thing invented
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 76 U.S. 812 - Bischoff v. Wethered · 1869Most cited · 113 citing opinions
patent
the whole subject-matter of a patent is an embodied conception outside of the patent itself, which, to the mind of those expert in the art, stands out in clear and distinct relief, whilst it is often unperceived, or but dimly perceived, by the uninitiated. This outward embodiment of the terms contained in the patent is the thing invented, and is to be properly sought, like the explanation of all latent ambiguities arising from the description of external things, by evidence in pais.
How often courts cite the case defining “thing invented”
Court decisions citing the opinion that defined “thing invented” — 112 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining case as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.