Samsung has won a patent infringement lawsuit against its former “patent chief” in the U.S. The court called the case an “abhorrent violation of the rule of law” and highlighted the recklessness of patent litigation practices. (Image from Yonhap News TV)
SEOUL, May 24 (Korea Bizwire) – Samsung Electronics scored a decisive victory in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by its former chief patent officer in the United States, a case the court denounced as “abhorrent conduct” violating the rule of law.
According to industry sources, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled in favor of Samsung on May 9 in a suit filed by SynergyIP and Staton Techiya LLC, a patent holder, over patents related to audio recording devices.
The dramatic turn came from Ahn Seung-ho, Samsung’s former patent strategy mastermind who established SynergyIP after retiring in 2019. Ahn, an engineer-turned-lawyer renowned within Samsung for his patent expertise, had overseen major litigation like the Apple case as the head of the corporate IP center from 2010.
However, Ahn abruptly sued Samsung in 2021, alleging the company misappropriated around 10 audio patents held by Staton Techiya, unlawfully using them in wireless earbuds like the Galaxy Buds. Samsung countersued in February 2022, claiming Ahn’s firm and Staton Techiya misused Samsung’s trade secrets.
Ahn abruptly sued Samsung in 2021, alleging the company misappropriated around 10 audio patents held by Staton Techiya, unlawfully using them in wireless earbuds like the Galaxy Buds. (Image courtesy of Samsung Electronics)
After over two and a half years of proceedings, the court ruled that Ahn and others had illegally exploited confidential information from Samsung to file the lawsuit, rendering the suit inadmissible without assessing the patents’ merits. The ruling reportedly bars them from refiling the same claims.
Ahn is currently under investigation for allegedly colluding with former Samsung patent staff to steal confidential data from the company’s IP center around the time of litigation, in violation of laws against unfair competition and trade secret misappropriation.
In a scathing rebuke, the court noted that Ahn violated professional duties to Samsung by leveraging inside knowledge obtained while the company funded his law studies. It described his “abhorrent” actions against his former employer as “dishonest, deceitful and offensive to the rule of law.”
Court records also revealed Ahn shared confidential reports from Samsung with the China-backed IP firm PurpleVine and law firms, which actively utilized the data to file suit. PurpleVine is said to have funded the litigation.
Given the gravity, the court ordered its judgment be forwarded to the ethics committees of the California and New York bar associations where Ahn is registered.
Samsung vowed to demonstrate the lawsuit’s impropriety in any remaining related cases. Industry watchers noted the ruling sounded an alarm over rampant patent litigation practices, as the iconic tech company has faced nearly 300 patent suits over five years, almost one per week, often from entities dubbed patent trolls.
“Our companies have long been vulnerable to patent lawsuits, having to pay exorbitant settlements overseas,” said one industry official. “As much as preventing technology leaks, companies must prioritize intellectual property management and defense.”
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
