“Product” and “Units of Product”

I was reminded today how the word product can be a nuisance when drafting, for example, a license agreement providing for a royalty based on products sold. Product can be used to refer to a product line, with its own SKU, or it can mean individual samples of a product line. I use the defined term the Product for the former meaning and refer to units of the Product for the latter. Anyone have any better idea?

About the author

Ken Adams is the leading authority on how to say clearly whatever you want to say in a contract. He’s author of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting, and he offers online and in-person training around the world. He’s also chief content officer of LegalSifter, Inc., a company that combines artificial intelligence and expertise to assist with review of contracts.

2 thoughts on ““Product” and “Units of Product””

  1. Ken:

    The word “service” can have the same issue. I often use “an instance of the Service” to refer to a particular performance of a defined Service. But I have to say I don’t like the phrase. I just haven’t come up with anything better.

    I also frequently see the term “service” misused in areas like intellectual property provisions, where the drafter says something like “We own all the rights to the service.” Generally, they don;t mean what they say. They mean either (or both) that they own the materials or information that the service produces or that they own the tools used to perform the service.

    Chris Lemens

    Reply
  2. I agree units of products/unit of measure (or something like that) is a good way to measuring capacity. I also use license capacity for licenses.

    Reply

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