PATENT
[ˈpætənt] or [ˈpeɪtənt]
-noun
1. a government grant to an inventor assuring him the sole
right to make, use, and sell his invention for a limited period
2. a document conveying such a grant
3. an invention, privilege, etc., protected by a patent
4. an official document granting a right
5. any right granted by such a document
6 (in the US)
a. a grant by the government of title to public
lands
b. the instrument by which such title is granted
c. the land so granted
7. a sign that one possesses a certain quality
-adj.
8. open or available for inspection
9. [ˈpeɪtənt] obvious
10. concerning protection, appointment, etc., of or by a
patent or patents
11. proprietary
12. (especially of a bodily passage or duct) being open or
unobstructed
13. (biology) spreading out widely
14. (of plate glass) ground and polished on both sides
-verb (trans.)
15. to obtain a patent for
16. (in the US) to grant (public land or mineral rights) by
a patent
17. (metallurgy) . to heat (a metal) above a transformation
temperature and cool it at a rate that allows cold working
Shooting against the light
In a patent effort to be novel