Editing Patent (section)

==Definition==
The word ''patent'' originates from the [[Latin]] ''patere'', which means "to lay open" (i.e., to make available for public inspection). It is a shortened version of the term ''[[letters patent]]'', which was an open document or instrument issued by a monarch or government granting exclusive rights to a person, predating the modern patent system. Similar grants included [[land patent]]s, which were land grants by early state governments in the US, and [[printing patent]]s, a precursor of modern [[copyright]].

In modern usage, the term ''patent'' usually refers to the right granted to anyone who invents something new, useful and non-obvious. A patent is often referred to as a form of [[intellectual property]] right,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/intel1_e.htm |title=What are intellectual property rights? |website=WTO.org |publisher=World Trade Organization |access-date=2016-05-23 |archive-date=2019-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706160029/https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/intel1_e.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="WallMinocha2009">{{cite book|author1=Stuart Wall|author2=Sonal Minocha|author3=Bronwen Rees|title=International Business|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wGPilQPhxWMC&pg=PA43|year=2009|publisher=Financial Times Prentice Hall|isbn=978-0273723721|page=43|quote=(...) patents, trademarks and copyrights. These are often referred to as intellectual property rights (...)|access-date=2021-03-13|archive-date=2023-08-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828081816/https://books.google.com/books?id=wGPilQPhxWMC&pg=PA43|url-status=live}}</ref> an expression which is also used to refer to [[trademark]]s and [[copyright]]s,<ref name="WallMinocha2009"/> and which has proponents and detractors (see also [[Intellectual property#The term "intellectual property"|Intellectual property § The term "intellectual property"]]).

Some other types of intellectual property rights are also called ''patents'' in some jurisdictions: [[industrial design right]]s are called ''[[design patent]]s'' in the US,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s1502.html|title=1502 Definition of a Design [R-08.2012]|work=Manual of Patent Examining Procedure|publisher=USPTO|access-date=7 January 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107075408/http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s1502.html|archive-date=7 January 2015}}</ref> [[plant breeders' rights]] are sometimes called ''plant patents'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uspto.gov/patents/resources/types/plant_patents.jsp|title=General Information About 35 U.S.C. 161 Plant Patents|publisher=USPTO|access-date=7 January 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107075405/http://www.uspto.gov/patents/resources/types/plant_patents.jsp|archive-date=7 January 2015}}</ref> and [[utility model]]s and ''[[Gebrauchsmuster]]'' are sometimes called ''petty patents'' or ''innovation patents''. The additional qualification ''utility patent'' is sometimes used (primarily in the US) to distinguish the primary meaning from these other types of patents.

Particular types of patents for inventions include [[biological patent]]s, [[business method patent]]s, [[chemical patent]]s and [[software patent]]s.