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Webster 1913 Edition


Patent

Pat′ent

(păt′ent or pāt′ent)
,
Adj.
[L.
patens
,
-entis
, p. pr. of
patere
to be open: cf. F.
patent
. Cf.
Fathom
.]
1.
(Oftener pronounced
pāt′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.

Pat′ent

,
Noun.
[Cf. F.
patente
. See
Patent
,
Adj.
]
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.
☞ 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.
Shakespeare

Pat′ent

,
Verb.
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.