Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

lapse patent

A land patent substituting for an earlier patent to the same land that lapsed because the previous patentee did not claim it. 3. The exclusive right to make, use, or sell an invention for a specified period (usu. 17 years), granted by the federal government to the inventor if the device or process is novel, useful, and nonobvious. 35 USCA §§ 101-103.