to file a patent
1
5.8
- phrasal verb
- Formal
:
presentar una patente
- Apple is set to file a patent for its latest innovative product design next week.
- filed a patent application
Apple has filed a patent for some sort of vaporizer.
- Apple has filed a patent for some sort of vaporizer.
Examples
-
Sikorsky had filed a patent in 1931 for a radically new design of helicopter, but was never able to develop it into a prototype.
Academic text (2003) -
The University of Hawaii has filed a patent application for the hot-forced-air equipment.
Academic text (1998) -
I was ready to file a patent on anything halfway novel.
Fiction book (2000) -
Apple has filed a patent for some sort of vaporizer.
-
Nikon just filed a patent for a technology that would make high-flying photography a snap.
Blog text (28) -
Apple files a patent application for a fingerprint sensor that can be transparent or opaque.
Blog text (24) -
The company in Ettlingen manufactures technical textiles, among other things, and has filed a patent for the innovative fabric.
Blog text (6) -
Heart Co. files a patent application on a specific device and method for treating the defect, but decides to focus its efforts on developing a new pacemaker.
Academic text (2011) -
Chaney says that to make phyto-mining as well as phytoremediation worthwhile requires, at a minimum, a plant with a very high annual intake of minerals, such as the pennycress variety for which they have filed a patent application.
Academic text (2000) -
On March 16, 2013—18 months after the statute goes into effect—the PTO will award a patent to whichever inventor is first to file a patent application.
Academic text (2011)
Synonyms
74
5.8
To get an official right that stops other people from making or selling an invention
To get the right to stop others making or selling your invention
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'file' (to lodge or register paperwork) + 'a patent' (a document granting exclusive rights) yields 'submit paperwork to obtain legal protection'. This follows a common English pattern (e.g., file an application/complaint) and would be inferable by a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
File a patent comes from the simple action of putting papers into a file at the patent office, where inventors handed in a written claim for their idea. So, file a patent means 'to submit official papers to protect an invention'.