject matter, because there cannot be a valid patent for the function or abstract effect of a machine, but only for the machine which produces it. 15 How. (U. S.) 267, 268. See 2 Barn. & Aid. 349.

In Practice. The means of compelling a defendant to appear in court, after suing out the original writ, in civil, and after indictment, in criminal, cases. The method taken by law to compel a compliance with the original writ or commands of the court. A writ, warrant, subpoena, or other formal writing issued by authority of law; also the means of accomplishing an end, including judicial proceedings; Gollobitsch v. Rainbow, 84 la. 567, 51 N. W. 48; the means or method pointed out by a statute, or used to acquire jurisdiction of the defendants, whether by writ or notice. Wilson v. R. Co., 108 Mo. 588, 18 S. W. 28G, 32 Am. St. Rep. 624. In civil causes, in all real ’actions and for injuries not committed against the peace, the first step was a summons, which was served in personal actions by two persons called summoners, in real actions by erecting a white stick or wand on the defendant’s grounds. If this summons was disregarded, the next step was an attachment of the goods of the defendant, and in case of trespasses the attachment issued at once without a summons. If the attachment failed, a distringas issued, which was continued till he appeared. Here process ended in injuries not committed with force. In case of such injuries, an arrest of the person was provided for. See Arrest. In modern pracvarious to admit of tracing here the differences which have resulted from retaining different steps of the process. In the English law, process in civil causes is called original process, when it is founded upon the original writ; and also to distinguish it from mesne or intermediate process, which issues ponding the suit, upon some collateral interlocutory matter, as, to summon juries, witnesses, and the like; mesne process is also sometimes put in contradistinction to final process, or process of execution; and then it signifies all process which intervenes between the beginning and end of a suit. 3 Bla. Com. 279. See Regular Process; Obstructing Process; Sheriff; Service. No court can, at common law, exercise jurisdiction over a party unless he is served with the process within the territorial jurisdiction of the court, or voluntarily appears; Mexican C. R. Co. v. Pinkney, 149 U. S. 194, 13 Sup. Ct 859, 37 L. Ed. 699. See Jurisdiction. As to the grant of letters patent for a process, see Patent.

In practice. This word Is generally defined to be the means of compelling the defendant in an action to appear in court. And when actions were commenced by original writ, instead of, as at present, by writ of summons, the method of compelling the defendant to appear was by what was termed "original process," being founded on the original writ, and so called also to distinguish it from "mesne" or "intermediate" process, which was some writ or process which issued during the progress of the suit The word "process," however, as now commonly understood, signifies those formal instruments called "writs." The word "process" is in common-law practice frequently applied to the writ of summons, which is the instrument now in use for commencing personal actions. But in its more comprehensive signification it includes not only the writ of summons, but all other writs which may be issued during the progress of an action. Those writs which are used to carry the judgments of the courts into effect, and which are termed "writs of execution" are also commonly denominated "final process," because they usually Issue at the end of a suit See Carey v. German American Ins. Co., 84 Wis. 80, 54 N. W. 18, 20 In R. A. 267, 36 Ain. St. Rep. 907; Savage v. Oliver, 110 Ga. 636, 36 S. E. 54; Perry v. Lorillard Fire Ins. Co., 6 Lans. (N. Y.) 204; Davenport v. Bird, 34 Iowa, 527; Philadelphia v. Campbell, 11 Phila. (Pa.) 164; Phillips v. Spotts, 14 Neb. 139, 15 N. W. 332. In the practice of the English privy council In ecclesiastical appeals, "process" means an official copy of the whole proceedings and proofs of the court below, which is transmitted to the registry of the court of appeal by the registrar of the court below in obedience to an order or requisition requiring him so to do, called a "monition for process," issued by the court of appeal. Macpli. Jud. Com. 173.

— Abuse of process. See ABUSE.

— Compulsory process. See Compulsory.

— Executory process. In the law of Louisiana, a summary process in the nature of an order of seizure and sale, which is available when the right of the creditor arises from an act or instrument which includes or imports a confession of judgment and a privilege or lien in his favor, and also to enforce the execution of a judgment rendered 'in another jurisdiction. See Rev. Code Prac. 1894, art. 732,

— Final process. The last process in a suit; that is, writs of execution. Thus distinguished from mesne process, which includes ali writs issued during the progress of a cause and before final judgment. Amis v. Smith, 16 Pet 313, 10 L. Ed. 973,

— Irregular process. Sometimes the term "irregular process" has been defined to mean process absolutely void, and not merely erroneous and voidable ; but usually it has been applied to all process not issued in strict conformity with the law, whether the defect appears upon the face of the process, or by reference to extrinsic facts, and whether such defects render the process absolutely void or only voidable. Cooper v. Harter, 2 Ind. 253. And see Bryan v. Congdon, 86 Fed. 221, 29 C. C. A. 670; Paine v. Ely, N. Chip. (Vt.) 24.

