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Patent vs Generic - What's the difference?

patent | generic |

As nouns the difference between patent and generic

is that patent is while generic is a product sold under a generic name.

As an adjective generic is

very comprehensive; pertaining or appropriate to large classes or groups as opposed to specific.

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

    * ----

    generic

    Alternative forms

    * generick

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Very comprehensive; pertaining or appropriate to large classes or groups as opposed to specific.
  • :* "...the essence is that such self-describing poets describe what is in them, but not peculiar to them, – what is generic , not what is special and individual." — Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)
  • Lacking in precision, often in an evasive fashion; vague; imprecise.
  • (of a product or drug) Not having a brand name.
  • (biology, not comparable) Of or relating to a taxonomic genus.
  • (grammar) Specifying neither masculine nor feminine; epicene.
  • Words like salesperson and firefighter are generic .
  • (computing) (Of program code) Written so as to operate on any data type, the type required being passed as a parameter.
  • (geometry, of a point) Having coordinates that are algebraically independent over the base field.
  • Synonyms

    * (comprehensive) general * (lacking a brand) unbranded

    Antonyms

    * (comprehensive) specific, proprietary * (lacking a brand) non-generic, proprietary, branded

    Derived terms

    * genericity * genericness

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A product sold under a generic name
  • A wine that is a blend of several wines, or made from a blend of several grape varieties
  • (grammar) A term that specifies neither male nor female.
  • * 1998 , Jacqueline A. Dienemann, Nursing administration: managing patient care