Invention Secrecy Act

Uncommon card · No. 98141

The Invention Secrecy Act of 1951 (Pub. L. 82–256, 66 Stat. 3, enacted February 1, 1952, codified at 35 U.S.C. ch. 17) is a United States federal law that authorizes the government to suppress disclosure of certain inventions for reasons of national security. It first became law as an executive order in 1947, promulgated by the administration of President Harry S. Truman. Full congressional enactment followed in 1951. The exigencies of the Cold War drove its creation and it passed the U.S. Congress relatively quickly once introduced. The statute empowers selected federal agencies to decide whether a patent application poses a risk and to compel its classification under secrecy orders. In practice, secrecy orders have been imposed not only on inventions affecting military defense but also on those alleged to threaten economic stability, with critics noting that many such restrictions rest on speculative or unproven harms. The law applies broadly to all inventions in the United States for...

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