— Judicial process. In a wide sense, this term may include nil the acts of a court from the beginning to the end of its proceedings in a given cause ; but more specifically it means the writ, summons, mandate, or other process which is used in inform the defendant of the institution of proceedings against him and to compel his appearance, in either civil or criminal cases. See State v. Guilbert, 56 Ohio St. 575, 47 N. E. 551, 38 In R. A. 519, 60 Am. St. Rep. 756; In re Smith (D. Ct) 132 Fed. 303.

— Legal process. This term is sometimes nsed as equivalent to "lawful process." Cooley v. Davis, 34 Iowa, 130. But properly it means a writ, warrant, mandate, or other process issuing from a court of justice, such as an attachment,execution, injunction, etc. See In re Bminger, 3 Fed. Cas. 416; Loy v. Home Ins. Co., 24 Minn. 319, 31 Am. Rep. 346; Perry V. Lorillard F. Ins. Co., 6 Lans. (N. Y.) 204; Com. v. Brower, 7 Pa. Dist. It. 255.

— Mesne process. As distinguished from final process, this signifies any writ or process issued between the commencement of the action and the suing out of execution. It includes the writ of summons, (although that is now the usual commencement of actions,) because anciently that was preceded by the original writ. The writ of capias ad respondendum was called "mesne" to distinguish it, on the one hand, from the original process by which a suit was formerly commenced; and, on the other, from the final process of execution. Birmingham Dry Goods Co. v. Bledsoe, 113 Ala. 418, 21 South. 403; Hirshiser v. Tinsley, 9 Mo. App. 342; Pennington v. Lowinstein. 19 Fed. Cas. 168.

— Original process. That by which a judicial proceeding is instituted ; process to compel the appearance of the defendant. Distinguished from "mesne" process, which issues, during the progress of a suit, for some subordinate or collateral purpose; and from "final" process, which is process of execution. Appeal of Hotchkiss, 32 Co.nn. 353.

— Process of interpleader. A means of determining the rlsht to property claimed by each of two or more persons, which is in the possession of a third.

— Process of law. See Due Process of Law.

— Process roll. In practice. A roll used for the entry of process to save the statute of limitations. 1 Tidd, Pr. 161, 162

— Regular process. Such as is issued according to rule and the prescribed practice, or which emanates, lawfully and in a proper case, from a court or magistrate possessing jurisdiction.

— Summary process. Such as is immediate or instantaneous, in distinction from the ordinary course, by emanating and taking effect without intermediate applications or delays. Gaines v. Travis, 8 N. Y. Leg. Obs. 49.

— Trustee process. The name given in some states (particularly in New England) to the process of garnishment or foreign attachment

— Void process. Such as was issued without power in the court to award it, or which the court had not acquired jurisdiction to issue in the particular case, or which fails in some material respect to comply with the requisite form of legal process. Bryan v. Congdon, 86 Fed. 223, 29 C C. A. 670. In patent law. A means or method employed to produce a certain result or effect, or a mode of treatment of given materials to produce a desired result, either by chemical action, by the operation or application of some element or power of nature, or of one substance to another, Irrespective of any machine or mechanical device; in this sense a "process" Is patentable, though, strictly speaking, it Is the art and not the process which is the subject of patent. See Co.ch-rane v. Deener, 94 U. S. 780, 24 In Ed. 139; Co.rning v. Burden. 15 How. 268, 14 L. Ed. 683; Westinghouse v. Boyden Power-Brake Co.., 170 U. S. 537, 18 Sup. Ch 707, 42 In Ed. 1136; New Process Fermentation Co. v. Maus (C. C.) 20 Fed. 728; Piper v. Brown, 19 Fed. Cas. 718; In re Weston, 17 App. D. C. 486; Appleton Mfg. Co. v. Star Mfg. Co.., 60 Fed. 411, 9 C. C. A. 42.

— Mechanical process. A process involving solely the application of mechanism or mechanical principles; an aggregation of functions; not patentable'considered apart from the mechanism employed or the finished product of manufacture. See Risdon Iron, etc., Works v. Med-art, 158 U. S. 68, 15 Sup. Ct 745, 39 L. Ed. 899; American Fibre Chamois Co., v. Buckskin Fibre Co., 72 Fed. 514, 18 C. C. A. 662 ; Cochrane v. Deener, 94 U. S. 780, 24 L. Ed. 139.

A something issuing out of court, or from a judge; a judicial writ of any sort; in a general sense, the entire proceedings in an action or prosecution; in patent law, a means or method employed to produce a certain effect or result, patentable where and only where it is not the function or effect of a machine, v. Due process; Final process; Mesne process; Original process.

In old English law. The means used to compel a defendant to appear in compliance with the original writ, consisting of a verbal monition or warning, and the successive writs of attachment, distringas and capias ad respondendum. Process roll: a roll used for the entry of process to save the statute of limitations.

1. The procedure or method of getting a defendant into court, the summons, writs, and attachments for that purpose: original process. 2. Mesne process was formerly process not depending on the original writ, but on interlocutory or collateral matter; but now is commonly used to mean all process before judgment and final process [process of execution]; particularly, the ca. resp. Prochein amy,/?-. Next friend. Procheyn heire: next heir. Frochein avoidance: v. Presentation.

MESNE, in practice; by this term is generally understood any writ issued in the course of a suit between the original process and execution.