China-Based Inventors Have Filed 1,020 Patents With US Funding

Research funded by various American agencies has led to more than 1,000 US patents for China-based inventors since 2010, data from the US patent agency shows.

Many of the patents were in sensitive fields such as semiconductors, molecular chemistry and polymers, chemical engineering, nanotechnology and medical technology, data analysed by Reuters showed.

According to the patent office, the agency granted 1,020 patents from 2010 through the first quarter of 2024 that were both funded at least in part by the US government and involved at least one China-residing inventor.

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The patents included 197 in pharmaceuticals and 154 in biotechnology, both strategic industries for China and the United States.

Funding for the patents came from various US government agencies including the US Defence Department, Department of Energy and NASA. That’s despite NASA being prohibited under US law from cooperating with China or Chinese companies.

Funding from the Department of Health and Human Services yielded 356 such patents, the most of any agency.

“It’s alarming that US taxpayers have unwittingly funded over 1,000 patents claimed by Chinese entities, with the Department of Defense accounting for nearly 100 of these patents,” the House of Representatives’ select committee on China’s chairman, Republican Representative John Moolenaar, said in an email to Reuters.

Science and tech pact in limbo

The revelations come at a time when tech ties between the world’s two biggest economies have been strained by an ongoing technology and trade war.

Caught in the middle is the 45-year-old US-China Science and Technology Agreement (STA), which was once hailed as a stabilising force in relation between the countries.

Critics say the STA disproportionately benefits Beijing.

The pact is typically renewed every five years but that has not happened since it last expired in August 2023. Officials and Beijing and Washington have since extended it twice for six months, with the most recent extension ending this week.

Another short-term extension could occur in the coming days as both sides have sought to renegotiate its terms.

The State Department, which is responsible for renegotiating the China agreement, said it remains in communication with China about the accord. “The United States remains committed to advancing and protecting US interests in science and technology,” a department spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, said science and technology was an “open business.”

“We hope that some officials in the US will abandon the Cold War mentality,” Liu said.

Small fraction of China’s patent grab

The patent data analysed by Reuters was supplied by The US Patent and Trademark Office to the the select committee on China this month. The select committee had requested the data to highlight what it views as the risks of renewing the pact.

The data did not disclose specific projects or patents and did not indicate that the US agency funding stemmed from the STA.

Furthermore, data showed the number of patents stemming from US funding dropped from an annual high of 99 in 2019, to 61 in 2023. In 2024, 16 such patents were recorded in the first quarter.

The patents identified by the US patent office also represent a small fraction of China’s global patents.

In one measure of global innovation, China has in recent years surpassed the US to become the world’s leading filer of patent applications.

China has also emerged as the leading research nation in 90% of critical technologies, according to a new study.

Reuters, with additional editing by Vishakha Saxena

Vishakha Saxena

Vishakha Saxena is the Multimedia and Social Media Editor at Asia Financial. She has worked as a digital journalist since 2013, and is an experienced writer and multimedia producer. As a trader and investor, she is keenly interested in new economy, emerging markets and the intersections of finance and society. You can write to her at [email protected]