Patented

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having obtained legal rights granted by a government to exclude others from making or selling an invention ; made officially exclusive or protected through a formal process
2. Acquired exclusive ownership of an invention through government-issued rights ; recognized as legally protected and limited to authorized use
3. Granted special legal protection for a novel invention or design ; officially declared as exclusive to prevent unauthorized copying or use

Etymology: The surprising thing about "patented" is that its root meant "open." The Latin verb "pateō" meant "to be open, accessible," and its present participle "patēns" gave us the adjective "patent," meaning wide open, clear, or available for public inspection. A document was called "patent" when it was open for anyone to read, which is why the sealed-and-public sense of the word matters here. The noun came from a clipping of French phrases such as "lettres patentes," literally "open letters." These were royal documents left unsealed, or sealed with the seal hanging openly, so that anyone could read the grant of an office, privilege, or right. Over time "patent" came to mean the document itself, and then the exclusive right it conveyed. The verb followed from that noun, so to be "patented" is to have been granted such an open letter of exclusive right over an invention. The adjective keeps the same logic: the invention is protected by a public, legally recognized grant, limited to those it is authorized for.

Synonyms: licensed, protected, exclusive

Antonyms: unprotected, public