An Act to provide for the withholding of certain patents that might be detrimental to the national security, and for other purposes
PL 82-256 (H.R.4687), enacted 02/01/1952

Public Laws 
ENACTED DURING THE 
SECOND SESSION OF THE EIGHTY-SECOND CONGRESS 
OF THE 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, January 8, 1952, and adjourned 
sine die on Monday, July 7, 1952. 
HARRY 
S. TRUMAN, President; 
ALBEN W . 
BARKLEY, Vice President; SAM RAYBURN, Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
Public Law 256 
CHAPTER 4 
AN ACT 
To provide for the withholding of certain patents that might be detrimental to 
the national security, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever 
publication or disclosure by the grant of a patent on an invention in 
which the Government has- a property interest might, in the opinion of 
the head of the interested Government agency, be detrimental to the 
national security, the Secretary of Commerce upon being so notified 
shall order that the invention be kept secret and shall withhold the 
grant of a patent therefor under the conditions set forth hereinafter. 
Whenever the publication or disclosure of an invention by the 
granting of a patent, in which the Government does not have a prop-
erty interest, might, in the opinion of the Secretary of Commerce, be 
detrimental to the national security, he shall make the application 
for patent in which such invention is disclosed available for inspection 
to the Atomic Energy Commission, the Secretary of Defense, and 
the chief officer of any other department or agency of the Government 
designated by the President as a defense agency of the United States. 
Each individual to whom the application is disclosed shall sign a 
dated acknowledgment thereof, Avhich acknowledgment shall be en-
tered in the file of the application. 
If, in the opinion of the Atomic 
Energy Commission, the Secretary of a Defense Department, or the 
chief officer of another department or agency so designated, the 
Q 
93300 O - 53 - 4 
" 
February 1, 1952 
[H.R.4687] 
Inv e n t i o n Se-
crecy Act of 1951. 
Post, 
p. 815. 
Withholding of 
patent by Secre-
tary of Commerce. 
Inspection of ap-
plication by A E C , 
etc. 
PUBLIC LAW 256-FEB. 1, 1952 
[66 S T A T . 
Right to appeal. 
Time limitations. 
publication or disclosure of the invention by the granting of a patent 
therefor would be detrimental to the national security, the Atomic 
Energy Commission, the Secretary of a Defense Department, or 
such other chief officer shall notify the Secretary of Commerce and 
the Secretary of Commerce shall order that the invention be kept 
secret and shall withhold the grant of a patent for such period as the 
national interest requires, and notify the applicant thereof. 
Upon 
proper showing by the head of the department or agency who caused 
the secrecy order to be issued that the examination of the application 
might jeopardize the national interest, the Secretary of Commerce 
shall thereupon maintain the application in a sealed condition and 
notify the applicant thereof. 
The owner of an application which has 
been placed under a secrecy order shall have a right to appeal from 
the order to the Secretary of Commerce under rules prescribed by him. 
An invention shall not be ordered kept secret and the grant of a 
patent withheld for a period of not more than one year. The Secre-
tary of Commerce shall renew the order at the end thereof, or at the 
end of any renewal period, for additional periods of one year upon 
notification by the head of the department or the chief officer of the 
agency who caused the order to be issued that an affirmative determin-
ation has been made that the national interest continues so to require. 
An order in effect, or issued, during a time when the United States 
is at war, shall remain in effect for the duration of hostilities and one 
year following cessation of hostilities. An order in effect, or issued, 
during a national emergency declared by the President shall remain 
in effect for the duration of the national emergency and six months 
thereafter. 
The Secretary of Commerce may rescind any order upon 
notification by the heads of the departments and the chief officers of 
the agencies who caused the order to be issued that the publication or 
disclosure of the invention is no longer deemed detrimental to the 
national security. 
