PATENTS

Noun

patents

plural of patent

Verb

patents

Third-person singular simple present indicative form of patent

Anagrams

• Pattens, pantest, pattens, pét-nats

Source: Wiktionary


PATENT

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

1.

Note: (Oftener pronounced pat"ent in this sense)

Definition: 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.)

Definition: 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.

Pat"ent, n. Etym: [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.

Pat"ent, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Patented; p. pr. & vb. n. Patenting.]

Definition: 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

5 February 2025

CARE

(noun) activity involved in maintaining something in good working order; “he wrote the manual on car care”


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Coffee Trivia

The first coffee-house in Mecca dates back to the 1510s. The beverage was in Turkey by the 1530s. It appeared in Europe circa 1515-1519 and was introduced to England by 1650. By 1675 the country had more than 3,000 coffee houses, and coffee had replaced beer as a breakfast drink.

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