In law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

, the ordinary course of business covers the usual transactions, customs and practices of a certain business and of a certain firm. This term is used particularly to judge the validity of certain transactions. It is used in several different sections of the Uniform Commercial Code

Uniform Commercial Code

The Uniform Commercial Code , first published in 1952, is one of a number of uniform acts that have been promulgated in conjunction with efforts to harmonize the law of sales and other commercial transactions in all 50 states within the United States of America.The goal of harmonizing state law is...

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Section 1-201 of the Uniform Commercial Code defines a "Buyer in the ordinary course of business" by a four part test:

1. a person that buys goods in good faith
   Good faith
   In philosophy, the concept of Good faith—Latin bona fides “good faith”, bona fide “in good faith”—denotes sincere, honest intention or belief, regardless of the outcome of an action; the opposed concepts are bad faith, mala fides and perfidy...
   
   ,
2. without knowledge that the sale violates the rights of another person in the goods [e.g. a security interest
   Security interest
   A security interest is a property interest created by agreement or by operation of law over assets to secure the performance of an obligation, usually the payment of a debt. It gives the beneficiary of the security interest certain preferential rights in the disposition of secured assets...
   
   ],
3. and in the ordinary course from a person, other than a pawnbroker
   Pawnbroker
   A pawnbroker is an individual or business that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral...
   
   , in the business of selling goods of that kind.
4. A person buys goods in the ordinary course if the sale to the person comports with the usual or customary practices in the kind of business in which the seller is engaged or with the seller's own usual or customary practices.

[emphasis added]