When he started his own business, he 'patterned himself after' [='modeled himself after'] his father. [=he tried to do the things that his father would do]
The company has put production in a 'holding pattern' [=has temporarily stopped production] while better testing methods are developed.
a 'dress pattern' [=a large piece of paper that is used as a guide for cutting the cloth to make a dress]
(..) natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive ... ... is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet ... ... that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease. A cancer of this planet. You are a plague. (..)1999 The Matrix