H.R. 9142

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9142 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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.''.
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