patent (1): The patent application and the patent grant (or letter patents) are dispositive acts that rely on formalization of language and textual appearance as well as of rules to build and reinforce our trust in them. Specific conditions must be met by a patent application to be successful: you must have an idea for an object or process that is considered useful and novel; you must describe your invention in some specialized way; you must be persuasive in your arguments; etc. The “truth” of these descriptions is tested and contestable through well-defined procedures. (†399)
