Long sufferance is construed as consent.

Explanation

(English-origin maxim.) Prolonged toleration of another's act without objection is treated as consent — silence and inaction over time raise a presumption that the party acquiesced.

Where this applies

• A landowner watches a neighbor build a fence one foot onto her property and says nothing for fifteen years — her long silence is treated as consent to the encroachment.
• A business allows a competitor to use its trademark for years without objection, and the court treats the silence as implied consent.
• A homeowner sees a utility company run a cable across his yard and never complains for a decade — his long toleration is construed as permission.