US*MADE has signed onto a landmark joint letter — co-signed by ten leading trade associations — calling on senior White House and administration officials to reverse new U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) policies that are undermining the ability of American manufacturers to defend themselves against invalid patent claims.
“If these Patent Office policies remain unchecked, they will lead to a systematic looting of the American industrial economy.”
The letter, addressed to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and other senior officials, warns that the USPTO has revived and expanded Biden-era proposals — previously condemned by congressional leaders of both parties — that effectively block manufacturers from challenging questionable patents through the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Since April 2025, the USPTO has retroactively rejected over 450 patent-validity challenges without consideration of their merits, the majority targeting patents held by non-practicing “patent assertion entities” that produce no products and conduct no research.
The coalition argues that PTAB trials — conducted by technically trained patent judges — are the only reliable mechanism for weeding out the roughly 40% of U.S. patents that are estimated to be invalid when rigorously tested. Without this forum, manufacturers in semiconductors, telecommunications, automotive, and other critical sectors face billion-dollar litigation with little practical ability to mount a full defense before lay juries.
The letter urges the administration to halt these policies immediately and restore the rule of law at the USPTO.
Full letter below: