Sponsors (2)
The bill strengthens national-security protections for sensitive university research and gives the executive branch clearer and faster authority to restrict foreign access, at the cost of reduced international collaboration, higher compliance and financial risks for research institutions, and more concentrated, harder-to-review government decisionmaking.
Universities, researchers, and students keep control of IP from sensitive research, reducing the risk that foreign governments can access or exploit U.S. innovations and helping preserve U.S. commercial advantage.
Universities and researchers gain clearer legal definitions and a more explicit scope of covered activity, which reduces legal uncertainty and can simplify IP compliance and due-diligence processes.
Federal policymakers and agencies obtain clearer authority to restrict interactions with identified threat countries, enabling faster sanctions, contracting bans, or other measures to protect national security.
Researchers, universities, and students may lose collaboration and funding opportunities with foreign-government-affiliated partners, slowing research progress and harming education and training.
Universities and research institutions face significant financial risk — including fines (up to $5 million per violation) and seizure of proceeds — which can deter industry partnerships and commercialization of research.
Concentrating designation and national-security decision authority in the Secretary of State and narrowing judicial review removes oversight and makes it harder to challenge designations, increasing the risk of arbitrary or politically influenced enforcement.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits U.S. universities and affiliates from transferring IP in covered research to listed or designated foreign governments and imposes civil penalties and forfeiture for violations.
Prohibits U.S. universities and their faculty, staff, and students from transferring intellectual property or other ownership interests in research to foreign governments that the Secretary of State deems “prohibited,” including specific countries named in the law and other nations judged to threaten U.S. national security. The measure creates civil penalties (up to $500,000 or up to $5,000,000 for research that may affect national security), authorizes forfeiture of funds received for illicit transfers, and gives the Secretary of State final authority to designate prohibited nations and assess national security risk, with enforcement led by the Attorney General.
Official title: To prohibit certain foreign governments from acquiring intellectual property rights of research conducted by United States universities, faculty, staff, or students, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 11, 2026 by Troy E. Nehls · Last progress February 11, 2026