The word "patent" is used with remarkable flexibility in literature, often shifting between literal and figurative meanings. In technical and historical texts, it appears as a formal designation for granted inventions or official documents—think of the numerous mentions of patented coffee-making devices and machinery that catalog the progress of technology in the 19th and early 20th centuries [1][2][3][4]. At the same time, authors employ "patent" metaphorically to denote something self-evident or unmistakably clear, as when natural beauties or certain societal truths are described as being "patent" to all [5][6][7]. Meanwhile, the term surfaces in descriptions of physical objects, lending a sense of polished certainty to items like patent leather accessories in novels [8][9][10]. This dual usage highlights not only its practical application in legal and technical discourse but also its broader metaphorical resonance in literary language [11][12][13].