Science-speak noun A document that grants an inventor, in terms of a determined number of years, the exclusive right to make use of and sell his or her invention. Thus, for example, the bowel may be patent (as opposed to obstructed). Pronounced pa-tent with the accent on the first syllable.
CONTINUE SCROLLING OR CLICK HERE FOR RELATED ARTICLE. Before the commercialization of biomedical inventions, the word patent in this sense had no place in a medical dictionary. Now the patent is the foundation of the biotechnology industry.
A medical patent is a legal protection against market competition that a government grants to the inventor of a unique medical item or process. A medical patent, like other types of patents, prevents competitors from making, using or selling the patented item or process for a limited time. A patent medicine, also known as a nostrum (from the Latin nostrum remedium, or our remedy), is a commercial product advertised (usually heavily) as a purported over-the-counter medicine, without regard to its effectiveness.
Patent definition , the exclusive right granted by a government to an inventor to manufacture, use, or sell an invention for a certain number of years.