> Why do you need patents for secret technology anyway? A government contractor who invents something would like to prevent other government contractors from i

> Why do you need patents for secret technology anyway? A government contractor who invents something would like to prevent other government contractors from infringing on their invention. Also, if an inventor keeps an invention secret and private then another inventor may be able to independently invent the same thing, patent it, and then prevent the first inventor from using the invention.