SenateS. 5610119th Congress
Prohibiting Adversarial Patents Act of 2026
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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5610 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5610
To amend title 35, United States Code, to limit the ability of persons
that pose a threat to national security to receive and enforce patents,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 30, 2026
Mrs. Moody introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 35, United States Code, to limit the ability of persons
that 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 THAT 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 that 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 that
person)--
``(A) is 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 pursuant to Executive Order 13959 (50
U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to addressing the threat
from securities investments that finance communist
Chinese military companies), or any successor order;
``(B) is on the list of Chinese military companies
operating in the United States required by section
1260H of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (10
U.S.C. 113 note; Public Law 116-283); 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 (whether issued before, on,
or after the date of enactment of this section) shall be
unenforceable during any period in which the person to which
the patent is issued is as described in paragraph (1); 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 in 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 that person; and
``(B) submits, not fewer than 30 days before
waiving that prohibition, a report to the Committee on
the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the
Judiciary of the House of Representatives containing--
``(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 in subparagraph (A),
(B), or (C) of subsection (a)(1);
``(iii) an assessment of the significance
of the activity described in clause (ii) 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 of the location in which the
activity described in clause (ii) occurred, to
terminate, as appropriate, or penalize that
activity.
``(2) Consistency with international obligations.--The
President shall ensure that, in granting any waiver under this
subsection, the President exercises that 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 that person to file a patent
application;
``(2) except as provided in subsection (a)(3), the
examination of any patent application filed by that person; or
``(3) the ownership or term of any patent owned by that
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 that pose a threat to national
security to receive and enforce patents.''.
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