Signed into silence | The Invention Secrecy Act of 1951

Transcript

You think if you [music] invent something revolutionary, it automatically belongs to you. In 1951, the United States passed the Invention Secrecy [music] Act. If your patent is deemed detrimental to national security, the government can issue [music] a secrecy order. Your invention never gets published. You can't disclose it.

You legally [music] can't talk about it. The decision is made in the name of national security for the greater [music] good. But the definition of national security isn't determined by you. There are thousands of active [music] secrecy orders right now. The public doesn't see those inventions.