Simple English definitions for legal terms
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X-Patent: An X-Patent is an old type of patent that was granted in the United States before the numbering system was established in 1836. To avoid having duplicate numbers, an X was added to the numbers of existing patents.
An X-patent is an early type of patent granted in the United States before the numbering system was established in the Patent Act of 1836. The name "X-patent" comes from the fact that an X was added to the numbers of existing patents to avoid duplicate numbers.
For example, if there was already a patent numbered 123, and another patent was granted with the same number, the second patent would be labeled X-123 to differentiate it from the first.
This system was used for a short time before the numbering system was established, and X-patents are now considered a historical artifact of the early days of the U.S. patent system.