Completed, executed, enforceable, merchantable; refers especially to the status ascribed to security interests after certain events have occurred or certain prescribed steps have been taken, such as filing evidence of the interest and taking possession of the collateral. A perfected security interest has priority over an unperfected interest. The date of perfection is also the time from which courts judge priority contests with other perfected creditors. See U.C.C. ยงยง9-301 et seq.
In practice, after all steps necessary to entitle a litigant to proceed in an appellate court have been accomplished, the appeal is said to be
perfected.