Washington, July 8 : A Republican senator has urged the US Commerce Department to tighten patent protections against what he described as Chinese companies using artificial intelligence to mine American patent applications, warning that the practice threatens US innovation, weakens pharmaceutical research and development, and could deepen America's dependence on China's biotechnology sector.

Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana, in a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, called on the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to continue reforms aimed at protecting American inventions from what he termed "AI-enabled duplication".

The letter argues that Chinese firms are increasingly using AI to analyse US biotechnology patent applications, identify commercially promising discoveries and file derivative patents before American innovators can bring their products to market.

"Patent scraping is intensifying the Chinese IP threat and risks undercutting American R&D investment, particularly given China's rapid drug approval process," Banks wrote. "When competitors can appropriate an invention, make minor modifications, and obtain regulatory approval before the original innovator, the incentives for investing in R&D are fundamentally weakened."

Banks said the challenge extends beyond intellectual property theft and has implications for the pharmaceutical supply chain.

In the letter, he noted that since the 1980s the Chinese Communist Party has made biotechnology a strategic priority by investing heavily in research infrastructure and streamlining regulations to speed product development.

He argued that many US companies shifted manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and generic medicines to China because of lower costs, leaving the United States increasingly dependent on China's biotechnology industry.

Citing a 2024 Biotechnology Innovation Organisation survey, Banks said 79 per cent of American biotechnology companies reported at least one contract or product agreement with a China-based or Chinese-owned manufacturer. According to the senator, such reliance "not only creates vulnerabilities in our domestic supply chains but further exposes America's biotech sector to a country that actively seeks to undercut and exploit our industries."

Banks also warned that Chinese companies were combining traditional patent analysis with AI tools to rapidly mine patent applications and research disclosures.

He said this enabled competitors to appropriate American innovations without bearing the original research and development costs, while filing derivative patents at machine speed.

The senator further argued that AI-generated patent filings could overwhelm patent offices.

"Low-quality, AI-generated filings can burden patent systems. Machine-scale applications with little or no meaningful human contribution may further strain USPTO by worsening examination backlogs and complicating prior-art analysis," he wrote.

Banks urged Lutnick and USPTO Under Secretary Squires to continue prioritising reforms to protect innovations vulnerable to AI-assisted copying.

"I appreciate USPTO's attention to the patent scraping problem and engagement so far. I respectfully urge you and Under Secretary Squires to continue prioritising reform and protecting innovations that are vulnerable to AI-enabled duplication," he wrote.

Intellectual property protection has become a central issue in the broader US-China strategic competition, particularly in advanced technologies such as biotechnology, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Washington has repeatedly accused Beijing of using state-backed industrial policies and cyber-enabled methods to acquire foreign technology, allegations that China has consistently denied.

/IANS