noun, adjective, verb
noun [C,U] an official right to be the only person to make, use or sell a product or an invention; a document that proves this:
to apply for / obtain a patent on an invention * The device was protected by patent.
adjective [onlybeforenoun]
1 connected with a patent:
patent applications / laws * the US Patent Office
2 (of a product) made or sold by a particular company:
patent medicines
3 (formal) used to emphasize that sth bad is very clear and obvious:
It was a patent lie.
verb [VN] to obtain a patent for an invention or a process
