In Florida, we don’t need to look far to see China encroaching on our economy and security. Chinese companies have purchased farmland near Florida military bases and Chinese nationals, posing as tourists, have repeatedly been found gathering information near sensitive sites like the Kennedy Space Center and a Key West air station. Our lawmakers have responded, with Gov. Ron DeSantis taking steps to counter Chinese influence on everything from land purchases to higher education and, more recently, Sen. Ashley Moody sponsoring legislation in Congress to limit intelligence gathering by blocking visas for Chinese nationals.
But one security threat continues to fly under the radar — the U.S. is running an intellectual property deficit. More U.S. patents are now issued to foreign-based inventors than to American inventors each year and China is growing its portfolio.
When inventors and companies from around the world invest in our economy, they often acquire U.S. patents. What we cannot accept, however, is a system where competitors weaponize American intellectual property while harming our own economic interests. To continue advancing President Trump’s America First agenda, it’s crucial that the administration fortifies defenses against intellectual-property exploitation.
The Patent Office issued more than 300,000 patents last year — less than half were issued to American inventors. Meanwhile, Chinese entities had the largest increase in U.S. patents granted in 2024, up more than 30% compared to 2023. The Chinese telecommunications company Huawei has been charged with stealing trade secrets from U.S. companies and is considered such a threat to U.S. security that both the Trump and Biden administrations took action to restrict its activity. Yet, in 2024 alone, Huawei was granted more than 3,000 U.S. patents, placing it in the top 10 patent recipients.
In addition to granting companies like Huawei valuable intellectual property rights, we are also subsidizing them. The Patent Office is funded by fees, but the upfront application fees to inventors are less than it costs the Office to grant a patent, so the Office runs an initial loss. Over the past five years, this has resulted in an estimated nearly $600 million subsidy to Chinese firms.
The biggest vulnerability for U.S. companies, however, does not come from patents covering cutting-edge technologies. The greatest danger is found in abstract, poor-quality patents held by adversaries. The Patent Office occasionally makes mistakes and issues patents describing broad concepts, not specific inventions. Patent trolls, groups whose only activity is acquiring patent portfolios and turning them against productive businesses in litigation, stockpile arsenals of these patents. They are the perfect tools for litigation campaigns against American companies, used to extort large paydays, block innovation, and even gain access to privileged information.
This lawsuit model has proven highly profitable, attracting considerable outside investment. Groups like hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds now regularly back patent litigation targeting U.S. firms, aiming for eight- and nine-figure monetary awards, and we have proof that Chinese investors are funding patent lawsuits in U.S. courts from behind the scenes.
The crucial question for the Trump administration is how best to prevent intellectual property issued to competitors like China from being weaponized against American interests.
The first step is reinforcing existing protections, which have proven to combat intellectual property lawfare. U.S. companies sued for patent infringement — whether by a competitor like Huawei or a shell company patent troll — can request review of the questionable patent being used against them. In cases where the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) determines a patent is invalid, it is permanently removed from the accuser’s arsenal.
In recent months the Patent Office has taken steps to dismantle the PTAB, creating a system where far fewer American companies have the option of Patent Office review when they are falsely accused of patent infringement.
These Patent Office changes — which benefit foreign-owned companies and hedge funds while leaving U.S. job creators and innovators vulnerable to meritless litigation — can, and should, be undone just as easily and quickly as they were put in place.
By bolstering the Patent Office’s patent validity review, the Trump administration has an opportunity to immediately address the vulnerabilities that accompany the U.S. patent deficit and continue putting American businesses, workers, and inventors first.
Dennis Ross served in the Florida House of Representatives for eight years before representing Florida’s 15th Congressional District for eight years. He is now a Distinguished Professor and Director of the American Center for Public Leadership at Southeastern University.
