How do Secrecy Orders affect foreign filing licenses?

This page is an FAQ based on guidance from the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only: it is not legal advice.

Secrecy Orders have significant impacts on foreign filing licenses:

• A Secrecy Order prevents the granting of a foreign filing license.
• It overrides the 6-month rule, prohibiting foreign filing even after 6 months.
• Applications under a Secrecy Order cannot be exported or filed in foreign countries.
• Violating a Secrecy Order can result in abandonment of the invention and other penalties.

The MPEP states: “Only the imposition of a Secrecy Order will cause revocation of the authority which arises from 35 U.S.C. 184 to file a foreign application 6 months or later after the date of filing of a corresponding U.S. patent application.”

For more information on Secrecy Orders, refer to MPEP 120.

For more information on foreign filing license, visit: foreign filing license.

For more information on USPTO, visit: USPTO.