As a noun, a patent is an official right that lets an inventor be the only one allowed to make or sell an invention for a certain time. As an adjective, it can mean something is obvious or clearly seen. As a verb, it means to get this legal protection for an invention.
“Patent” comes from Latin *patens* or *patentem*, meaning “lying open” or “exposed.” Medieval governments issued *litterae patentes*—“open letters” that anyone could read—granting rights or titles, and this idea shifted into the modern legal right for inventions.
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