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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

SHERMAN DIVISION

CHIEN-MIN SUNG,

Plaintiff,

v.

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS 

INCORPORATED,

Defendant.

Civil Action No. 4:23-cv-753-SDJ

JURY TRIAL DEMANDED 

JOINT RULE 26(f) CONFERENCE REPORT

The parties in the above-captioned case have conferred as required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 

26(f) and the Court’s Order Governing Proceedings (“Order”) (Dkt. 8) and file this joint report. 

The Rule 26(f) conference was held on November 15, 2023. Alex Chan and Peter Mazur 

of Devlin Law Firm LLC participated on behalf of Plaintiff Chien-Min Sung, Ph.D. (“Dr. Sung” 

or “Plaintiff”). Amanda A. Abraham of Roth & Abraham Law Firm, PC participated on behalf 

of Defendant Texas Instruments Incorporated (“Defendant” or “TI”).

1. Suggested modifications of the proposed deadlines for the scheduling order set out 

in Appendix B 

The chart below reflects the parties’ proposed case deadlines. There is no disagreement 

between the parties with respect to any date below. 

Court’s 

Proposed 

Deadline

Parties’ Proposed 

Deadline

DESCRIPTION

11/24/2023 11/24/2023 Rule 26(f) Attorney Conference 

N/A 12/20/2023 Exchange Rule 26 Initial Disclosures 

12/8/2023 12/8/2023 Joint Status Report 

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Court’s 

Proposed 

Deadline

Parties’ Proposed 

Deadline

DESCRIPTION

To be 

discussed at 

mgmt. conf.

To be discussed at 

mgmt. conf.

Mediation. The Court will appoint a 

mediator at the Scheduling Conference.

1/3/2024 at 

2pm

1/3/2024 at 2pm Rule 16 Management Conference

10 days after 

mgmt.

conf.

1/22/2024 P.R. 3-1 Disclosure of Asserted Claims and 

Infringement Contentions (and P.R. 3-2 

document production) to be served.

5 weeks after 

mgmt.

conf.

2/14/2024 Join additional parties.

P.R. 3-3 Invalidity Contentions (and P.R. 

3-4 document production) to be served. To 

the extent not already required to be 

disclosed, exchange Mandatory 

Disclosures on all issues, including 

damages.

No later than 

45 days after 

mgmt. conf.

2/20/2024 Parties to exchange proposed terms for 

construction and identify any claim 

element governed by 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶ 6 

(P.R. 4-1).

7 weeks after 

mgmt.

conf.

2/21/2024 Privilege logs to be exchanged by parties 

(or a letter to the Court stating that there 

are no disputes as to claims of privileged 

documents).

No later than 

65 days after 

mgmt. conf.

3/8/2024 Parties to exchange preliminary proposed 

claim construction and extrinsic evidence 

supporting same. (P.R. 4-2).

13 weeks after 

mgmt. conf.

4/3/2024 Parties’ Final Amended Pleadings. (A 

motion for leave is required.)

No later than 

95 days after 

mgmt. conf.

4/8/2024 Joint Claim Construction and Prehearing 

Statement to be filed. (P.R. 4-3). Provide 

an estimate of how many pages are needed 

to brief the disputed claims.

16 weeks after 

mgmt. conf.

4/24/2024 Respond to Amended Pleadings.

No later than 

125 days after 

mgmt. conf.

4/22/2024 Completion date for discovery on claim 

construction. (P.R. 4-4).

No later than 

140 days after 

mgmt. conf.

4/22/2024 Opening claim construction brief. (P.R. 4-

5(a)).

No later than 2 

weeks after 

5/6/2024 Responsive claim construction brief. (P.R. 

4-5(b)).

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Court’s 

Proposed 

Deadline

Parties’ Proposed 

Deadline

DESCRIPTION

claim 

construction 

brief

No later than 7 

days after 

response

5/13/2024 Reply claim construction brief. (P.R. 4-

5(c))

4 weeks before 

claim 

construction 

hearing

5/20/2024 Submit technology synopsis/tutorial (both 

hard copy and disk).

At least 10 

days before 

claim 

construction 

hearing

6/7/2024 Parties to file joint claim construction and 

chart. (P.R. 4-5(d)). Parties shall work 

together to agree on as many claim terms 

as possible.

6/17/2024 6/17/2024 Claim Construction hearing Monday, 

June 17, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. at the 

United States Courthouse, 7940 Preston 

Road, Plano, TX 75024.

5 weeks after 

claim 

construction 

hearing

8/9/2024 Deadline for Initial Mandatory Disclosure 

of all persons, documents, data 

compilations and tangible things, which are 

relevant to a claim or defense of any party 

and which has not previously been 

disclosed. This deadline is not an extension 

of earlier deadlines set out in this Court’s 

order or the Patent Rules, nor an excuse to 

delay disclosure of information. It is a 

“catchall” deadline for provision of all 

remaining information which may be 

relevant to a claim or defense of any party

at trial.

