patent definition | Dictionary.com

pat⋅ent

[pat-nt or, for 10, 12–15, peyt-; especially Brit. 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 patent (for 10, 12–15.)

6.	protected by a patent; patented: a patent cooling device.

7.	pertaining to, concerned with, or dealing with patents, esp. 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.

–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.) ME < L patent- (s. of patēns) open, orig. prp. of patēre to stand wide open; (n.) ME, short for letters patent, trans. of ML 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

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. 2009.
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pat·ent (pāt'nt)

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. Letters patent.
3. An invention protected by such a grant.
4. A grant made by a government that confers on an individual fee-simple title to public lands.
5. The official document of such a grant.
6. The land so granted.
1. A grant made by a government that confers on an individual fee-simple title to public lands.
2. The official document of such a grant.
3. The land so granted.
An exclusive right or title.

adj.

1. Protected or conferred by a patent or letters patent: a patent right.
2. Of, relating to, or dealing in patents: patent law.
3. Not blocked; open.
4. Spreading open; expanded.
also (pāt'nt) Obvious; plain. See Synonyms at apparent.
(pāt'nt) Biology
1. Not blocked; open.
2. Spreading open; expanded.
Of, relating to, or being a nonprescription drug or other medical preparation that is often protected by a trademark.
Of high quality. Used of flour.
also (pāt'nt) Archaic Open to general inspection. Used especially of documents.

tr.v. pat·ent·ed, pat·ent·ing, pat·ents

To obtain a patent on or for (an invention, for example).
To invent, originate, or be the proprietor of (an idea, for example).
To grant a patent to or for.

[Middle English, document granting a right, short for (lettre) patent, open (letter), from Old French (lettre) patente, from Latin patēns, patent-, open, present participle of patēre, to be open; see petə- in Indo-European roots.]
pat'ent·a·bil'i·ty n., pat'ent·a·ble adj.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Patent

Pat"ent\ (p[a^]t"ent or p[=a]t"ent), a. [L. patens, -entis, p. pr. of patere to be open: cf. F. patent. Cf. Fathom.]

Note: (Oftener pronounced p[=a]t"ent in this sense) Open; expanded; evident; apparent; unconcealed; manifest; public; conspicuous.

He had received instructions, both patent and secret. --Motley.

2. Open to public perusal; -- said of a document conferring some right or privilege; as, letters patent. See Letters patent, under 3d Letter.

3. Appropriated or protected by letters patent; secured by official authority to the exclusive possession, control, and disposal of some person or party; patented; as, a patent right; patent medicines.

Madder . . . in King Charles the First's time, was made a patent commodity. --Mortimer.

4. (Bot.) Spreading; forming a nearly right angle with the steam or branch; as, a patent leaf.

Patent leather, a varnished or lacquered leather, used for boots and shoes, and in carriage and harness work.

Patent office, a government bureau for the examination of inventions and the granting of patents.

Patent right. (a) The exclusive right to an invention, and the control of its manufacture. (b) (Law) The right, granted by the sovereign, of exclusive control of some business of manufacture, or of the sale of certain articles, or of certain offices or prerogatives.

Patent rolls, the registers, or records, of patents.

Patent

Pat"ent\, n. [Cf. F. patente. See Patent, a.]

1. A letter patent, or letters patent; an official document, issued by a sovereign power, conferring a right or privilege on some person or party. Specifically: (a) A writing securing to an invention. (b) A document making a grant and conveyance of public lands.

Four other gentlemen of quality remained mentioned in that patent. --Fuller.

Note: In the United States, by the act of 1870, patents for inventions are issued for seventeen years, without the privilege of renewal except by act of Congress.

2. The right or privilege conferred by such a document; hence, figuratively, a right, privilege, or license of the nature of a patent.

If you are so fond over her iniquity, give her patent to offend. --Shak.

Patent

Pat"ent\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Patented; p. pr. & vb. n. Patenting.] To grant by patent; to make the subject of a patent; to secure or protect by patent; as, to patent an invention; to patent public lands.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : patent

Spanish: patente,

German: das Patent; Patent-…,

Japanese: 特許

More Translations »

patent (n.)

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.

Patent

A government license that gives the holder exclusive rights to a process, design, or new invention for a designated period of time.

Investopedia Commentary

In the United States most patents are valid for 17 years.

Main Entry: pat·ent
Pronunciation: 'pat-^&nt 3 also 'pAt-
Function: adjective
Etymology: Anglo-French, from Latin patent- patens, from present participle of patEre to be open
1 a : open to public inspection —see also letters patent at LETTER 2 b : secured or protected by a patent patent license to produce and sell the product> patent rights against infringement>
2 : of, relating to, or concerned with the granting of patents esp. for inventions patent lawyer> patent litigation>
3 : readily seen, discovered, or understood patent defect> patent> —compare LATENT —pat·ent·ly adverb

Main Entry: pat·ent
Pronunciation: 'pat-^&nt
Function: noun
1 : an official document conferring a right or privilege : LETTERS PATENT at, LETTER
2 a : the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention or products made by an invented process that is granted to an inventor and his or her heirs or assigns for a term of years —see also intellectual property at PROPERTY —compare COPYRIGHT, TRADEMARK
NOTE: A patent may be granted for a process, act, or method that is new, useful, and not obvious, for a new use of a known process, machine, or composition of matter or material, as well as for an asexually reproduced distinct and new variety of plant (excluding one propagated from a tuber), and for any new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. Design patents are issued for a term of 14 years. Patents issuing on applications made after June 8, 1995, for basic or plant patents (excluding design patents) are for a term of 20 years from the date of application. An inventor can file a provisional patent application, which requires less documentation and lower fees than a regular application, before reducing the invention to practice. This allows the inventor to claim “patent pending” status for the invention and to establish an earlier filing date and priority of the invention. A regular patent application must be made within a year of the provisional application or it will expire. Patents are considered personal property and may be sold, assigned, or otherwise transferred. Under common law, if a patented invention or discovery is made while the inventor is working for a company, and is made on company time with company facilities and materials, the employer receives an irrevocable, nonassignable, nonexclusive, royalty-free license to use it. Often an employee is required contractually to assign his or her patent to the employer. b : the writing securing such a right patent in the mail> c : a patented invention patent —Internal Revenue Code>
3 : an instrument making a conveyance of public lands patent to each of said Indians for the village or town lot occupied by him —U.S. Code> —see also fee patent at FEE 1

Main Entry: pat·ent
Function: transitive verb
: to obtain or grant a right to (something) by a patent patented to the railroad>; specifically : to protect the rights to (an invention) by a patent patented>

Main Entry: pa·tent
Pronunciation: 'pat-^&nt, Brit usu 'pAt-
Function: noun
1 : protected by a trademark or a trade nameso as to establish proprietary rights analogous to those conveyed by a patent : PROPRIETARY <patentdrugs>
2Pronunciation: 'pAt-
: affording free passage : being open and unobstructed patent with no pathological discharge—Journal of the American Medical Association>

patent pat·ent (pāt'nt)
n.

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.
An invention protected by such a grant.

adj.

Of, relating to, or being a nonprescription drug or other medical preparation that is often protected by a trademark.
(pāt'nt) Not blocked; open.
(pāt'nt ) Spreading open; expanded.

v. pat·ent·ed, pat·ent·ing, pat·ents

To obtain a patent on or for something, such as an invention.
To invent, originate, or be the proprietor of an idea.
To grant a patent to somone or for something.

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