Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 47 > Chapter 25 > Part 6 - Petroleum Trade Practices

• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Cost to the retailer: means the sum of:
  (A) The lower of:

  (i) The purchase price of petroleum distillates to the retailer, less all trade discounts, allowances, or rebates actually granted to the retailer. See Tennessee Code 47-25-602
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dealer: means any person, firm, corporation, or partnership engaged in the sale of petroleum products to the public at retail. See Tennessee Code 47-25-602
• Distributor: means any person, firm, partnership, or corporation engaged in the sale of petroleum or related products at wholesale to dealers. See Tennessee Code 47-25-602
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Exempt: means those sales at retail exempt by §. See Tennessee Code 47-25-602
• Franchise: includes a contract or agreement under which such dealer is granted authority to occupy premises owned, leased, or in any way controlled by a producer or distributor, which premises are to be employed for the sale or distribution of petroleum or related products under the producer or distributor's petroleum trademark, trade name, service mark, or other identifying symbol or name which is controlled by the distributor or producer. See Tennessee Code 47-25-602
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Petroleum or related products: means all petroleum distillates including, but not limited to, gasoline, motor fuels, and lubricants and those products generally sold at retail outlets in connection with such petroleum products under a trademark, trade name, or symbol including, but not limited to, tires, batteries, and other motor vehicle accessories. See Tennessee Code 47-25-602
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Producer: means any person, firm, partnership or corporation engaged in the drilling, pumping, importing, refining, or wholesaling of petroleum and related products under a trademark, trade name, service mark, or other identifying symbol or name whether or not such organization distributes such products to dealers. See Tennessee Code 47-25-602
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• retail sale: means sale at retail, sales at retail, or retail sale, as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 47-25-602
• Retailer: means a dealer, as defined in this section. See Tennessee Code 47-25-602
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Vertical integration: means the ownership or control of all phases of the production of petroleum products including the drilling, pumping, refining, distribution, and resale of such petroleum products by a person, firm, partnership or corporation or from the well to the gasoline pump. See Tennessee Code 47-25-602
• Vertically integrated producer: means a producer controlling all phases of petroleum production and sale from the well through distribution to dealers as defined herein. See Tennessee Code 47-25-602
• written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105