noun
Meaning 1
A declaration or order sought, for reasons of legal certainty, from a court that a product or process to be launched was old (i.e., not novel) or obvious in patent law terms at a particular date, so that the product (or process) cannot be affected by (i.e., cannot infringe) any later granted patent, which would itself necessarily also either lack novelty or inventive step.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK
Topics: intellectual-property, law, patent-law
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided