Patent (disambiguation)

For the Wikipedia template, see Template:Patent.

A patent a set of exclusive rights granted by a state (national government) to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention.

Types of intellectual property patents

• Biological patent
• Business method patent
• Chemical patent
• Design patent for an ornamental design or shape
• Software patent
• Utility model, also known as a "petty patent," "innovation patent," "minor patent," or "small patent"
• Utility (patent), for an invention that functions in a unique manner and not merely ornamental.

Other meanings of patent

• Letters patent, a type of legal instrument issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation
• Land patent, a land grant, such as in a patented mining claim
• Patent leather, a shiny form of leather originally produced by a patented process
• Patent medicine, medical compounds of questionable effectiveness sold under a variety of names and labels
• Patent bet, in the UK, a wager on three selections and consisting of 7 separate bets
• In medicine and biology, patent implies open, unobstructed, expanded, e.g. patent ductus arteriosus

See also

• Plant Patent Act, legislation allowing plant breeds to be patented in the United States