SEC. 2. The invention disclosed in an application for patent subject 
to an order made pursuant to section 1 hereof may be held abandoned 
upon its being established by the Secretary of Commerce that in 
violation of said order the invention has been published or disclosed 
or that an application for a patent therefor has been filed in a foreign 
country by the inventor, his successors, assigns, or legal representa-
tives, or anyone in privity with him or them, without the consent of 
the Secretary of Commerce. The abandonment shall be held to have 
occurred as of the time of violation. The consent of the Secretary of 
Commerce shall not be given without the concurrence of the heads of 
the departments and the chief officers of the agencies who caused the 
order to be issued. A holding of abandonment shall constitute forfei-
ture by the applicant, his successors, assigns, or legal representatives, 
or anyone in privity with him or them, of all claims against the United 
States based upon such invention. 
SEC. 3. An applicant, his successors, assigns, or legal representa-
tives, whose patent is withheld as herein provided, shall have the 
right, beginning at the date the applicant is notified that, except for 
such order, his application is otherwise in condition for allowance, 
or the effective date of this Act, whichever is later, and ending six 
years after a patent is issued thereon, to apply to the head of any 
department or agency who caused the order to be issued for compensa-
tion for the damage caused by the order of secrecy and/or for the 
use of the invention by the Government, resulting from his disclosure. 
The right to compensation for use shall begin on the date of the first 
meiu"*""*"* agree- Qge of the iiiventiou by the Government. The head of the department 
or agency is authorized, upon the presentation of a claim, to enter 
into an agreement with the applicant, his successors, assigns, or legal 
Recission of or-
der. 
Abandonment of 
invention. 
Right to compen-
66 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 256-FEB. 1, 1952 
Suit by claimant. 
representatives, in full settlement for the damage and/or use. 
This 
settlement agreement shall be conclusive for all purposes notwithstand-
ing any other provision of law to the contrary. If full settlement of 
the claim cannot be effected, the head of the department or agency 
may award and pay to such applicant, his successors, assigns, or legal 
representatives, a sum not exceeding 75 per centum of the sum which 
the head of the department or agency considers just compensation 
for the damage and/or use. A claimant may bring suit against the 
United States in the Court of Claims or in the District Court of the 
United States for the district in which such claimant is a resident 
for an amount which when added to the award shall constitute just 
compensation for the damage and/or use of the invention by the 
Government. 
The owner of any patent issued upon an application 
that was subject to a secrecy order issued pursuant to section 1 hereof, 
who did not apply for compensation as above provided, shall have 
the right, after the date of issuance of such patent, to bring suit in 
the Court of Claims for just compensation for the damage caused by 
reason of the order of secrecy and/or use by the Government of the 
invention resulting from his disclosure. The right to compensation 
for use shall begin on the date of the first use of the invention by the 
Government. In a suit under the provisions of this section, and in 
negotiations concerning settlement of a claim, the United States may 
avail itself of all defenses it may plead in an action under title 28, 
United States Code, section 1498, as amended. This section shall not 
confer a right of action on anyone or his successors, assigns, or legal 
representatives who, while in the full-time employment or service of 
the United States, discovered, invented, or developed the invention 
on which the claim is based. 
SEC. 4. Except when authorized by a license obtained from the 
Secretary of Commerce a person shall not file or cause or authorize to coli»^y,"etc' 
be filed in any foreign country prior to six months after filing in the 
United States an application for patent or for the registration of a 
utility model, industrial design, or model in respect of an invention 
made in this country. A license shall not be granted with respect to 
an invention subject to an order issued by the Secretary of Commerce 
pursuant to section 1 hereof without the concurrence of the head of 
the departments and the chief officers of the agencies who caused the 
order to be issued. The license may be granted retroactively where an 
application has been inadvertently filed abroad and the application 
does not disclose an invention within the categories prescribed under 
section 1 hereof. 
The term "application" when used in this Act includes applications 
and any modifications, amendments, or supplements thereto, or divi-
sions thereof. 
SEC. 5. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law any person, 
and his successors, assigns, or legal representatives, shall not receive 
a United States patent for an invention if that person, or his succes-
sors, assigns, or legal representatives shall, without procuring the 
license prescribed in section 4 hereof, have made, or consented to or 
assisted another's making, application in a foreign country for a 
patent or for the registration of a utility model, industrial design, or 
model in respect of the invention. A United States patent issued to 
such person, his successors, assigns, or legal representatives shall be 
invalid. 
