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patent: Word of the day for April 27, 2021

patent , n :
(law) An official document granting an appointment, privilege, or right, or some property or title; letters patent. (specifically) (originally) A grant of a monopoly over the manufacture, sale, and use of goods. 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. (US, historical) A specific grant of ownership of a piece of real property; a land patent. (by extension) A product in respect of which a patent (sense 1.2.2) has been obtained. Short for patent leather (“a varnished, high-gloss leather typically used for accessories and shoes”). (figuratively) A licence or (formal) permission to do something. A characteristic or quality that one possesses; in particular (hyperbolic) as if exclusively; a monopoly. patent v (transitive, law) 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. (US, historical) To obtain (over a piece of real property) a specific grant of ownership. (transitive, figuratively) To be closely associated or identified with (something); to monopolize. patent adj Conspicuous; open; unconcealed. (baking) Of flour: fine, and consisting mostly of the inner part of the endosperm of the grain from which it is milled. (medicine) Open, unobstructed; specifically, especially of the ductus arteriosus or foramen ovale in the heart, having not closed as would have happened in normal development. (medicine, veterinary medicine) Of an infection: in the phase when the organism causing it can be detected by clinical tests. Explicit and obvious. (archaic) Especially of a document conferring some privilege or right: open to public perusal or use. Appointed or conferred by letters patent. (botany) Of a branch, leaf, etc.: outspread; also, spreading at right angles to the axis. (law) Protected by a legal patent. (by extension, figuratively) To which someone has, or seems to have, a claim or an exclusive claim; also, inventive or particularly suited for. Yesterday was World Intellectual Property Day, which is commemorated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to raise awareness about the impact of intellectual property in everyday life, and to celebrate creativity and the contributions of creators and innovators towards the development of societies.

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