patent Hear it!

patent Definition

pat·ent (pat′'nt; for adj. 2-4 & 8 pāt′'nt, pat′-; Brit usually pāt′'nt)

adjective

    1. open to examination by the public: said of a document granting some right or rights, as to land, a franchise, an office, or, now esp., an invention letters patent
    2. granted or appointed by letters patent
  2. open to all; generally accessible or available
  3. obvious; plain; evident a patent lie
  4. open or unobstructed
    1. protected by a patent; patented
    2. of or having to do with patents or the granting of patents patent law
  6. produced or sold as a proprietary product
  7. new, unusual, individual, etc.
  8. Bot., Zool. spreading out or open; patulous

Etymology: ME < MFr & L: MFr patent < L patens, prp. of patere, to be open: see patella

noun

  1. an official document open to public examination and granting a certain right or privilege; letters patent; esp., a document granting the exclusive right to produce, sell, or get profit from an invention, process, etc. for a specific number of years
    1. the right so granted
    2. the thing protected by such a right; patented article or process
  3. public land, or title to such land, granted to a person by letters patent
  4. any exclusive right, title, or license

transitive verb

  1. to grant a patent to or for
  2. to secure exclusive right to produce, use, and sell (an invention or process) by a patent; get a patent for

patent Related Forms
pat′·ent·able (pat′'nt ə bəl) adjective
patent Synonyms

patent

modif.

  1. Concerning a product for which a patent has been obtained

    controlled, monopolized, patented, licensed, limited, copyrighted, protected, exclusive.

    Antonyms free*, unpatented, uncontrolled.

  2. Obvious

    evident, open, clear; see obvious 1.

patent Synonyms

patent

n.

patent right, letters patent, protection, concession, control, limitation, license, copyright, privilege, grant, charter, franchise; see also monopoly.

patent Synonyms

patent

v.

license, secure, control, limit, monopolize, safeguard, exclude, copyright, register, trademark.

patent Finance Definition
An exclusive right, given to a person or company by the U.S. government, that lets the person or company “exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” a particular product or a specific process in the United States or importing the product or process into the United States. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office grants a patent for a period of 17 years. Patent holders may apply for a renewal of their patent in certain cases. There are three types of patents: A utility patent may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, or article of manufacture, or creates any new useful improvement. A design patent is given for a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. A plant patent may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers and reproduces any distinct and new variety of plants.

Accounting regulations call for the value of a patent to be amortized over its useful life, which may be less than the legal life of 17 years. If a patent has to be defended in court in a patent infringement suit, it is added to the acquisition cost of the patent.

patent Law Definition

adj

Obvious; manifest; apparent; clear; evident, as in “the contract had a patent ambiguity.” See also latent ambiguity. Pronounced PAY-tint.
patent Telecom Definition
Intellectual property protection for inventors of products that are deemed novel, useful, and not obvious to one reasonably skilled in that particular art. A United States patent prevents others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling an invention throughout the United States or from importing the invention into the United States. In order to receive United States patent protection, which extends for 20 years from application, the invention must be submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office for examination. United States patent law protects not only physical devices, but also software, mathematical algorithms, business processes, and other inventions that involve the use of a computer. Note: The first patent issued in the United States was U.S. Patent No. 1X, Method of producing pot ash and pearl ash, issued to Samuel Hopkins on July 31, 1790, and signed by G.Washington. See also intellectual property.
patent Usage Examples

Object

  • invention: They have patented two inventions related to underwater photography.

Converse of object

  • infringe: The MorphoSys action asked the court to revoke CAT's Griffiths patent and/or declare that MorphoSys does not infringe the patent.
  • revoke: The hearing officer had, therefore, been right to revoke the patent.
  • grant: The office must halt its current practice of granting patents for software, a practice for which there is no legal basis.
  • obtain: He set a new tone in the world of photography by sharing his findings openly without obtaining a patent.
  • violate: Microsoft's conferencing software was found to violate a patent and must pay $ 62.3 million in damages.
  • amend: This is an alternative to the existing possibility of the proprietor amending the patent under the 1977 Act.

Adjective modifier

  • granted: Granted patents relating to the target antigen are available for licensing.
  • provisional: After filing for provisional patents was complete, Tony Hickson contacted InnovationRCA for assistance with design and rapid prototyping.
  • European: A further 6 states can be covered by extension of the European patent.
  • worldwide: Includes a list of links to worldwide patent related sites.

Modifies a noun

  • infringement: Google the world's most infamous internet search engine is being sued for patent infringement.
  • attorney: My degree has allowed me to become a patent attorney, without a science degree I would not have been employed in this area.
  • foramen: Is there any evidence for increased incidence of patent foramen ovale ( PFO ) in children?
  • expiry: There are some drug groups for which we get regular enquiries on the patent expiry dates for all the group.
  • litigation: US Biotech company Mycogen is currently spending over half its net income on patent litigation!
  • application: For example, a UK patent application filed on Monday will not be deemed to have a filing date of 7 or 8 July.

Noun used with modifier

  • software: Many of the software patents granted in the US are simply existing ideas with " over the Internet " added to them.
  • letter: These letters patent are not recorded on the patent roll ( CChR, 132741, pp.

Preposition: for

  • invention: Although he held patents for many inventions, he never applied for patents for either design in this category.
patent Quotes

The patent system†added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius.

—Lincoln, Abraham