[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9142 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9142
To amend title 35, United States Code, to limit the ability of persons
who pose a threat to national security to receive and enforce patents,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 4, 2026
Mr. Fitzgerald (for himself, Mr. Moolenaar, and Mr. Issa) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 35, United States Code, to limit the ability of persons
who pose a threat to national security to receive and enforce patents,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Prohibiting Adversarial Patents Act
of 2026''.
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON ABILITY OF PERSONS WHO POSE A THREAT TO NATIONAL
SECURITY TO RECEIVE AND ENFORCE PATENTS.
(a) In General.--Chapter 10 of title 35, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 106. Limitation on ability of persons who pose a threat to
national security to receive and enforce patents
``(a) Limitation.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law--
``(1) a person may not be issued a United States patent for
an invention if that person (or any subsidiary, affiliate,
successor, assign, legal representative, or privy of such
person)--
``(A) is an entity on the Non-SDN Chinese Military-
Industrial Complex Companies List (NS-CMIC List)
maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of
the Department of the Treasury under Executive Order
14032 (86 Fed. Reg. 30145; relating to addressing the
threat from securities investments that finance certain
companies of the People's Republic of China), or any
successor order;
``(B) is identified as a Chinese military company
in the most recent annual report submitted pursuant to
section 1260H of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021
(Public Law 116-283; 10 U.S.C. 113 note); or
``(C) produces or provides communications equipment
or service on the list published by the Federal
Communications Commission under section 2(a) of the
Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019
(47 U.S.C. 1601(a));
``(2) any United States patent issued to a person described
under paragraph (1) shall be unenforceable; and
``(3) no procedure, including any procedure under the
Patent Prosecution Highway Program, may be used to conduct an
expedited review an application for a patent filed by a person
described under paragraph (1).
``(b) Waiver.--
``(1) In general.--The President may waive the application
of the prohibition under subsection (a) with respect to a
person for successive periods of not more than 180 days each if
the President--
``(A) determines that there is not an essential
security interest in applying the prohibition under
subsection (a) with respect to a person; and
``(B) submits, not less than 30 days before waiving
such prohibition, a report to the Committee on the
Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the
Judiciary of the House of Representatives--
``(i) a specific and detailed rationale for
the determination that there is not an
essential security interest in applying the
prohibition with respect to that person;
``(ii) a description of the activity that
resulted in the person being included on a list
or in a report described under subparagraphs
(A) through (C);
``(iii) an assessment of the significance
of such activity to the national security
interests of the United States or allies of the
United States; and
``(iv) an explanation of any effort made by
the United States to secure the cooperation of
the government with primary jurisdiction over
the person or the location where the activity
described in clause (ii) occurred in to
terminate, as appropriate, or penalize such
activity.
``(2) Consistency with international obligations.--The
President shall ensure that in granting any waiver under this
subsection, the President exercises such authority in a manner
that is consistent with international obligations.
``(c) No Effect on Patent Application; Ownership and Term of
Patent.--The application of the prohibition under subsection (a), or
the grant of any waiver under subsection (b), to a person shall not
affect--
``(1) the ability of such person file a patent application;
``(2) except as provided in subsection (a)(3), the
examination of any such application; or
``(3) the ownership or term of any patent owned by such
person.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 10 of
title 35, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 105 the following:
``106. Limitation on ability of persons who pose a threat to national
security to receive and enforce patents.''.
<all>