patent

[pat-nt, peyt-, 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 an exclusive right to manufacture, use, or sell it.

3. an official document conferring on the inventor the exclusive right to manufacture, use, or sell an invention; letters patent.

4. Law.,  the instrument by which the government of the United States conveys the legal fee-simple title to public land.

5. patent leather.

adjective

1. protected by an exclusive right given to an inventor to manufacture, use, or sell an invention; patented.

   a patent cooling device.

2. relating to, concerned with, or dealing with the granting of exclusive rights to sell or manufacture something, especially inventions.

   a patent attorney;

   patent law.

3. (of a right, privilege, etc.) conferred by a patent.

4. holding an exclusive right to manufacture, use, or sell an invention.

5. readily open to notice or observation; evident; obvious.

   She turned her nose up at me in a patent breach of good manners.

   Synonyms: unconcealed, conspicuous, palpable, clear
   Antonyms: hidden, obscure, dim

6. made of patent leather.

   patent shoes.

7. (of a medication) sold without a prescription and usually protected by an exclusive legal right to manufacture.

   patent remedies;

   patent drugs.

8. lying open; not enclosed or shut in.

   a patent field.

9. (of a doorway, passage, or the like) open.

10. Chiefly Botany.,  expanded or spreading.

11. Medicine/Medical.,  (of a duct or passage in the body) open or unobstructed.

12. Phonetics.,  open, in various degrees, to the passage of the breath stream.

verb (used with object)

1. to take out a patent on; obtain the exclusive rights to (an invention, process, etc.) by a patent.

2. to originate and establish as one's own.

3. Metallurgy.,  to heat and quench (wire) so as to prepare for cold-drawing.

4. Law.,  to grant (public land) by a patent.

patent

/ ˈpeɪtənt, ˈpætənt /

noun

1. 1. a government grant to an inventor assuring him the sole right to make, use, and sell his invention for a limited period

   2. a document conveying such a grant

2. an invention, privilege, etc, protected by a patent

3. 1. an official document granting a right

   2. any right granted by such a document

4. 1. a grant by the government of title to public lands

   2. the instrument by which such title is granted

   3. the land so granted

5. a sign that one possesses a certain quality

adjective

1. open or available for inspection (esp in the phrases letters patent, patent writ )

2. obvious

   their scorn was patent to everyone

3. concerning protection, appointment, etc, of or by a patent or patents

4. proprietary

5. (esp of a bodily passage or duct) being open or unobstructed

6. biology spreading out widely

   patent branches

7. (of plate glass) ground and polished on both sides

verb

1. to obtain a patent for

2. (in the US) to grant (public land or mineral rights) by a patent

3. metallurgy to heat (a metal) above a transformation temperature and cool it at a rate that allows cold working

Usage

The pronunciation ˈpætənt is heard in letters patent and Patent Office and is the usual US pronunciation for all senses. In Britain ˈpætənt is sometimes heard for senses 1, 2 and 3, but ˈpeɪtənt is commoner and is regularly used in collocations like patent leather

Other Word Forms

• patentable adjective
• patentability noun
• patentably adverb
• patently adverb
• nonpatentability noun
• nonpatentable adjective
• nonpatented adjective
• nonpatently adverb
• prepatent noun
• unpatent adjective
• unpatentability noun
• unpatentable adjective
• unpatented adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of patent¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; (adjective) Middle English, from Latin patent-, stem of patēns “open, standing open,” present participle of patēre “to stand open, lie open”; (noun) Middle English, short for letters patent, translation of Medieval Latin litterae patentēs “open letters”

Word History and Origins

Origin of patent¹

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)

Synonym Study

See apparent.

Example Sentences

The University of California has filed a patent application, which is now pending.

Read more on Science Daily

According to his paper, researchers discovered more materials, filed more new patents and saw an increase in prototypes.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

For Big Pharma, the triumph of developing a new lifesaving blockbuster drug that generates billions in revenue is inevitably followed by the reality that drug patents have an expiration date.

Read more on Barron's

He moved the family business to Encinitas, where he bought 67 acres near the railroad and Interstate 5 and planted so many patented poinsettia plants that passersby were treated to crimson waves come November.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The RNA used in experiments are usually produced in test tubes, a costly process often patented by US companies.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• charter 
• concession 
• license 
• privilege 
• protection