I can understand, from the description that you've included, how this type of lock provides the behavior I'm seeking. You've provided me with a name for the concept, which was what I expected from a forum for conceptual questions about software development. You mentioned rwlock, though, which (as I understand it) pertains to POSIX thread locking. Are there POSIX services that provide Write-preferring RW locks for interprocess coordination? Or should I pursue the question of implementation in a different forum?