[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5475 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5475
To amend title 35, United State Code, to require the Director of the
United States Patent and Trademark Office to require disclosures in
patent applications regarding ties to the People's Republic of China
and other foreign adversaries, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 14, 2023
Mr. Fitzgerald (for himself, Mr. Issa, Mr. Luetkemeyer, Mr. Gallagher,
Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Fry, and Mr. Moran) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 35, United State Code, to require the Director of the
United States Patent and Trademark Office to require disclosures in
patent applications regarding ties to the People's Republic of China
and other foreign adversaries, 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 2023''.
SEC. 2. DISCLOSURES IN PATENT APPLICATIONS REGARDING TIES TO THE
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND OTHER FOREIGN ADVERSARIES.
(a) Disclosures in Patent Applications Regarding Ties to People's
Republic of China and Other Foreign Adversaries.--Section 111 of title
35, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(d) Disclosures Regarding Ties to People's Republic of China and
Other Foreign Countries.--
``(1) Disclosure.--The Director shall require each person
submitting an application for patent under subsection (a), or a
provisional application for a patent under subsection (b), to
disclose in the application the identity of each person with an
ownership interest in the invention being claimed that in the
five years before submitting such application received funding
from--
``(A) a state-affiliated research fund associated
with a foreign adversary; or
``(B) a talent recruitment program associated with
a foreign adversary.
``(2) Request for true copies.--
``(A) In general.--After reviewing any disclosure
made by an applicant in accordance with paragraph (1),
the Director may (as the Director determines
appropriate) request such applicant provide true copies
of any contractual or financial obligation or other
agreement specific to such disclosure.
``(B) Confidentiality.--Any true copy provided to
the Director under subparagraph (A) may be kept
confidential and separate from the file wrapper of the
patent application.
``(3) Exemption.--Any applicant who is a small business
concern and is subject to disclosures pursuant to subsection
(g) or (o) of section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
638) shall be exempt from making the disclosure required by
paragraph (1).
``(4) Foreign adversary defined.--In this subsection, the
term `foreign adversary' means--
``(A) the People's Republic of China, including all
Special Administrative Regions;
``(B) the Republic of Cuba;
``(C) the Islamic Republic of Iran;
``(D) the Democratic People's Republic of Korea;
``(E) the Russian Federation; and
``(F) the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela during
any period of time during which Nicholas Maduro is
President of the Republic.''.
(b) Patent Bar for Persons Who Pose a Threat to National
Security.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 10 of title 35, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 106. Patent bar for persons who pose a threat to national
security.
``Notwithstanding any other provision of law--
``(1) a person shall not receive 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 identified, pursuant to section 744.16 of
title 15, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor
regulation), as a person reasonably believed to be
involved, or to pose a significant risk of being or
becoming involved, in activities contrary to the
national security or foreign policy interests of the
United States;
``(B) 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;
``(C) 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
``(D) 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)); and
``(2) any United States patent issued to a person described
under paragraph (1) shall be unenforceable.''.
(2) 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. Patent bar for persons who pose a threat to national
security.''.
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