SEC. 6. Whoever, during the period or periods of time an invention 
has been ordered to be kept secret and the grant of a patent thereon 
withheld pursuant to section 1 hereof, shall, with knowledge of such 
order and without due authorization, willfully publish or disclose or 
authorize or cause to be published or disclosed the invention, or mate-
62 Stat. 941. 
Filing of appli-
cation in foreign 
"Application." 
Penalty clause. 
PUBLIC LAW 257-FEB. 11, 1952 
[66 S T A T . 
Rules and regu-
lations; delega-
tion of power. 
rial information with respect thereto, or whoever, in violation of the 
provisions of section 4 hereof, shall file or cause or authorize to be filed 
in any foreign country an application for patent or for the registra-
tion of a utility model, industrial design, or model in respect of any 
invention made in the United States, shall, upon conviction, be fined 
not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than two years, or 
both. 
Nonappiicability. 
SEC. 7. The prohibitions and penalties of this Act shall not apply to 
any officer or agent of the United States acting within the scope of 
his authority, nor to any person acting upon his written instructions 
or permission. 
SEC. 8. The Atomic Energy Commission, the Secretary of a defense 
department, the chief officer of any other department or agency of the 
Government designated by the President as a defense agency of the 
United States, and the Secretary of Commerce, may separately issue 
rules and regulations to enable the respective department or agency to 
carry out the provisions of this Act, and may delegate any power 
conferred by this Act. 
SEC. 9. If any provision of this Act or of any section hereof shall 
be held invalid, the remainder of the Act shall not be affected thereby. 
SEC. 10. The Acts of Congress approved October 6, 1917 (ch. 95, 
40 Stat. 394) ; July 1,1940 (ch. 501,54 Stat. 710) ; August 21,1941 (ch. 
393, 55 Stat. 657) ; and June 16, 1942 (ch. 415, 56 Stat. 370) (U. S. C , 
title 35, sees. 42 and 42a to 42f), are repealed, but such repeal shall 
not affect any rights or liabilities existing on the date of approval of 
this Act. An order of secrecy issued imder the repealed Acts, and in 
effect on the date of the approval of this Act, shall be considered an 
order issued pursuant to this Act. 
A claim arising under the repealed 
Acts and unsettled as of the effective date of this Act, may be presented 
and determined pursuant to the provisions of this Act. 
SEC. 11. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter, amend, 
revoke, repeal, or otherwise affect the provisions of the Atomic Energy 
Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 755), as amended. 
SEC. 12. This Act may be cited as the "Invention Secrecy Act of 
1951". 
Approved February 1, 1952. 
Separability. 
Repeals. 
• 42 use 1801 
note. 
Short Utle. 
February 11, 1952 
[H.R.4948] 
Public Law 257 
CHAPTER 17 
AN ACT 
To suspend certain import duties on lead. 
Lead. 
Suspension of 
duties. 
46 Stat. 628. 
19 u s e 100 1, 
pars. 391, 392. 
64 Stat. A454. 
50 u s e app. 
note prec. 1. 
Revocation. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That the import 
duties imposed under paragraphs 391 and 392 of the Tariff Act of 
1930, as amended, on lead-bearing ores, flue dust, and mattes of all 
kinds, lead bullion or base bullion, lead in pigs and bars, lead dross, 
reclaimed lead, scrap lead, antimonial lead, and antimonial scrap lead 
shall not apply with respect to imports entered for consumption or 
Avithdrawn from warehouse for consumption during the period begin-
ning with the day following the date of the enactment of this Act and 
ending with the close of March 31, 1953, or the termination of the 
national emergency proclaimed by the President on December 16, 
1950, whichever is earlier: Provided^ That when, for any one calendar 
month during such period, the average market price of common lead 
for that month, in standard shapes and sizes, delivered at New York, 
has been below 18 cents per pound, the Tariff Commission, within 
fifteen days after the conclusion of such calendar month, shall so