Patent Act Article 51

Confidentiality of invention involving national securityWhere, through examination, an invention involves national defense secrets or any other secrets pertaining to national security, the Ministry of National Defense or relevant national security authorities shall be consulted for their comments; if it is deemed necessary to keep such invention confidential, the application documents of the said patent application shall be sealed. If a request for substantive examination has been filed for the said patent application, an examination decision shall be rendered and served on the applicant and the inventor.The applicant, patent agent and the inventor shall keep confidential the invention referred to in the preceding paragraph; the right to apply for a patent for such invention shall be deemed to have been abandoned if there is any violation of the confidentiality requirement.The confidentiality period shall last for one (1) year after the date on which a written decision is served on the applicant, and such period may be extended on an annual basis. The Specific Patent Agency shall consult with the Ministry of National Defense or relevant national security authorities one (1) month prior to the expiration of the confidentiality period and, if confidentiality is no longer required, such patent application shall be laid open.Where an invention referred to in Paragraph 1 is approved and where confidentiality is deemed unnecessary for such a patent application, the Specific Patent Agency shall publish the grant of the invention patent after receiving patent certificate fee and the first-year annuity paid within three (3) months by the applicant. If the said fees are not paid prior to the time period stated above, no publication shall be made.The Government shall pay a considerable compensation for the loss suffered by the applicant during the confidentiality period.