Foreign Adversary Patent Disclosure Act
Sponsored By: Representative Fitzgerald, Scott [R-WI-5]
Introduced
Summary
Requires patent applicants to disclose recent ties between patent owners and specified foreign adversaries. This bill would add a new disclosure to regular and provisional patent applications requiring applicants to identify any person with an ownership interest who within five years was employed by, funded by, or given financial incentives from a listed foreign adversary (China, including Special Administrative Regions, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, or Russia).
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- Inventors and patent applicants would have to report owners with those ties when filing, covering employment, state-affiliated funding or talent programs, and other financial incentives related to a patent.
- Small business concerns that already make disclosures under section 9(g) or 9(o) of the Small Business Act are exempt from this requirement.
- The Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may request true copies of contracts or financial agreements tied to disclosures and keep those copies confidential and separate from the patent file.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
New patent disclosure for foreign ties
If enacted, this bill would require every person filing a patent or a provisional patent application to disclose owners with certain foreign ties. Applicants would list each person with an ownership interest who, in the five years before filing, was employed by an entity owned or controlled by a listed foreign adversary; received funding from a state-affiliated research fund or talent recruitment program of a listed foreign adversary; or received other financial incentives tied to the patent. The listed foreign adversaries are the People's Republic of China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. After reviewing a disclosure, the USPTO Director would be able to request true copies of contracts or financial agreements specific to the disclosure. Any copies provided could be kept confidential and kept separate from the patent's public file. Small business concerns that already must follow section 9(g) or 9(o) of the Small Business Act would be exempt from this disclosure requirement.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Fitzgerald, Scott [R-WI-5]
WI • R
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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