Op-Ed: Rep. Bob Goodlatte: Trump’s Patent Director should combat foreign influence
President Donald Trump is making progress on the promises he made during his campaign — taking on China, reducing government waste, and growing the American economy. Thus far, his cabinet-level appointments reflect these priorities.
In January, Secretary of State Marco Rubio took meaningful steps to counter Chinese influence in America’s backyard. And Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has committed to addressing China's abuse of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the agency responsible for examining patents that protect American inventors and drive economic growth.
President Trump has now nominated a USPTO Director, John Squires. The USPTO Director is instrumental in preventing foreign influence of our patent system, and it will therefore fall on Squires to continue advancing the America First agenda, upholding the patent standards that make U.S. intellectual property rights so valuable and minimizing undue influence from the growing foreign litigation investment industry, which is steadily sinking its teeth into American intellectual property.
The total pool of outside money funneling into patent litigation continues to expand. In 2024 more than 30 percent of all new litigation investment capital was directed toward patent lawsuits. Litigation investment entities, including hedge funds and other similar groups — many of which are based abroad or funded from foreign sources — frequently bankroll lawsuits reliant on low-quality patents, which the USPTO issued in error. Foreign investors pour money into shell companies that scoop up questionable patents for the sole purpose of weaponizing them in litigation targeting American startups and manufacturers across industries, which invent new technologies, build and sell useful products, and generally create value in our economy.
Fortunately, the USPTO provides a measure of relief for companies that get swept up in these money grabs. The agency’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), which is composed of expert administrative patent judges (APJs), has the power to examine and invalidate patents that are weaponized in this way. The APJs have proven very good at what they do. When their decisions are brought before the Federal Circuit, they are affirmed more than 80 percent of the time.
As the Trump administration looks to strategically reduce the headcount of the federal workforce, it should avoid firing APJs. Reducing the number of APJs would backfire and undermine PTAB review, giving China and other adversaries a leg up in weaponizing the U.S. patent system against American companies. Notably, APJs make up just 1 percent of USPTO personnel. The cost of their work is covered by fees, not by taxpayers, and they give companies and inventors an alternative to the high cost of defending themselves in litigation in the federal courts.
To be blunt — if you’re looking for an efficient, streamlined way to run the federal government, the PTAB is as good a model as any.
Recently, the USPTO issued an internal notice to its APJs, saying they should expect layoffs. Shortly afterwards, the USPTO released a new process for denying the review of patents that are likely invalid, not based on the facts of the case or the strength of the arguments, but instead for “discretionary” reasons. Patent wielding shell companies — known as “patent trolls” — are already trying to capitalize, including one notorious troll now asking the agency to reject Tesla’s request to review their patent in light of the recent change.
Any moves that weaken the PTAB, including firing APJs, will no doubt be a windfall for foreign-funded litigation investment entities seeking to secure runaway verdicts in federal courts based on bad patents they acquire. Reducing PTAB capacity will push more conflicts into district courts, which are slower, less accurate in reviewing patents, and more prone to influence from foreign-based litigation investors who funnel money into patent infringement lawsuits, but remain in the shadows.
Because there are no universal disclosure requirements in federal courts for these third-party investments, we don’t know the full scope of the problem. But the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently found that outside entities, including those based in China and Saudi Arabia, are potentially investing in over half of all patent lawsuits, according to technology companies being targeted in litigation.
The PTAB is a strong protection against litigation profiteers, as well as our foreign adversaries and competitors — one study found over 75 percent of patents challenged before the USPTO judges were owned by foreign entities. What’s more, these challenges were overwhelmingly brought by American petitioners that simply want to do what they do best — create jobs, expand their operations, and strengthen our economy.
President Trump won a second term by promising to put America First. USPTO Director-designate Squires should follow that guiding principle by reinforcing the tools that protect U.S. entrepreneurs and innovators from those who would do them harm. Maintaining a reliable patent quality review system, which blunts foreign-funded exploitation of American intellectual property, ought to be a priority when he is confirmed.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte represented Virginia’s 6th District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2019, and was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee from 2013 to 2019.
