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Copyleft vs Patent - What's the difference?

copyleft | patent |

As nouns the difference between copyleft and patent

is that copyleft is the philosophy of using copyrights to enforce freedom of information, especially software source code while patent is .

As a verb copyleft

is to license under a copyleft license.

copyleft

English

(wikipedia copyleft)

Noun

(en-noun)
  • The philosophy of using copyrights to enforce freedom of information, especially software source code.
    • ''They believe in copyleft because they want their software to be used freely by anyone.
  • A software license that follows this philosophy.
    • I have placed my program under copyleft .
    The GNU General Public License is a copyleft licence.

    Derived terms

    * (l)

    Verb

  • To license under a copyleft license.
    • Linus Torvalds copylefted the Linux kernel.

    patent

    English

    (wikipedia patent)

    Etymology 1

    Short form of (etyl) lettre patente'', "open letter", from (etyl) ''littera patens .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A declaration issued by a government agency declaring someone the inventor of a new invention and having the privilege of stopping others from making, using or selling the claimed invention; a letter patent.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Obama goes troll-hunting , passage=The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.}}
  • A specific grant of ownership of a piece of property; a land patent.
  • Patent leather]]: a [[varnish, varnished, high-gloss leather typically used for shoes and accessories.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To successfully register an invention with a government agency; to secure a letter patent.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author= Karen McVeigh
    • , volume=189, issue=2, page=10, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= US rules human genes can't be patented , passage=The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented , a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.}}

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) patent, from (etyl), from (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (biology) open, unobstructed, expanded.
    • That is a patent ductus arteriosus.
  • explicit and obvious.
    • Those claims are patent nonsense.
  • (of flour) that is fine, and consists mostly of the inner part of the endosperm
  • Open; unconcealed; conspicuous.
  • * Motley
    • He had received instructions, both patent and secret.
  • Open to public perusal; said of a document conferring some right or privilege.
    • letters patent
  • Protected by a legal patent.
    • a patent''' right; '''patent medicines
  • * Mortimer
    • Madder in King Charles the First's time, was made a patent commodity.
    Derived terms
    * patently

    Anagrams

    * ----