nonpatentable

pat·ent

[pat-nt or for 10, 12–15, peyt-; especially British peyt-nt]
noun
1.
the exclusive right granted by a government to an inventor to manufacture, use, or sell an invention for a certain number of years.
2.
an invention or process protected by this right.
3.
an official document conferring such a right; letters patent.
4.
the instrument by which the government of the United States conveys the legal fee-simple title to public land.
5.
patent leather.
adjective none, pa·tent (for 10, 12–15)
6.
protected by a patent; patented: a patent cooling device.
7.
pertaining to, concerned with, or dealing with patents, especially on inventions: a patent attorney; patent law.
8.
conferred by a patent, as a right or privilege.
9.
holding a patent, as a person.
10.
readily open to notice or observation; evident; obvious: a patent breach of good manners.
11.
made of patent leather: patent shoes.
12.
lying open; not enclosed or shut in: a patent field.
13.
Chiefly Botany. expanded or spreading.
14.
open, as a doorway or a passage.
15.
Phonetics. open, in various degrees, to the passage of the breath stream.
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verb (used with object)
16.
to take out a patent on; obtain the exclusive rights to (an invention, process, etc.) by a patent.
17.
to originate and establish as one's own.
18.
Metallurgy. to heat and quench (wire) so as to prepare for cold-drawing.
19.
to grant (public land) by a patent.
Origin:
1250–1300; (adj.) Middle English < Latin patent- (stem of patēns) open, orig. present participle of patēre to stand wide open; (noun) Middle English, short for letters patent, translation of Medieval Latin litterae patentēs open letters

Related forms
pat·ent·a·ble, adjective
pat·ent·a·bil·i·ty, noun
pat·ent·a·bly, adverb
pa·tent·ly, adverb
non·pat·ent·a·bil·i·ty, noun
non·pat·ent·a·ble, adjective
non·pat·ent·ed, adjective
non·pat·ent·ly, adverb
pre·pat·ent, noun, verb (used with object)
un·pat·ent, adjective
un·pat·ent·a·bil·i·ty, noun
un·pat·ent·a·ble, adjective
un·pat·ent·ed, adjective

Synonyms
10. clear, palpable, conspicuous, unconcealed. See apparent.

Antonyms
10. dim, obscure, hidden.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
patent (ˈpætənt, ˈpeɪtənt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  a.  a government grant to an inventor assuring him the sole right to make, use, and sell his invention for a limited period
 b.  a document conveying such a grant
2.  an invention, privilege, etc, protected by a patent
3.  a.  an official document granting a right
 b.  any right granted by such a document
4.  in the US
 a.  a grant by the government of title to public lands
 b.  the instrument by which such title is granted
 c.  the land so granted
5.  a sign that one possesses a certain quality
 
—adj
6.  open or available for inspection (esp in the phrases letters patent, patent writ)
7.  obvious: their scorn was patent to everyone
8.  concerning protection, appointment, etc, of or by a patent or patents
9.  proprietary
10.  (esp of a bodily passage or duct) being open or unobstructed
11.  biology spreading out widely: patent branches
12.  (of plate glass) ground and polished on both sides
 
—vb
13.  to obtain a patent for
14.  (in the US) to grant (public land or mineral rights) by a patent
15.  metallurgy to heat (a metal) above a transformation temperature and cool it at a rate that allows cold working
 
[C14: via Old French from Latin patēre to lie open; n use, short for letters patent, from Medieval Latin litterae patentes letters lying open (to public inspection)]
 
usage  
 
'patentable
 
—adj
 
patenta'bility
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

patent
1376, "open letter or document from some authority," shortened form of Anglo-Fr. lettre patent (also in M.L. (litteræ) patentes), lit. "open letter" (1292), from O.Fr. patente (adj.), from L. patentum (nom. patens) "open, lying open," prp. of patere "lie open, be open," from PIE *pet- "to spread"
(cf. Gk. petannynai "to spread out," petalon "leaf," O.N. faðmr "embrace, bosom," O.E. fæðm "embrace, fathom").
"The Letters Patent were ... written upon open sheets of parchment, with the Great Seal pendent at the bottom ... [while] the 'Litteræ Clausæ,' or Letters Close, ... being of a more private nature, and addressed to one or two individuals only, were closed or folded up and sealed on the outside." [S.R. Scargill-Bird, "A Guide to the Principal Classes of Documents at the Public Record Office," 1891]
The adj. sense of "open to view, plain, clear" is first recorded 1508; the verb "to obtain right to land" is attested from 1675. The meaning "copyright an invention" is first recorded 1822, from earlier meaning "obtain exclusive right or monopoly" (1789), a privilege granted by the Crown via letters patent.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

patent pat·ent (pāt'nt)
n.

  1. A grant made by a government that confers upon the creator of an invention the sole right to make, use, and sell that invention for a set period of time.

  2. An invention protected by such a grant.

adj.

  1. Of, relating to, or being a nonprescription drug or other medical preparation that is often protected by a trademark.

  2. (pāt'nt) Not blocked; open.

  3. (pāt'nt ) Spreading open; expanded.

v. pat·ent·ed, pat·ent·ing, pat·ents

  1. To obtain a patent on or for something, such as an invention.

  2. To invent, originate, or be the proprietor of an idea.

  3. To grant a patent to somone or for something.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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