6 weeks after 

claim 

construction 

hearing

7/29/2024 Parties shall notify the Court of the name, 

address, and telephone number of the 

agreed-upon mediator, or request that the 

Court select a mediator, if they are unable 

to agree on one.

9 weeks after 

claim 

construction 

hearing

8/19/2024 Parties with burden of proof to designate 

Expert Witnesses other than claims 

construction experts and provide their 

expert witness reports, to include for ALL 

experts all information set out in Rule 

26(a)(2)(B).

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Court’s 

Proposed 

Deadline

Parties’ Proposed 

Deadline

DESCRIPTION

Comply with P.R. 3-7 (Designation of 

Willfulness Opinions).

11 weeks after 

claim 

construction 

hearing

9/3/2024 Parties to Designate Expert Witnesses on 

issues for which the parties do not bear the 

burden of proof, and provide their expert 

witness report, to include for ALL experts 

all information set out in Rule 26(2)(B).

12 weeks after 

claim 

construction 

hearing

9/9/2024 Mediation deadline.

13 weeks after 

claim 

construction 

hearing

9/16/2024 Discovery deadline. All discovery must be 

served in time to be completed by this date.

16 weeks after 

claim 

construction 

hearing (and 

no later than 

110 days prior 

to the filing of 

the Joint Final 

PTO)

10/7/2024 File objections to any expert, including 

Daubert motions. Such objections and 

motions are limited to ten pages each.

File Dispositive Motions and any other 

motions that may require a hearing. 

Regardless of how many dispositive 

motions a party files, each party is limited 

to a total of sixty pages for such motions. 

Each individual motion shall comply with 

Local Rule CV-7.

Responses to motions shall be due in 

accordance with Local Rule CV-7(e).

5 weeks before 

final pretrial 

conference

12/30/2024 Counsel and unrepresented parties are each 

responsible for contacting opposing 

counsel and unrepresented parties to 

determine how they will prepare the Joint 

Final Pretrial Order, see 

www.txed.uscourts.gov, and Proposed Jury 

Instructions and Verdict Form (or 

Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions 

of Law in nonjury cases).

30 days before 

final pretrial 

conference

1/3/2025 Motions in limine due.

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Court’s 

Proposed 

Deadline

Parties’ Proposed 

Deadline

DESCRIPTION

File Joint Final Pretrial Order. Exchange 

Exhibits and deliver copies to the Court. At 

this date, all that is required to be 

submitted to the Court is a hyperlinked 

exhibit list on disk (2 copies) and no hard 

copies.

4 weeks before 

final pretrial 

conference

1/6/2025 Video Deposition Designation due. Each 

party who proposes to offer a deposition by 

video shall serve on all other parties a 

disclosure identifying the line and page 

numbers to be offered. All other parties 

will have seven calendar days to serve a 

response with any objections and 

requesting cross examination line and page 

numbers to be included. Counsel must 

consult on any objections and only those 

which cannot be resolved shall be 

presented to the Court. The party who filed 

the initial Video Deposition Designation is 

responsible for preparation of the final 

edited video in accordance with all parties’ 

designations and the Court’s rulings on 

objections.

2 weeks before 

final pretrial 

conference

1/21/2025 Response to motions in limine due.

File objections to witnesses, deposition 

extracts, and exhibits, listed in pre-trial 

order. (This does not extend the deadline to 

object to expert witnesses.) If numerous 

objections are filed, the Court may set a 

hearing prior to the final pretrial 

conference.

File Proposed Jury Instructions/Form of 

Verdict (or Proposed Findings of Fact and 

Conclusions of Law).

File Proposed Voir Dire Questions.

February 2, 

2025

2/3/2025 Final Pretrial Conference at 1:30 p.m. at 

the United States Courthouse, 7940 Preston 

Road, Plano, TX 75024.

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Court’s 

Proposed 

Deadline

Parties’ Proposed 

Deadline

DESCRIPTION

To be

determined

9:00 a.m. Jury Selection and Trial at the 

United States Courthouse, 7940 Preston 

Road, Plano, TX 75024.

Agreements Between Parties:

Privilege Logs

The parties agree that they need not log any documents or communications generated 

after the commencement of litigation on the patents in suit.

a) The need for and any specific limits on discovery relating to claim construction, 

including depositions of witnesses, including expert witnesses;

Dr. Sung’s Position: The parties agree to the following limits on discovery relating to 

claim construction: no more than two witnesses including expert witnesses per side. The parties 

agree that they will not present live testimony at the Markman hearing. 

b) The scheduling of a Claim Construction Pre-hearing Conference to be held after 

the Joint Claim Construction and Pre-hearing Statement provided for in P.R.4-3 

has been filed.

The parties do not believe a Claim Construction Pre-hearing Conference is necessary in 

this case.

2. If the parties believe mediation may be appropriate, and the parties can agree upon 

a mediator, the name, address, and phone number of that mediator should be 

stated.

The parties have discussed the value of mediation and at this point believe that mediation 

may be beneficial in the future but would not be beneficial at this time and prior to the 

completion of fact and/or expert discovery. The parties will continue to confer regarding the 

selection of the mediator.

