US government funding yielded hundreds of patents for China-based researchers | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Monday
June 09, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
MONDAY, JUNE 09, 2025
US government funding yielded hundreds of patents for China-based researchers

World+Biz

Reuters
29 August, 2024, 08:45 pm
Last modified: 29 August, 2024, 08:58 pm

Related News

  • China's May exports slow, deflation deepens as tariffs bite
  • China to help Bangladesh counter political disinformation in foreign media
  • India, US push to finalise interim tariff deal as Trump's deadline nears
  • NCP, Chinese envoy hold talks on Bangladesh's democratic transition, reform process
  • US and Europe trade negotiators discuss tariffs in Paris

US government funding yielded hundreds of patents for China-based researchers

The US patent data will amplify calls to cancel or renegotiate the landmark US-China Science and Technology Agreement, a cooperation deal that critics say disproportionately benefits Washington's top geopolitical rival.

Reuters
29 August, 2024, 08:45 pm
Last modified: 29 August, 2024, 08:58 pm
 The flags of the United States and China fly from a lamppost in the Chinatown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., November 1, 2021. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
The flags of the United States and China fly from a lamppost in the Chinatown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., November 1, 2021. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

The US Defense Department, NASA and other government agencies funded research that led to more than 1,000 US patents for China-based inventors since 2010, including in sensitive fields such as biotechnology and semiconductors, data from the US patent agency showed.

The US patent data, which was reviewed by Reuters and has not been reported previously, will amplify calls to cancel or renegotiate the landmark US-China Science and Technology Agreement, a cooperation deal that critics say disproportionately benefits Washington's top geopolitical rival.

The US Patent and Trademark Office supplied the data this month to the House of Representatives' select committee on China. In June, it asked the agency whether US funding resulted in Chinese breakthroughs, aiming to highlight what it views as the risks of renewing the pact.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

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. The data does not detail whether US entities or individuals share the patents.

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

Funding from various US government agencies supported the research, leading to 92 patents through Pentagon funding, 175 from Department of Energy money and four from NASA financial support. The US space agency faces prohibitions 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 select committee's chairman, Republican Representative John Moolenaar, said in an email to Reuters.

The patent office, NASA and the departments of defense, energy and health did not respond to requests for comment.

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.

China's embassy in Washington did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the agreement and the patent data.

The data provided by the patent authority to the House committee in a letter dated Aug. 14 did not disclose specific projects or patents. There was no indication that the funding was the direct result of the agreement, which after its signing in 1979 laid the foundation for a boom in US-China academic and commercial exchanges.

The patents covered advances in fields including semiconductors, molecular chemistry and polymers, chemical engineering, nanotechnology and medical technology.

Such patents dropped from an annual high in 2019 of 99, to 61 in 2023. In 2024, 16 were recorded in the first quarter despite heightened US government concern that Chinese science and technology advances present a national security threat.

Possible Extension of China Pact

Once hailed as a stabilizing force in US-China relations, the cooperation agreement has come under fire from lawmakers concerned about Beijing's growing military power and alleged theft of US intellectual property.

Proponents of renewing the deal argue that ending it would stifle academic and commercial cooperation and prevent the US from learning about China's technical advances.

A second six-month extension to the agreement, which expired in August 2023, ended on Tuesday. Another short-term extension could occur in the coming days as both sides have sought to renegotiate its terms.

The patents identified by the US patent office represent a small fraction of China's global patents. Patents grant exclusive legal rights to inventors but also publicly disclose technical information about those inventions.

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

US / China / patent

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Representational image: WHO
    Govt advises against non-essential travel to India amid rising Covid-19 risks
  • Dhaka North City Corporation Administrator Mohammad Azaz holds a press conference at the DNCC Nagar Bhaban in Gulshan-2 on 9 June 2025. Photo: TBS
    Over 4.66 lakh animals sacrificed in Dhaka North during Eid: Administrator Azaz
  • Photos: Collected
    Abdul Hamid wasn't arrested because he's not wanted right now: Home adviser

MOST VIEWED

  • File Photo: British MP Tulip Siddiq attends a news conference with Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of jailed British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, in London, Britain October 11, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo
    Tulip requests CA Yunus for a meeting over corruption allegations: Guardian
  • Representational image of Dhaka metro rail. Photo: Mumit M/TBS
    Metro rail takes Eid break today
  • Photo: Reuters
    Trump says Musk relationship over, warns of 'serious consequences' if he funds Democrats
  • Representational image. Photo: Reuters
    Bangladesh reports 3 more Covid-19 cases
  • Muhammad Yunus (L) and Narendra Modi. Photo: Collected
    Modi sends Eid-ul-Adha greetings, Yunus calls for continued bilateral cooperation
  • Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal
    From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

Related News

  • China's May exports slow, deflation deepens as tariffs bite
  • China to help Bangladesh counter political disinformation in foreign media
  • India, US push to finalise interim tariff deal as Trump's deadline nears
  • NCP, Chinese envoy hold talks on Bangladesh's democratic transition, reform process
  • US and Europe trade negotiators discuss tariffs in Paris

Features

File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

8h | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

2d | Bangladesh
Illustration: TBS

Unbearable weight of the white coat: The mental health crisis in our medical colleges

4d | Panorama
(From left) Sadia Haque, Sylvana Quader Sinha and Tasfia Tasbin. Sketch: TBS

Meet the women driving Bangladesh’s startup revolution

5d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Israeli forces seize Gaza aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg

Israeli forces seize Gaza aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg

1h | TBS World
Which way will the anti-immigration campaign in Los Angeles turn?

Which way will the anti-immigration campaign in Los Angeles turn?

1h | TBS World
CA leaves for London this evening on four-day official tour

CA leaves for London this evening on four-day official tour

3h | TBS Today
Former BGMEA Senior Vice President Abdullah Hill Rakib passes away

Former BGMEA Senior Vice President Abdullah Hill Rakib passes away

4h | Others
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net