MPEP § 130 — MPEP § 130
Current through: 2022-07-01

130-Examination of Secrecy Order Cases 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 Manual of Patent Examining Procedure 

 Chapter 0100 

 Section 130 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 130 Examination of Secrecy Order Cases [R-11.2013]

 All applications in which a Secrecy Order has been imposed are examined in a
 secure location by examiners possessing national security clearances under the control of
 Licensing and Review. If the Order is imposed subsequent to the docketing of an application
 in another TC, the application will be transferred to an examiner designated by Licensing
 and Review.
 

 Secrecy Order cases are examined for patentability as in other cases, but
 will not be passed to issue; nor will an interference or derivation be instituted where one
 or more of the conflicting cases is classified or under Secrecy Order. See
 37 CFR
 5.3 and MPEP § 2306 . 
 

 In case of a final rejection, while such action must be properly replied to,
 and an appeal, if filed, must be completed by the applicant to prevent abandonment, such
 appeal will not be set for hearing by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board until the Secrecy
 Order is removed, unless specifically ordered by the Commissioner for Patents.
 

 When a Secrecy Order case is in condition for allowance, a notice of
 allowability (Form D-10) is issued, thus closing the prosecution. See 37 CFR 5.3(c) . Any
 amendments received thereafter are not entered or responded to until such time as the
 Secrecy Order is rescinded. At such time, amendments which are free from objection will be
 entered; otherwise they are denied entry.
 

 Due to the additional administrative burdens associated with handling papers
 in Secrecy Order cases, the full statutory period for reply will ordinarily be set for all
 Office actions issued on such cases.
 

 Sometimes applications bearing national security markings but no Secrecy
 Order come up for examination. In this case, the examiner should require the applicant to
 seek imposition of a Secrecy Order or authority to cancel the markings. This should
 preferably be done with the first action and, in any event, prior to final disposition of
 the application. Pursuant to 37 CFR 5.1(d) , if no Secrecy Order has
 issued in a national security classified patent application, the Office will set a time
 period within which the applicant must take one of the following three actions in order to
 prevent abandonment of the application:
 

 
 (A) obtain a Secrecy Order;

 (B) declassify the application; or

 (C) submit evidence of a good faith effort to obtain a Secrecy Order
 pursuant to 37 CFR
 5.2(a). 

 
 Pursuant to 37 CFR 5.1(e) , a national security
 classified patent application will not be allowed until the application is declassified and
 any Secrecy Order pursuant to 37 CFR 5.2(a) has been rescinded.
 

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 101-General 

 102-Information as to Status of an Application 

 103-Right of Public To Inspect Patent Files and Some Application Files 

 104-Power to Inspect Application 

 105-Suspended or Excluded Practitioner Cannot Inspect 

 106-Control of Inspection by Assignee 
 106.01-Rights of Assignee of Part Interest 

 
 

 107‑109-[Reserved] 

 110-Confidential Nature of International Applications 

 111‑114-[Reserved] 

 115-Review of Applications for National Security and Property Rights Issues 

 116‑119-[Reserved] 

 120-Secrecy Orders 

 121-Handling of Applications under Secrecy Order and/or Bearing National Security Markings 

 122‑129-[Reserved] 

 130-Examination of Secrecy Order Cases 

 131‑139-[Reserved] 

 140-Foreign Filing Licenses 

 141‑149-[Reserved] 

 150-Statements to DOE and NASA 

 151-Content of the Statements 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
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 Last Modified: 
 
 03/09/2026 20:49:25