Amid a recent supercycle in the chip industry led by an artificial intelligence (AI) boom, Korean chipmakers are becoming vulnerable to non-practicing entities (NPEs) as Washington moves to strengthen patent protection, industry watchers said Wednesday. NPEs, commonly known as "patent trolls," generate profits by licensing or enforcing patents rather than producing goods. Such concerns have emerged as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix post record-breaking earnings and expand their presence in the global chip market, increasing incentives for NPEs to file patent lawsuits. Others cite protectionist patent policies under the U.S. Donald Trump administration, which weakened safeguards designed to curb abusive litigation in the United States. In 2011, the U.S. introduced the inter partes review (IPR) system to limit excessive lawsuits by allowing challenges to patent validity. However, the Trump administration tightened eligibility rules for initiating reviews, undermining the system's effectiveness. The percentage of cases denied review was previously estimated at around 30 percent but surged