Defendant
4 cases as defendant.
Chien-Min Sung appears to be an individual inventor with an extensive patent portfolio rather than a traditional operating company. Often referred to as "Dr. Sung," he holds a Ph.D., with a historical background including work at GE Superabrasives in industrial synthetic diamond technology. Information regarding a formal company headquarters, year founded, ownership status, employee count, or revenue is not publicly available.
Sung's operations center on the development and assertion of intellectual property. His patent portfolio includes inventions related to "CMP pad dressers having leveled tips and associated methods," "methods and devices for cooling printed circuit boards," and "graphene production methods." There is no evidence that Chien-Min Sung manufactures or sells any products or services directly.
Chien-Min Sung maintains a patent assertion posture, consistent with a non-practicing entity (NPE) or an individual patent owner. This is indicated by his record of two cases as plaintiff, suing large technology companies for patent infringement. The litigation against Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Texas Instruments Inc. in the Eastern District of Texas, a jurisdiction known for patent litigation, further supports this characterization. He has also appeared as a defendant in one case, an inter partes review (IPR) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) initiated by Samsung.
Notable cases include Chien-Min Sung v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. et al. (filed in August 2023) and Chien-Min Sung v. Texas Instruments Inc., both patent infringement suits in the Eastern District of Texas. The IPR filed by Samsung against Sung at the USPTO challenged US Patent No. 9,724,802 B2, pertaining to CMP pad dressers, resulting in an "Unpatentable" outcome, though this decision was subsequently appealed.
Samsung Austin Semiconductor and other Samsung entities petitioned for inter partes review of U.S. 9,138,862. The PTAB instituted review and issued a Final Written Decision on September 17, 2025 holding the challenged claims unpatentable. The proceeding was appealed.
Petition for inter partes review filed by Kinik Company against Chien-Min Sung. The subject patent of the IPR is US 9,724,802; the petition states that parent patents being litigated in the Taiwan Litigations include US 7,762,872, 8,398,466, 8,974,270, and 9,138,862. The proceeding was terminated after settlement.
Inter partes review petition filed by Kinik Company challenging U.S. Patent No. 8,777,699. The Board instituted claims 1–12 and 17–19 and issued a final written decision on November 4, 2015 holding those claims unpatentable; claims 13–16 were not instituted.
Samsung entities filed an Inter Partes Review (IPR) against Chien-Min Sung, challenging US Patent 8974270. Oral arguments are scheduled for June 19, 2025.