
Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Patent (disambiguation)
Introduction
A patent is an intellectual property right covering an invention.
Patent can also refer to the following:
Types of patents
Types of patents
- Utility patent for inventions that do something useful such as apparatus, methods, processes, and new chemicals, plants, animals, bacteria, and genes
- Biological patent
- Chemical patent
Other uses
Other uses
- In medicine and biology, patent implies open, unobstructed, expanded, e.g. patent ductus arteriosus.
- Patent medicine
