public use

The use of premises by the public at large, that is, the general, unorganized public, rather than by one person, a limited number of persons, or a restricted group. 23 Am J2d Ded § 5. In patent law, a use in public as distinguished from a secret or experimental use. Electric Storage Battery Co. v Shimadzu, 307 US 5, 83 L Ed 1071, 59 S Ct 675, reh den. 307 US 650, 83 L Ed 1529, 59 S Ct 675. For the purpose of exercise of the power of eminent domain, a matter of public employment or public advantage dependent upon the view taken in the particular jurisdiction involved. Employment or use by the public involving a right on the part of the public, or some portion of it, or some public or quasi-public agency on behalf of the public; to use the property after it is condemned. From the opposite standpoint, public advantage, convenience, or benefit, anything which tends to enlarge the resources, increase the industrial energies, and promote the productive power of any considerable number of the inhabitants of a section of the state, or which leads to the growth of towns and the creation of new resources for the employment of capital and labor, thereby contributing to the general welfare and prosperity of the whole community. 26 Am J2d Em D § 27. It is a well-established doctrine that, where the owner of property has devoted it to a use in which the public has an interest, he in effect, grants to the public an interest in such use, and must, to the extent of that interest, submit to be controlled by the public for the common good, so long as such use is maintained. People v Steele, 231 Ill 340, 83 NE 236. See more necessary public use; public purpose.