Letters Patent

Summary of Letters Patent

A document, issued under governmental authority, conveying to one or more individuals exclusive rights or privileges. Letters patent are instruments used to bestow tides of nobility and to grant lands for service to the crown or state. In modern usage, the term commonly refers to the protection afforded by the state to an inventor, granting him or his assigns the sole right to manufacture and sell his invention for a specified period of time.

(Main Author: William J. Miller)