A recent regulation by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has attracted industry attention. Micron has proposed the implementation of a "National Security Review" mechanism to the USPTO, in response to two patent invalidity petitions against Yangtze Memory: IPR2025-00098 (related to US8,945,996 B2) and IPR2025-00099 (related to US10,872,903 B2).

Interestingly, these two patent invalidity petitions had already been confirmed by the USPTO to be eligible for review earlier. However, starting in October, the USPTO Director issued a new policy framework introducing a "National Security Review" process. As a result, cases that had already entered the "initiation of review" stage now face the possibility of being re-evaluated or even "refused to initiate."

This reflects a deeper issue: the United States is using the broad "national security" framework to make substantive adjustments to the patent system. When a country can arbitrarily change legal rules under the guise of national security, other economies will inevitably seek reciprocal protective measures. Some analysts believe that in the future, more countries may adopt similar industrial protection policies, such as including certain enterprises on trade restriction lists or imposing import restrictions on goods containing specific brands.

This development trend warrants close attention from the tech industry, as it could reshape the landscape of global supply chains.