Invalidity dossier
US 9726839
Bidirectional optical communication module
Current assignee: Oki Electric Industry Co Ltd
Added 9/23/2026, 6:53:56 PM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview — US9726839B2
Title: Bidirectional optical communication module
Patent number: US9726839B2
Application number: US14/973,836
Publication: US20160291268A1
Inventors: Daisuke Shimura
Current assignees (as listed): Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.; Photonics Electronics Technology Research Association
Priority date: 2015-03-30
Filing date: 2015-12-18
Grant/publication date: 2017-08-08
Status (as listed): Expired – Fee Related; anticipated expiration 2035-12-18
Purpose. The patent addresses bidirectional optical communication modules used at the subscriber side of networks such as Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH), where transmission and reception share a single optical fiber. Existing approaches—separate packages for a laser diode (transmitting section) and photodiode (receiving section), or a WDM filter on a silicon optical circuit board—are described as difficult to shrink or costly to assemble. The stated aim is an overall size reduction via a hybrid-integrated bidirectional optical communication chip.
Plain-language scope. Per the excerpt, the module includes three elements: (1) a bidirectional optical communication chip with an optical circuit board hybrid-integrating a light receiving element, a transmitting element, and a WDM filter that divides transmission and reception signal light; (2) a reflecting section that directs the propagation direction of both transmission signal light from the transmitting section and reception signal light received by the receiving section to a direction orthogonal to the optical circuit board; and (3) an optical coupling element that spatially optically couples the chip's input-output ports to an optical fiber's input-output port. The optical circuit board's bottom surface is fixed on a header in a direction crossing the vertical direction of the header's top surface, and a fiber stub supporting the optical fiber is also fixed. The excerpt is truncated mid-sentence here.
What the excerpt does not establish. It provides no claim text, no full specification, no figures, and no complete description of the fiber-stub fixing arrangement. It does not establish claim scope, validity, enforceability, ownership history, or litigation. Cited prior-art documents (JP H10-206678A; JP H11-68705A) appear only as background discussion in this excerpt.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US9726839](/patent/US9726839)/en
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:42:27 PM
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Litigation summary
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PTAB challenges
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Assignment history
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Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
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