inoperative

inoperative, adj.

1. Having no force or effect; not operative (an inoperative statute).

2. Patents. (Of an invention), the condition of not being capable of functioning as described in the patent application.

“An invention is inoperative if an exemplification, built exactly as described in the patent, won’t operate, or if further experiment and invention are required to make it operate.” Roger Sherman Hoar, Patent Tactics and the Law 37 (3d ed. 1950).

---

词条贡献者

译者李科，毕业于世界顶级翻译学院，擅长翻译各种与国家安全审查相关的法律文件。