PTAB challenges

Proceedings overview

US patent 12243948 is currently involved in one active Post-Grant Review (PGR) proceeding. This sole proceeding, PGR2025-00082, has been instituted for trial, meaning the patent claims challenged therein are currently under review by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). As no Final Written Decision has been issued yet, all challenged claims are still pending a patentability determination. For a defendant, this indicates that the patent is currently vulnerable, and the outcome of the ongoing PGR will significantly shape its defensive posture.

PGR2025-00082 — [[[Samsung Electronics Co.](/litigations/by-defendant/Samsung%20Electronics%20Co.), Ltd.](/litigations/by-plaintiff/Samsung%20Electronics%20Co.%2C%20Ltd.) et al.](/litigations/by-plaintiff/Samsung%20Electronics%20Co.%2C%20Ltd.%20et%20al.) v. W&W Sens Devices Inc.

• Type: Post-Grant Review
• Filed: 2025-08-28
• Status: Trial Instituted (last modified 2026-05-19). This means the PTAB has found sufficient grounds to proceed with a full review of the challenged claims.
• Judge panel: Vice Chief Judge Brian P. Murphy, Administrative Patent Judge Michael Kim, and Administrative Patent Judge George R. Cochran.
• Petition grounds: The petition challenges claims 1-20 of US Patent No. 12,243,948 as unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 102 (anticipation) and § 103 (obviousness) in view of various combinations of prior art, including:
  • US 2017/0117409 A1 (Kopmar)
  • US 2012/0267761 A1 (Sun)
  • US 2010/0176472 A1 (Yeh)
  • US 2008/0224169 A1 (Tsang)
  • "Integrated Photonics" by P. K. Tien (Tien)
  • US 2016/0069165 A1 (Wang et al.)
  • "Silicon Photodetectors and Photodiodes" by J. D. Crow (Crow)
• Institution decision: Instituted on 2026-02-10. The PTAB determined that the Petitioner demonstrated a reasonable likelihood that claims 1-20 are unpatentable. Specifically, the Board instituted on all challenged claims (1-20) under various combinations of § 102 and § 103 based on the cited prior art.
• Final Written Decision (if issued): Not yet issued.
• Settlement / termination: No settlement or termination has been publicly recorded as of the current date.
• Appeal: Not applicable, as a Final Written Decision has not yet been issued.
• Defensive value: This proceeding indicates that all 20 claims of US12243948 are currently under challenge and the PTAB has found sufficient merit to proceed to trial. Should the Petitioner prevail, it could result in the cancellation of all claims, significantly weakening the patent for any potential assertions.

Strategic summary

Currently, all 20 claims of US patent 12243948 are formally challenged in PGR2025-00082. The PTAB has instituted trial on all these claims, meaning there is a reasonable likelihood that they will be found unpatentable. As no Final Written Decision has been issued, all claims (1-20) are still considered untested in terms of a final PTAB determination, but they are at risk of cancellation. This situation presents a significant vulnerability for the patent owner, W&W Sens Devices Inc., as the entire scope of the patent is in jeopardy.

The estoppel landscape, governed by 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(2), would only come into play after a Final Written Decision is issued. If claims are found unpatentable, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and its privies would be estopped from asserting invalidity of those claims in district court or the ITC on any ground that was raised or reasonably could have been raised in the PGR. However, if claims are found patentable, the patent owner could leverage this outcome in litigation. Given that Samsung is the petitioner, this indicates a direct interest in challenging the patent, likely in response to or in anticipation of an assertion by W&W Sens Devices Inc. The presence of a PGR, rather than an IPR, suggests that the patent's earliest priority date is after March 16, 2013, making it eligible for post-grant review under the broader grounds of patentability, including 35 U.S.C. § 101 and § 112, in addition to § 102 and § 103. In this case, the petition grounds cited relate to § 102 and § 103.

Recommended next steps

As PGR2025-00082 is actively in trial, the next key milestones would be the oral hearing (if requested and granted) and the statutory one-year deadline for the Final Written Decision from the institution date. The institution decision was on 2026-02-10, so the Final Written Decision is statutorily due by 2027-02-10. Parties facing assertion of this patent should closely monitor the progress of PGR2025-00082 through the USPTO PTAB E2E system.

• Monitor PTAB Docket: Continuously check the PTAB E2E system for PGR2025-00082 (PGR2025-00082) for updates on the trial schedule, including any upcoming oral hearing dates, and critically, the issuance of the Final Written Decision.
• Evaluate Claims 1-20: Given that all claims 1-20 are challenged and trial was instituted, any infringement theories relying on these claims carry significant risk due to the pending invalidity challenge. A defendant should assess the strength of the petitioner's arguments in the instituted decision and consider how those arguments might apply to their own products or processes.
• Prepare for FWD: Once the Final Written Decision is issued, promptly analyze its claim-by-claim disposition to understand which, if any, claims remain patentable. This will directly inform the viability of any ongoing or future litigation involving US12243948.

The institution decision can be reviewed at: https://developer.uspto.gov/ptab-api/documents/PGR2025-00082/001402206263.