SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2018, Issue No. 65
October 31, 2018

Secrecy News Blog: https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/

INVENTION SECRECY HITS RECENT HIGH

Last year the number of patent applications that were subject to a "secrecy order" under the Invention Secrecy Act of 1951 was the highest that it has been in more than two decades, according to data obtained from the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Whenever disclosure of a new invention is deemed to be "detrimental to national security," a secrecy order may be imposed on the patent application, preventing its public disclosure and blocking issuance of the patent. Most affected inventions seem to involve technologies that have military uses. But the current criteria that are used to make the determination have not been released, so the actual scope of invention secrecy is not publicly known.

At the end of FY 2018 (September 30, 2018), there were 5,792 secrecy orders in effect, up slightly from 5,784 the year before.

There were 85 new orders imposed, and 77 existing orders that were rescinded. The remaining orders, which were originally imposed in previous years, were renewed. Among the new orders, there were 43 that were imposed on private inventors (i.e., not government employees or contractors). These so-called "John Doe" secrecy orders are a constitutionally suspect category, since they involve prior restraint on the speech of a private citizen or business.

The new total of 5,792 secrecy orders in effect is the highest since 1993, when the total was 5,909.

When a secrecy order is rescinded -- years or sometimes decades after it was imposed -- the invention may finally be patented.

When asked whether any of the inventions that were released from a secrecy order in 2018 had subsequently been patented, the US Patent and Trademark Office said it had no record of such patents.

See, relatedly, "The U.S. Government's Secret Inventions" by Arvind Dilawar, Slate, May 9, 2018:

U.S. CURTAILS ASYLUM FOR REFUGEES FLEEING GANG VIOLENCE

In the recent past, refugees who were fleeing gang or domestic violence in their home countries were able to present a claim for asylum in the United States on that basis. Though such claims were not always accepted, they could at least be adjudicated.

But in June of this year, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ruled that fear of gang and domestic violence would no longer be considered grounds for asylum in the U.S.

"The asylum statute does not provide redress for all misfortune," the Attorney General wrote.

He held that violence perpetrated by non-governmental actors would no longer justify consideration of an asylum application. The decision was recounted in detail by the Congressional Research Service in a new publication. See Asylum and Related Protections for Aliens Who Fear Gang and Domestic Violence, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 25, 2018:

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

Honduras: Background and U.S. Relations, updated October 24, 2018:

Protection of Executive Branch Officials, CRS In Focus, updated October 25, 2018:

U.S. Secret Service Protection of Persons and Facilities, CRS In Focus, October 25, 2018:

Defense Primer: Personnel Tempo (PERSTEMPO), CRS In Focus, October 23, 2018:

Iran and Israel: Tension Over Syria, CRS In Focus, updated October 24, 2018:

U.S.-Japan Relations, CRS In Focus, updated October 23, 2018:

U.S.-India Trade Relations, CRS In Focus, updated October 24, 2018:

Morocco: Background and U.S. Relations, October 26, 2018:

What Legal Obligations do Internet Companies Have to Prevent and Respond to a Data Breach?, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 25, 2018:

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Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

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