To get passed, patent application primarily needs understanding (9)
I believe the answer is:
overtaken
'to get passed' is the definition.
'patent application primarily needs understanding' is the wordplay.
'patent' becomes 'overt' (I've seen this before).
'primarily' indicates taking the first letters.
'needs' says to put letters next to each other.
'understanding' becomes 'ken' (I've seen this before).
The initial letter of 'application' is 'a'.
'overt'+'a'+'ken'='OVERTAKEN'
(Other definitions for overtaken that I've seen before include "left behind" , "Passed on road" .)