Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Clearly revealed or obvious: Easily seen or understood; evident.
   • Open or unobstructed: Specifically in medical/biological contexts, describing a bodily passage or duct that is open and allows free flow.

2. Noun:

   • An official document granting exclusive rights: A government-issued certificate that grants an inventor the sole right to make, use, or sell an invention for a set period.
   • The exclusive right itself: The legal right conferred by such a document.

3. Verb:

   • To obtain a patent for: To secure the exclusive legal rights to an invention by official grant.
   • To grant a patent: (Less common) To issue a patent to someone.
   • To make plainly visible: (Figurative) To make something obvious or evident.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:

  • It was a patent lie that no one believed. (It was an obvious lie.)
  • The surgeon noted the patent blood vessel. (The surgeon noted the open blood vessel.)

• Noun:

  • She filed for a patent to protect her new software algorithm.
  • The company holds the patent on this drug until 2035.

• Verb:

  • He patented his design to prevent others from copying it.
  • The government patented the invention to the research team. (Less common usage)

Advanced Usage

• "Patent nonsense": Complete and obvious foolishness or falsehood.

  • His explanation for being late was patent nonsense.

• "Letters patent": (Historical/Legal) An open document, especially from a monarch or government, granting a right, title, or status.

  • The colony was established under letters patent from the king.

Variants and Related Words

• Patentable (adj): Capable of being patented.

  • Not all discoveries are patentable.

• Patently (adv): Very clearly; obviously. (Used to emphasize the adjective sense).

  • His statement was patently false.

• Patentee (n): A person or entity that holds a patent.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Obvious, evident, manifest, clear, plain, apparent.
• Noun: Copyright, trademark, license, permit. (Note: These are distinct types of intellectual property rights).
• Verb: Copyright, register, secure rights to.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Patent pending: A legal notice indicating that a patent application has been filed but not yet granted.
  • The product is marked with "patent pending."

Related Idioms

• As plain as a pikestaff / As plain as day: (Similar in meaning to the adjective 'patent') Extremely obvious.
  • His guilt was as plain as day.

Adjective

1. clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment
   • the effects of the drought are apparent to anyone who sees the parched fields
   • evident hostility
   • manifest disapproval
   • patent advantages
   • made his meaning plain
   • it is plain that he is no reactionary
   • in plain view
2. (of a bodily tube or passageway) open; affording free passage
   • patent ductus arteriosus

Noun

1. an official document granting a right or privilege
2. a document granting an inventor sole rights to an invention

Verb

1. make open to sight or notice
   • His behavior has patented an embarrassing fact about him
2. grant rights to; grant a patent for
3. obtain a patent for
   • Should I patent this invention?