Invalidity dossier

US 5359691

Backlighting system with a multi-reflection light injection system and using microprisms

Current assignee: BRITEVIEW TECHNOLOGIES Inc

Added 9/23/2026, 3:45:40 PM

At a glanceNo PTAB challengesNo litigation on file

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Patent summary

Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.

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Patent Overview — US 5359691 A

Title: "Backlighting system with a multi-reflection light injection system and using microprisms"

Patent number / application: US 5359691 A; application US 08/049,509.

Assignee / inventors: Original assignee Briteview Technology Inc.; current assignee listed as Briteview Technologies Inc / Briteview Technology Inc. Inventors: Chen-Yu Tai and Han Zou.

Key dates (as listed; dates are stated assumptions, not legal conclusions):

  • Priority date: 1992-10-08 (priority claimed from US 07/958,238).
  • Filing date: 1993-04-19.
  • Publication/grant: 1994-10-25.
  • Anticipated expiration: 2012-10-08. Status: Expired – Lifetime.
  • Related priority filings listed: CN 94191827 A (1994-04-15), PCT/US1994/004153 (1994-04-15), JP 6080251 A (1994-04-19).

Purpose and plain-language scope (from supplied text): The patent concerns a backlighting system intended for a liquid crystal display. It combines a "multi-reflection light injection system" for getting light into a light pipe (coupling-in) with "microprisms" (described as 2-D arrangements of prisms, protrusions, indentations, or roughened surfaces) for coupling light back out of a planar, plate-like light guide toward the display. Related concepts in the text include grooves/prisms used for coupling-in, structures varying in density/size/shape/depth along the guide to give homogeneous output intensity, and possible polarization effects.

Classification: Primarily G02B6/00–G02B6/0061 (planar light guides; coupling-in and coupling-out means; microprism arrays), with G02F1/1335 (liquid-crystal constructional arrangements).

Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US5359691/en

What the excerpt does not establish: It provides only the front-matter, classification, and abstract/keyword-level material — the omitted body means the excerpt does not establish the actual claims, their exact wording or breadth, the detailed description, embodiments, or drawings. It also does not establish the number of claims, claim dependencies, or prosecution history. No litigation, ownership-transfer, validity, or prior-art analysis is made here.

Generated 10/1/2026, 9:51:23 PM

Cases on file (0)

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Litigation summary

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Proceedings on file (0)

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No PTAB proceedings on file. This patent has not been challenged via IPR, PGR, or CBM. The absence is itself a signal — well-asserted patents eventually attract IPRs. The LLM analysis below may surface filings the ODP feed hasn’t indexed yet.

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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