above-board vs patent

above-board

adj
  • In open sight; without trick, concealment, or deception. 

adv
  • Honestly; openly. 

patent

adj
  • Conspicuous; open; unconcealed. 

  • Protected by a legal patent. 

  • Of flour: fine, and consisting mostly of the inner part of the endosperm of the grain from which it is milled. 

  • To which someone has, or seems to have, a claim or an exclusive claim; also, inventive or particularly suited for. 

  • Explicit and obvious. 

  • Of a branch, leaf, etc.: outspread; also, spreading at right angles to the axis. 

  • Open, unobstructed; specifically, especially of the ductus arteriosus or foramen ovale in the heart, having not closed as would have happened in normal development. 

  • Of an infection: in the phase when the organism causing it can be detected by clinical tests. 

noun
  • The combination of seven bets on three selections, offering a return even if only one bet comes in. 

  • A characteristic or quality that one possesses; in particular (hyperbolic) as if exclusively; a monopoly. 

  • A licence or (formal) permission to do something. 

  • An official document granting an appointment, privilege, or right, or some property or title; letters patent. 

  • A grant of a monopoly over the manufacture, sale, and use of goods. 

  • A specific grant of ownership of a piece of real property; a land patent. 

  • A product in respect of which a patent (sense 1.2.2) has been obtained. 

  • A declaration issued by a government agency that the inventor of a new invention has the sole privilege of making, selling, or using the claimed invention for a specified period. 

verb
  • To (successfully) register (a new invention) with a government agency to obtain the sole privilege of its manufacture, sale, and use for a specified period. 

  • To obtain (over a piece of real property) a specific grant of ownership. 

  • To be closely associated or identified with (something); to monopolize. 

How often have the words above-board and patent occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )