Former Director of National Intelligence Warns America’s Enemies are Using Patent Courts to Steal Tech and Sabotage American Industry

John Ratcliffe, the former Director of National Intelligence from 2020 to 2021 is warning the federal government about the current state of America’s patent courts, which are allowing foreign nationals to exploit American technology and sabotage American businesses.

Ratcliffe said, “During my tenure as the Director of National Intelligence under President Trump, and while serving on the Homeland Security and Judiciary committees in Congress, we recognized patent trolls’ ability to exploit our judicial system and serve as puppets for adversaries participating in U.S. litigation as undisclosed third parties. State attorneys general, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Sens. John Kennedy of Louisiana and Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida have recently raised serious concerns about the looming threat of foreign adversaries funneling money into litigation against U.S. companies.”

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Excerpt from dailycaller.com

… Numerous threats demand our attention and often capture headlines, such as military buildups, cyber espionage, and disinformation campaigns. Alongside these more high-profile hazards, there is a quietly growing and increasingly pressing national security concern: foreign actors’ attacks on American businesses and intellectual property through our judicial system.

To understand their strategy, it’s important to grasp the current landscape of U.S. patent litigation. Approximately 60 percent of all U.S. patent litigation is brought by non-practicing entities, often called “patent trolls.” Shell companies are created to buy up broad, unused patents and weaponize them through lawsuits targeting businesses. Nefarious third parties — including foreign adversaries — can fund patent trolls and use lawsuits to access sensitive information, gain an unfair competitive advantage, and advance future litigation campaigns against the same company and others in the industry. This practice reflects a potentially coordinated attempt to use lawsuits to steal intellectual property from American businesses.

Broad and invasive court-ordered discovery in patent infringement cases requires divulging a company’s crown jewels — which might include critical confidential information like source code, engineering specifications, and detailed financial data — to hostile actors funding lawsuits or operating behind a patent troll shell company. This information can take months to gather, diverting key personnel away from their primary tasks and racking up huge legal bills. Despite the use of protective orders, bad actors can still manipulate this process by taking photographs of source code, failing to return documents, and engaging in careless handling of highly sensitive information. And a major ransomware attack against a leading eDiscovery service provider highlights that no system is immune from compromise, regardless of security precautions.