Legal protection for an invention; used in formal, business, and technical contexts.
He obtained a patent for the new technology.
Submit an application to the Patent Office.
special permission; license; concession; charter
Official authorization or exclusive right granted by an authority; broader than a technical patent. Can refer to government licenses, concessions, or charters.
This business requires a special license from the government.
In the Edo period, merchants traded under charters granted by the shogunate.
It took three years to get a patent for this technology.
We applied for a patent on the new invention.
The patent on that drug expired, and generic versions were released.
They were sued for infringing on another company's patent.
The government granted the company a trade charter.
patent thicket; patent cluster
patent · one's specialty; party piece; signature move