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Letters patent (always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation. Letters patent can be used for the creation of corporations or government offices, or for the granting of city status or a coat of arms. Letters patent are issued for the appointment of representatives of the Crown, such as Governors and Governors-General of Commonwealth realms, as well as appointing a Royal Commission. In the United Kingdom they are also issued for the creation of peers of the realm. A particular form of letters patent has evolved into the modern patent (referred to as a utility patent or design patent in United States patent law) granting exclusive rights in an invention (or a design in the case of a design patent). Clearly in this case it is essential that the written grant should be in the form of a public document so other inventors can consult it to avoid infringement and also to understand how to "practice" the invention, i.e., put it into practical use. The opposite of letters patent are ''letters close'' ((ラテン語:litterae clausae)), which are personal in nature and sealed so that only the recipient can read their contents. Letters patent are thus comparable to other kinds of open letter in that their audience is wide. It is not clear how the contents of letters patent became widely published before collection by the addressee, for example whether they were left after sealing by the king for inspection during a certain period by courtiers in a royal palace, who would disseminate the contents back to the gentry in the shires through normal conversation and social intercourse. Clearly some such mechanism was essential. Today, for example, it is a convention for the British prime minister to announce that he has left a document he wishes to enter the public domain "in the library of the House of Commons", where it may be freely perused by all Members of Parliament. ==Meaning== Letters patent are so named from the Latin verb ''pateo'', to lie open, exposed, accessible.〔Cassell's Latin Dictionary, revised by Marchant & Charles, 260th. thousand〕 The originator's seal was attached ''pendent'' from the document, so that it did not have to be broken in order for the document to be read. ''Litterae'' in Latin meant "that which is written" or "writing", in the sense of letters of the alphabet placed together in meaningful sequence on a writing surface, not a specific format of composition as the modern word "letter" suggests. Thus letters patent do not equate to an open letter but rather to any form of document, deed, contract, letter, despatch, edict, decree, epistle etc.〔Cassell's Latin Dictionary, op.cit., p.321〕 made public. They are called "letters" (plural) from their Latin name ''litterae patentes'', used by medieval and later scribes when the documents were written in Latin, in the ancient sense of a collection of letters of the alphabet arranged to be read rather than in the modern sense of an "epistle" or item of correspondence: thus no singular form exists.〔Cassell's Latin Dictionary, revised by Marchant & Charles, 260th. thousand: "Literae, Plur: that which is written; Cicero: ''Dare alicui literas'' (plur) ''ad aliquem'': to give to a messenger a letter for a third person"〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Letters patent」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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