patent
patent definition
pat·ent (pat′'nt; for adj. 2-4 & 8 pāt′'nt, pat′-; Brit usually pāt′'nt)
adjective
- 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
- granted or appointed by letters patent
- open to all; generally accessible or available
- obvious; plain; evident a patent lie
- open or unobstructed
- protected by a patent; patented
- of or having to do with patents or the granting of patents patent law
- produced or sold as a proprietary product
- new, unusual, individual, etc.also patented
- Bot., Zool. spreading out or open; patulous
Etymology: ME < MFr & L: MFr patent < L patens, prp. of patere, to be open: see patella
noun
- 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
- the right so granted
- the thing protected by such a right; patented article or process
- public land, or title to such land, granted to a person by letters patent
- any exclusive right, title, or license
transitive verb
- to grant a patent to or for
- to secure exclusive right to produce, use, and sell (an invention or process) by a patent; get a patent for
Related Forms:
- patentable pat′·ent·able (pat′'nt ə bəl) adjective
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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