US lawmakers introduce bill to block Chinese entities, 'deemed threat', from obtaining US patents
Jun 10, 2026
Washington DC [US], June 10 : Chairman John Moolenaar of the House Select Committee on China, along with Congressmen Scott Fitzgerald and Darrell Issa, has introduced legislation aimed at preventing Chinese entities deemed a threat to US national security from obtaining American patents in the United States, according to a release.
The proposed legislation, titled the Prohibiting Adversarial Patents Act, would prohibit the issuance of US patents to individuals or entities identified as national security threats under the Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex (CMIC) List, the 1260H List, or the Federal Communications Commission's Covered List.
According to the press release issued by the House Select Committee on China, the legislation seeks to address concerns that the Chinese Communist Party is using the US patent system to advance its economic and strategic interests. Moolenaar said the measure would strengthen safeguards against what he described as attempts by the CCP to exploit American innovation and use the legal system to pursue patent-related litigation against US companies.
Fitzgerald said the bill would help prevent hostile foreign entities from leveraging the American patent system to gain economic advantages and undermine US national security.
Issa argued that companies linked to the CCP should not be allowed to benefit from intellectual property protections in the United States while acting against American interests.
The legislation has also received backing from the High Tech Inventors Alliance (HTIA). According to the committee's press release, the organisation said the bill would help stop entities identified as national security threats from accumulating and using US patents against critical sectors such as semiconductor manufacturing, digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence.
The committee highlighted Huawei and ZTE as examples of Chinese companies with substantial patent holdings in the United States. Huawei ranked fourth in the number of US patents granted in 2025 and reported more than USD 630 million in patent licensing revenue during the year, while ZTE ranked fifth in US patents related to 5G technology in 2024, the committee said.
