The Invention Secrecy Act of 1951 requires the government to impose "secrecy orders" on certain patent applications that contain sensitive information, thereby restricting disclosure of the invention and withholding the grant of a patent. Remarkably, this requirement can be imposed even when the application is generated and entirely owned by a private individual or company without government sponsorship or support. Invention Secrecy
There are several types of secrecy orders which range in severity from simple prohibitions on export (but allowing other disclosure for legitimate business purposes) up to classification, requiring secure storage of the application and prohibition of all disclosure.
At the end of fiscal year 2007, there were 5,002 secrecy orders in effect.
The Armed Services Patent Advisory Board (ASPAB), which performed security review of patent applications on behalf of the Department of Defense, was terminated in 1997 under section 906 of Public Law 105-85, and its functions were transferred to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DoD Directive 5105.62, 9/30/98, sect. 5.4.5).
- Invention Secrecy Activity, statistics reported by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, through FY 2007
- The Invention Secrecy Act of 1951, text of 35 U.S.C. 181-188
- Patent Security Category Review List (January 1971 edition)
- Secrecy Order Forms of various kinds issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (courtesy of Michael Ravnitzky)
- The Secrecy Order Program in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, June 1991
- Administration of the Invention Secrecy Act in the Patent & Trademark Office, 1991
- Secrecy of Certain Inventions, implementing regulations from 37 Code of Federal Regulations part 5
- Protecting the Private Inventor Under the Peacetime Provisions of the Invention Secrecy Act by Sabing H. Lee, Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 12:2, Fall 1997.
International Agreements on Defense-Related Patents, Classified Patent Applications and Invention Secrecy (courtesy of Michael Ravnitzky)
- US-Australia (1961)
- US-Belgium (1960)
- US-Denmark (1960)
- US-France (1957)
- US-Germany (1956)
- US-Greece (1960)
- US-Italy (1952)
- US-Japan (1956)
- US-Korea (1991)
- NATO Agreement (1977)
- NATO Agreement (1969)
- NATO Agreement (1974)
- NATO Agreement (1960)
- US-Netherlands (1959)
- US-Norway (1960)
- US-Spain (1960)
- US-Sweden (1962)
- US-Turkey (1957)
- US-United Kingdom (1953)
maintained by Steven Aftergood