3. What changes, if any, should be made to the limitations on discovery imposed by the 

rules, including the number of depositions and interrogatories. 

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Except as provided below, the parties agree that the limitations on discovery as are set out 

in Section I of the Order Governing Proceedings should apply. In addition, the parties agree on 

the following proposed discovery limitations:

(a) Party Depositions: Parties may take up to 40 hours of party depositions (inclusive of 

both 30(b)(1) depositions and 30(b)(6) depositions);

(b) Interrogatories: Parties may serve 45 interrogatories per side; and

(c) Requests for Admission: Parties may serve 45 requests for admissions per side. In 

lieu of serving authentication requests, the parties will confer to work out an 

appropriate agreement/stipulation concerning document authenticity prior to trial.

(d) Non-Party Discovery: Parties may take up to 60 hours of nonparty depositions per 

side. The Parties may also take depositions on written questions of custodians of 

business records for non-parties and such depositions do not count against the above 

limitations. Parties may also seek non-party discovery through requests for production, 

declarations or as otherwise permitted by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

(e) Expert Depositions: Each party is limited to 3 expert witnesses per side. Parties may 

depose each expert witness for up to 7 hours per expert per report on a substantive 

issue. Examples of distinct substantive issues include (1) infringement, (2) invalidity, 

and (3) damages. For clarity, if an expert serves a report on infringement and invalidity, 

that expert is subject to two 7-hour depositions (i.e., one deposition for each report). 

For the avoidance of doubt, expert depositions do not count against the party deposition 

time.

(f) “Side” means a party or a group of parties with a common interest. 

(g) Any party may later move to modify these limitations for good cause.

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(h) All depositions can be conducted remotely if so requested by the party seeking party or 

non-party deposition. The remote depositions must be conducted using two-way video, 

so the deponent can see the questioning attorney and vice-versa.

4. The identity of persons expected to be deposed. 

At this time Plaintiff anticipates that any persons expected to be deposed will come from 

the lists disclosed in the Initial Disclosures. Plaintiff will supplement those disclosures should 

additional persons be identified who may be expected to be deposed.

At this time Defendant anticipates that any persons expected to be deposed will come 

from the lists disclosed in the Initial Disclosures. Defendant will supplement those disclosures 

should additional persons be identified who may be expected to be deposed.

The parties reserve the right to depose additional persons as they may become necessary.

5. Any issues relating to disclosure of information (electronically stored and otherwise) 

including the form or forms in which it should be produced and timing of 

production. (See Section E - Mandatory Disclosures.) 

None at this time. 

6. Any issues relating to preserving discoverable information, including whether a 

Preservation Order is needed to protect any documents and/or electronically stored 

information. 

The parties certify that they have taken reasonable steps to ensure that documents and 

things relevant to this action have been (and are continuing to be) preserved. The parties 

understand their duties to preserve relevant information and do not believe that a preservation 

order is necessary.

7. Whether any other orders should be entered by the Court pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. 

P. 26(c), Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b), or Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(c). 

The parties agree that, to protect the parties’ highly confidential information, a 

supplemental order governing access and use of highly confidential information in these cases is 

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necessary and request the Court to enter the Agreed Protective Order (attached as Exhibit A). 

8. Estimated trial time. 

The parties agree that the above captioned action will require five days for trial. 

9. The names of the attorneys who will appear on behalf of the parties at the 

management conference (the appearing attorney must be an attorney of record and 

have full authority to bind the client). 

It is expected that Alex Chan from Devlin Law Firm LLC will attend the Case 

Management Conference on behalf of Plaintiff.

Amanda A. Abraham from Roth & Abraham Law Firm, PC will attend the Case 

Management Conference on behalf of Defendant.

10. Any other matters counsel deem appropriate for inclusion in the joint conference 

report. 

None at this time.

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Dated: December 8, 2023 Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Alex Chan

Alex Chan (Bar No. 24108051)

achan@devlinlawfirm.com 

DEVLIN LAW FIRM LLC

1526 Gilpin Avenue

Wilmington, Delaware 19806

Telephone: (302) 449-9010

Facsimile: (302) 353-4251

Counsel for Plaintiff

Dr. Chien-Min Sung

/s/ Amanda A. Abraham

Amanda A. Abraham

Texas Bar No. 24055077

Email: aa@rothfirm.com

ROTH & ABRAHAM LAW FIRM

115 North Wellington, Suite 200

Marshall, Texas 75670

Telephone: 903.935.1665

Fax: 903.935.1797

Andrea Leigh Fair

Texas State Bar No. 24078488

Email: andrea@wsfirm.com

Jack Wesley Hill

Texas State Bar No.24032294

Email: wh@wsfirm.com

WARD, SMITH & HILL, PLLC

1507 Bill Owens Parkway

Longview, TX 75604

903-757-6400

Fax: 903-757-2323

ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANT

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED.

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was filed electronically on all 

counsel of record through the Court’s electronic filing system on December 8, 2023.

/s/ Alex Chan

 Alex Chan

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