Pat"ent (păt"ent or pāt"ent),
a. [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, n. [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.
&fist; 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.] 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.
