Definition of "patent" in Anglais

noun

1. An official document granting an appointment, privilege, or right, or some property or title; letters patent.

2. A grant of a monopoly over the manufacture, sale, and use of goods.

3. A declaration issued by a government agency that the inventor of a new invention has the sole privilege of making, selling, or using the claimed invention for a specified period.

4. A specific grant of ownership of a piece of real property; a land patent.

5. (by extension) A product in respect of which a patent (sense 1.2.2) has been obtained.

6. (uncountable) Ellipsis of patent leather (“a varnished, high-gloss leather typically used for accessories and shoes”).

7. A licence or (formal) permission to do something.

8. A characteristic or quality that one possesses; in particular (hyperbolic) as if exclusively; a monopoly.

9. (gambling) The combination of seven bets on three selections, offering a return even if only one bet comes in.

verb

1. To (successfully) register (a new invention) with a government agency to obtain the sole privilege of its manufacture, sale, and use for a specified period.

2. To obtain (over a piece of real property) a specific grant of ownership.

3. (transitive, figuratively) To be closely associated or identified with (something); to monopolize.

adjective

1. Conspicuous; open; unconcealed.

2. Explicit and obvious.

   • Those claims are patent nonsense.

3. Especially of a document conferring some privilege or right: open to public perusal or use.

   • letters patent

4. Appointed or conferred by letters patent.

5. (botany) Of a branch, leaf, etc.: outspread; also, spreading at right angles to the axis.

6. (law) Protected by a legal patent.

   • a patent right    patent medicines

7. (by extension, figuratively) To which someone has, or seems to have, a claim or an exclusive claim; also, inventive or particularly suited for.