United States 119th Congress Status: In Committee Bipartisan · 3 R · 1 D cosponsors

HR 9142 — Prohibiting Adversarial Patents Act of 2026

Last action — Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced June 04, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the House.

Prognosis

Advancing 38% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 4 sponsors

    1 primary, 3 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (3 R · 1 D) — cross-party backing.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

In plain language

This bill seeks to prohibit adversarial patents.

The bill aims to stop the use of certain types of patents that are considered adversarial. It addresses practices that may hinder competition and innovation.

Bill Text

How this bill changes current law

5 changes Share ↗

Compared against current U.S. Code AI-generated reading aid — verify against the official bill.

The bill establishes limitations on patent issuance and enforcement for entities that pose a national security threat.

  • 35 U.S.C. Chapter 10

    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).

    This addition prohibits certain entities from receiving patents and renders existing patents unenforceable based on national security concerns.

  • 35 U.S.C. Chapter 10

    (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.

    This section allows the President to grant temporary waivers to entities otherwise barred from receiving patents under national security concerns.

  • 35 U.S.C. Chapter 10

    (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.

    This provision clarifies that the national security prohibitions do not impact the filing, examination, or term of patents for affected individuals.

  • 35 U.S.C. Chapter 10

    (b) Waiver. (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.

    This mandates the President to consider international obligations when granting waivers for patent prohibitions.

  • 35 U.S.C. Chapter 10

    ``(a) Limitation.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law--

    This establishes a new legal standard superseding other laws concerning patent issuance related to national security.

Action History

  1. Introduced in House

  2. Introduced in House

  3. Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 3 co-sponsors · 543 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (3)

Not signed on (543)

543 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 543 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

technology
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

Who sponsors HR 9142?
HR 9142 is sponsored by Moolenaar, John R. (Republican), Issa, Darrell (Republican), Thompson, Bennie G. (Democratic), and Fitzgerald, Scott (Republican).
What is the current status of HR 9142?
This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced June 04, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HR 9142?
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