USPTO Seeks Input on Secret Patent and Export License Forms
Published Date: 4/22/2026
Notice
Summary
The USPTO is asking for your thoughts on renewing a form that helps keep some patent info secret for national security and controls exporting licenses. This affects inventors and businesses dealing with sensitive tech, aiming to keep paperwork light and clear. You’ve got until May 22, 2026, to share your comments—no fees, just your voice!
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 4 costs, 0 mixed.
Secrecy Orders Block Patent Publication
If an interested government agency finds your invention harmful to national security, the USPTO will issue a secrecy order that prevents publication of the application and the issuance of a patent while the order is in force. A secrecy order lasts one year from issuance and may be renewed for additional one-year periods.
Paperwork Renewal and Comment Deadline
The USPTO is asking for public comments on renewing the information collection (OMB Control Number 0651-0034) for Secrecy and License to Export. You can submit comments online on or before May 22, 2026; this renewal covers petitions and related filings used to keep patent information secret or to get foreign filing licenses.
Limits on Prosecution While Secrecy Is In Effect
While a secrecy order is in effect, prosecution of a national application may proceed only to the point where the application is found to be in condition for allowance, and prosecution of an international application may proceed only up to the point before record and search copies are transmitted. If a national application receives a final rejection under secrecy, the applicant must appeal or otherwise prosecute to avoid abandonment, but hearings generally will not be set until secrecy is removed.
Foreign Filing License and Retroactive Petitions
Filing a U.S. patent application is treated as a request for a foreign filing license, but in some cases you must obtain a license before filing patent applications in foreign countries. The collection covers petitions for foreign filing licenses (with or without a U.S. application), petitions to change a license scope, and petitions for retroactive licenses when an application was mistakenly filed abroad without a license.
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Key Dates
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