CORPORATION: A corporation is an artificial
legal entity (technically, a juristic person) which, while made
up of a number of natural persons or other legal entities, has
a separate legal identity from them. As a legal entity the
corporation receives legal rights and duties. Five rights
always exist for a corporation: the ability to sue and be sued
(this gives the corporation access to the courts); the right to
a common treasury (this gives the right to hold assets
separate from the assets of its members); the right to hire
agents (this gives the corporation the right to hire
employees); the right to a common seal (this gives the
corporation the right to sign contracts); and the right to
make by-laws (this gives the corporation the right to govern
its internal affairs). Governments and courts may add other
rights and duties. These will vary from jurisdiction to
jurisdiction. The granting of additional rights to corporations
is often very controversial.
CORPORATE UMBRELLA: a term used
in reference to the use made of the corporate name and
corporate image as a shield for new product introductions.