Plaintiff
7 cases as plaintiff.
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.
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Chien-Min Sung sued Samsung entities for infringing US Patent 8974270, among others, by using third-party pad conditioners in their CMP processes. The case is currently stayed.
Chien-Min Sung sued Texas Instruments, Inc. in the Eastern District of Texas as a companion case to the Samsung action; it asserts U.S. Patent No. 9,724,802 and was pending as of the September 2024 Samsung IPR institution decision.
Chien-Min Sung sued Kinik Company in D. Del. The Delaware action asserted U.S. 9,724,802, not the '862 patent. The '862 appears as a parent/family patent in the related dispute; the case was closed.
Dr. Chien-Min Sung sued Kinik Company and Wafertech LLC in the District of Delaware asserting three U.S. patents. The court stayed the case on January 20, 2016, and later administratively closed it pending Taiwan ownership/rights litigation and appeals. The narrative does not itemize the three patents and cannot confirm that US 7,762,872 was among them.
Patent infringement action filed by Dr. Chien-Min Sung against Kinik Company in the District of Delaware. The narrative ties US 8,777,699 to this action and notes Kinik later described the 2014 action as asserting three US patents, but only the '699 patent is specifically identified here. The court stayed the case on January 20, 2016 due to parallel Taiwan litigation, then administratively closed it; secondary sources report voluntary dismissal, with no merits judgment on infringement or validity.
Chien-Min Sung sued Texas Instruments Inc. in a parallel action to the Samsung case. The litigation is currently stayed pending resolution of TI's Motion for Summary Judgment.
Appeal from PTAB IPR2024-00534 concerning U.S. 9,138,862. The record indicates the appeal was resolved by dismissal pursuant to settlement, but the narrative did not independently verify the 26-1528 order.