Linked from

The 48 pages that link to Patent, each with the reason it gives.

• CopyrightCompared with: Patent law can protect functional inventions, which copyright generally does not.

• Intellectual propertyBroader topic: It covers qualifying inventions rather than creative expression.

• MonopolyRelated: Patents grant temporary exclusivity, trading competition for incentives to innovate.

• Thomas EdisonNarrower topic: Edison’s career relied on patenting inventions and defending rights to commercialize them.

• Alfred NobelNarrower topic: Patents protected Nobel’s inventions and helped generate income for his later bequest.

• Human Genome ProjectCompared with: Debates over patenting genes contrasted with the project's open data commitments.

• Crystal polymorphismRelated: A newly characterized polymorph may become the subject of a separate patent claim.

• Rent-seekingRelated: Patent lobbying can seek broader or longer exclusivity, though patents can also reward genuine innovation.

• Royal charterCompared with: Modern invention patents differ from royal charters despite sharing a historical name.

• TrademarkCompared with: Patent rights cover inventions rather than the commercial identifiers trademarks protect.

• Creative destructionRelated: Patents can reward innovation while also delaying competition and replacement.

• Economic rentRelated: Exclusion can let an inventor earn returns above the minimum needed to develop and supply an invention.

• OriginalityRelated: Patent law tests invention through requirements such as novelty and nonobviousness, distinct from creative originality.

• Scientific priorityCompared with: Patent rules formalize priority through legal filings rather than scientific publication alone.

• Active pharmaceutical ingredientRelated: Patents can protect inventions involving an API and affect when competitors enter.

• Copyright lawCompared with: Patents protect inventions rather than original expression.

• Natural monopolyCompared with: A patent can create temporary market power without any natural cost advantage.

• DynamiteNarrower topic: Nobel secured legal protection for his dynamite invention in 1867.

• Endogenous growth theoryRelated: Temporary exclusivity can reward research while limiting the spread of knowledge.

• LicensingRelated: Patent licenses let others practice an invention under agreed conditions.

• BiopiracyRelated: Patent claims can turn biological discoveries or inherited knowledge into exclusive commercial rights.

• Emile BerlinerNarrower topic: Disputes and licensing over Berliner’s inventions shaped their commercial adoption.

• Jonas SalkCompared with: Salk’s vaccine was not patented by him, a choice often discussed in accounts of its public deployment.

• Trade secretCompared with: A patent requires public disclosure, while trade-secret protection depends on continued secrecy.

• Hans LippersheyNarrower topic: The States General’s refusal to grant exclusivity shaped what Lippershey’s application can prove.

• Leo SzilardNarrower topic: Szilard patented numerous inventions, including an early concept for a neutron-mediated chain reaction.

• Pin tumbler lockRelated: Patents record successive designs and improvements to pin tumbler mechanisms.

• Seed drillRelated: Tull patented an early seed-drilling machine in 1701.

• Perpetual motionRelated: Some patent systems require a credible working demonstration, making perpetual-motion claims difficult to patent.

• Patent medicineCompared with: The label misled consumers: many patent medicines were not patented, since disclosure could reveal their formulas.

• Watt steam engineNarrower topic: Watt’s patents influenced the engine’s licensing, competition, and commercial development.

• George WestinghouseNarrower topic: Patents enabled Westinghouse to protect inventions and build businesses around them.

• Charles Thomas JacksonCompared with: Jackson’s pursuit of recognition differed from Morton’s attempt to secure legal control over ether use.

• John J. LoudNarrower topic: Loud’s design is known through the patent that documented and protected it.

• László BíróNarrower topic: Bíró’s ballpoint was protected through patents filed in multiple countries.

• Patent infringementNarrower topic: Infringement is a violation of rights granted by a patent.

• Barbed wireNarrower topic: Competing barbed-wire designs emerged through patent filings in the late nineteenth century.

• Clarence BirdseyeRelated: Birdseye patented freezing machinery and processes to support his commercial ventures.

• Lawrence HargraveCompared with: Hargrave chose to publish key findings rather than restrict their use through patents.

• ScrunchieRelated: The scrunchie’s invention was documented through a patent granted to Revson.

• SporkRelated: Patent records document early attempts to protect combined eating-utensil designs.

• Etch A SketchNarrower topic: The toy’s development and commercial history involved securing rights to Cassagnes’s invention.

• Fidget spinnerNarrower topic: Patent disputes and attribution claims shaped public accounts of the spinner’s origins.

• Josephine CochraneNarrower topic: Cochrane secured legal protection for the machine’s design with her 1886 patent.

• Lizzie MagieRelated: Magie patented her game in 1904, documenting her authorship and intended rules.

• Margaret E. KnightRelated: Patents recorded and protected several of Knight's mechanical inventions.

• Nicolaus OttoNarrower topic: Otto’s claims over the four-stroke principle raised questions about prior publication and invention.

• Pencil sharpenerNarrower topic: Historical sharpener designs are documented through patents and their changing mechanisms.