The role of Licensing and Review (L&R) is to administer the Patent Secrecy Act as defined by 35 U.S.C. 181-186 and 37 CFR part 5. The primary function of this Act is to prevent publication of an application as a patent or a patent application publication where such disclosure would be detrimental to U.S. national security. Additionally, the Act provides for the licensing of applications for export for the purposes of filing for patents abroad.
The duties of L&R include:
- Reviewing all applications for patent (provisional, utility, design, PCT (where the U.S. is the receiving office)) to determine whether a foreign filing license may be granted;
- Managing all existing secrecy orders pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 181 and 37 CFR part 5;
- Treating all petitions for expedited foreign filing licenses pursuant to 37 CFR 5.12-5.14; and
- Policing the property rights of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) by administering a portion of the NASA Act as provided for in 42 U.S.C. 2457, and a portion of the Atomic Energy Act as provided for in 42 U.S.C. 2181-2182.