Nikola Tesla Wasn’t the Only One: U.S. Places ‘Secrecy Orders’ On Thousands of Inventions
by Arjun Walia March 11, 2018 (collective-evolution.com)
• The National Security Act was created in 1949. As a result, a number of intelligence groups and executive bodies followed. None of these groups had any active congressional oversight. From this, the Invention Secrecy Act was created in 1951 which provided that new inventions may be subject to secrecy orders and restrict their publication if government agencies believe that their disclosure would be harmful to national security. “National security” has become a justification for the classification of a large amount of information on a variety of topics in which the public is deliberately kept in the dark. As a result, the U.S. Government has been classifying upwards of over 500 million pages of documents per year.
• The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office uses a secret system called the Sensitive Application Warning System (SAWS) to delay the approval of applications deemed a possible threat to national security.
• A 50-page document obtained by a law firm that represents major tech companies describes the SAWS system: When an application is submitted for patent approval, it requires a couple of examiners to go through the process which usually takes 1 to 2 years. Applications that are filed under SAWS, however, must be approved by several people and can be delayed for a number of years. There were over 5000 inventions languishing under secrecy orders in 2014. There is no official channel to notify an applicant once their patent is placed in the SAWS system. The Patent Office denies requests to even divulge what applications are on the SAWS list.
• How secret is this system? To find any records we have to go back 45 years. In 1971, patents for solar photovoltaic generators were subject to review and restriction if the photovoltaics were more than 20% efficient. Energy conversion systems were likewise subject to review and restriction if they offered conversion efficiencies in “excess of 70-80%. Dr. Gerald F. Ross filed a patent application for a new invention he had devised to defeat the jamming of electromagnetic transmissions at specified frequencies. It took almost 37 years before his patent was granted.
• What happens to these “restricted” patent applications? Over many decades now, an elite group has had access to information such as this that the public has not. Utilizing these restricted patents, this elite group is no doubt living in a world far different from ours. It is a world within a world, a separate “breakaway civilization”. President Eisenhower warned us in 1960, “The potential disaster of the rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.” This appears to be exactly what has happened.
Government secrecy is running rampant in an age where more and more people are demanding transparency. Did you know that the U.S. Government classifies over 500 million pages of documents each year? Justification for the mass classification of information is (apparently) done for the sake of “national security,” but as we know:
“The dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts, far outweigh the dangers that are cited to justify them. There is a very grave danger that an announced need for an increased level of security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of censorship and concealment. That I do not tend to permit, so long as it’s in my control.” – JFK
If a scholar wanted to research political, historical, scientific, or any other type of archival work, it would prove difficult and limiting seeing that most of their government’s activities are kept a secret. It is truly impossible to access the factual history of their country. The declassification of classified documents (a small portion) does not occur until decades after that information has been concealed, one great example of that is the UFO phenomenon, once believed to be a “conspiracy theory” by the masses before the substantial release of government documents showing otherwise. Evidence is now pointing to the fact that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is no different.
The office is supposed to legally protect the inventions of entrepreneurs and companies, some of whom have developed ground breaking technology. Unfortunately, that’s not the case as new documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reveal how the Patent Office has been using a secret system to withhold the approval of some applications.
This 50-page document was obtained by Kilpatrick Towsend & Stockton, LLP, who commonly represent major tech companies that include Apple, Google and Twitter (to name a few).
The program delaying patent applications is called the Sensitive Application Warning System (SAWS). Usually, when an application is submitted for a patent approval it requires a couple of examiners who work with the Patent office to go through their process of approval. This process usually takes approximately 1 to 2 years, but applications that are filed in SAWS must be approved from several people, and can be delayed for a number of years.
“There is no official channel to notify an applicant once their patent is placed in the system, and the Patent Office has denied requests to divulge what applications are on the SAWS list.”
The documents also indicate areas of technology that might have a patent application placed in the SAWS program – these include smartphones, internet-enabling systems and more. This information is set to be published in an online journal called “Law360” to inform the public. Tech Columnist Alyssa Bereznak at Yahoo News states that most companies are fully aware of this.
I first came across this recent information in her article, but I felt compelled to add more information.
As you will see below, there is more information that has surfaced prior to these documents that suggest this type of “invention secrecy” goes far beyond these technologies.
One great example (out of many) of delayed patent applications comes from Dr. Gerald F. Ross. He filed a patent application for a new invention he had devised to defeat the jamming of electromagnetic transmissions at specified frequencies. It was not until June 17, 2014 (almost 37 years later) that this patent was granted.
Invention Secrecy Is Still Going Strong
As great as it is to see new information pertaining to invention secrecy come to light, it’s also important to note (as reported by the Federation of American Scientists; see annotated bibliography) that there were over 5000 inventions that were under secrecy orders at the end of Fiscal Year 2014, which marked the highest number of secrecy orders in effect since 1994.
This is all thanks to an act many people are unaware of. It’s called the “Invention Secrecy Act” and it was written up in 1951. Under this act, patent applications on new inventions can be subject to secrecy orders. These orders can restrict their publication if government agencies believe that their disclosure would be harmful to national security.
As mentioned earlier, “national security” has become an excuse and justification for the classification of a large amount of information on a variety of topics that the public is deliberately kept in the dark about. Apparently, many of these projects and inventions go far above and beyond presidential knowledge.
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