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Glite Dictionary
🛡️ Cannot be kept safe ⚖️ Not covered by law
unprotectable

unprotectable

7.7
Laws do not give copyright or patent rights for it
  • adjective
  • /ˌʌnprəˈtɛktəbl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : no susceptible de protección jurídica
  • The court ruled that the logo was unprotectable because it was too generic.

Examples

  • The artist was disappointed to learn her work was unprotectable under intellectual property regulations.

  • The idea was deemed unprotectable under current copyright laws.

  • Some ideas are considered unprotectable and cannot be covered by copyright or patent laws.

  • Many digital artworks are considered unprotectable by copyright.

  • The designer realized that some elements of her artwork were unprotectable due to their common use in the industry.

  • Certain concepts in software development, like algorithms, are often deemed unprotectable under current copyright laws.

  • The court ruled that the idea itself is unprotectable without specific expression or implementation.

Synonyms

unpatentable
vsunprotectable
  • Specialized
1 7.4

A thing that cannot get a legal right to stop others making or selling an invention

applies to inability to gain legal protection in general not only that form

Antonyms

protectable
  • Specialized
1 6.3

Can get legal rights like a patent or copyright

Surface Forms

unprotectable positive

Morphology

unprotectable = protectable (semi-transparent) = un + protect + able

Morphologically regular, but the intended meaning refers to legal protection (copyright/patent), which is domain-specific and may not be obvious to all learners.

Etymology

The word unprotectable breaks into un- 'not', protect 'to keep safe', and -able 'can be'. So in law it means 'not able to be protected', for example a very simple idea or a common logo that cannot get copyright or a patent.