Last story on thebottom of the page........ ....Just one reason why government trolls canattack on-line statements as having no evidence to back them up. Theevidence is being kept from us. This means we have to talk about ourattacks so that we at least can understand the nature of them andunderstand the tactics employed. Knowledge is are onlydefense.
Peter Rosenholm
http://www.fas. org/blog/ secrecy/2009/ 10
InventionSecrecy at Highest in a Decade
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009The total number of invention secrecy orders that the U.S. government imposed on patentapplications rose again this year, reaching5,081 by the end of last month, the highest figure since 1996.
Under the Invention Secrecy Act of 1951, U.S. government agencies may restrictthedisclosure of a patentapplication whenever its publication is deemed“detrimental to the national security.” In Fiscal Year 2009, 103 newsecrecy orders were issued, while 45 existing orders were rescinded.The overall number of orders in effect increased by about 1% over theyear before, according to statisticsfrom the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that were releasedtoSecrecy News under the Freedomof Information Act.
The most vexing secrecy orders, known as “John Doe” secrecy orders, are those that are imposed on private inventors who are not governmentcontractors so that the government has no property interest intheinvention. In Fiscal Year 2009, there were 21 new John Doe secrecyorders, according to the lateststatistics. An argument could be made that secrecy orders insuchcases are infringements on an inventor’s First Amendment rights, butsuch an argument has never been tested in court.
In general, however, challenges or complaints concerning the operation of the patent secrecy system seem to be rare. Most secrecyorders originate at defense agencies, with the U.S. Navy in the leadthis year with 39. (TheNational Security Agency issued 12 secrecyorders in FY 2009.) In such cases, the most likely customers for theinventions are the military agencies themselves, not commercialenterprises, and so the secrecy orders may have no adverse impact on theinventors. For other resources on invention secrecy, see here.
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