The Department of the Navy (DoN) has traditionally relied upon the patent system to protect its inventions. But recently folks have asked whether the DoN could protect its inventions as trade secrets. Since the DoN’s authority to protect and license inventions is determined by Congress, this talk will explore the language of 35 U.S.C. § 207(a) to see whether Congress has authorized the DoN to pursue non-patent forms of protection.
This talk will also discuss potential problems with protecting a Government invention as a trade secret, namely whether the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) precludes the Government from maintaining reasonable measures to keep the trade secret information secret. Finally, this talk will consider situations where protecting inventions as trade secrets would be beneficial for both the DoN and the private sector.