ACQUIESCENCE acquiescence (ak-wee-es-<<schwa>>nts).1. A person's tacit or passive acceptance; implied consent to an act. commercial acquiescence. Patents.

Action or inaction by a patentee's competitor that reflects the competitor's belief that the patent is valid. A patent owner may use another person's actions or inactions, such as taking a license or attempting to design around a patent, as circumstantial evidence of the nonobviousness of a patented invention or of a patent's validity or enforceability. [Cases: Patents 36.1(1). C.J.S. Patents 9899.] 2.Int'l law. Passivity and inaction on foreign claims that, according to customary international law, usu. call for protest to assert, preserve, or safeguard rights. The result is that binding legal effect is given to silence and inaction. Acquiescence, as a principle of substantive law, is grounded in the concepts of good faith and equity.