US 2,005,116,667 · Filed 2004-04-21

The LED Tile Patent That Turned Walls Into Light Shows

Imagine floor tiles, wall panels, or ceiling tiles that glow from inside with programmable LEDs arranged in grids or along the edges. By stacking these tiles together, you can light up an entire room or building exterior with coordinated color effects that dance across the whole surface.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The patent covers a modular tile system where LEDs are mounted inside the tile's interior space, paired with a light diffusing panel on top to spread the glow evenly. What's protected here is the combination of the internal LED arrangement (grid or edge-lit), the diffuser layer, and the ability to tile multiple units together while controlling their lighting effects independently or in sync. Any manufacturer making a similar interior-lit modular tile panel with coordinated control signals would be treading on these claims.

Why it matters

This patent represents a shift from traditional static lighting to dynamic, programmable architectural lighting. By making tiles modular and stackable, the invention opens up applications across residential, commercial, and exterior building surfaces that were previously limited to fixed fixtures. Color Kinetics' approach lets lighting become an integrated design element that adapts and responds, rather than just illuminating a space—a capability that has driven demand in both entertainment and architectural lighting markets.

Real-world use

Walk into a nightclub or high-end hotel lobby and you might see entire walls or dance floors glowing with color-shifting patterns; those effects likely rely on modular tile lighting systems built on this architecture.

Original USPTO abstract

A tile lighting system is provided in which an interior space of a tile is lit by LEDs, such as in a grid or edge-lit formation, and a light diffusing panel is disposed over the interior space. The tile lighting system can be combined with others to tile any surface, such as a floor, ceiling, wall, or building exterior. Lighting control signals can be supplied to generate a wide range of effects on the tile lighting units, including effects coordinated among different tile lighting units. Two- and three-dimensional embodiments are contemplated.

Patent details

Publication number: US 2,005,116,667
Filing date: 2004-04-21
Grant date: Application — not yet granted
Assignee: Color Kinetics, Incorporated
Inventor(s): MUELLER GEORGE G., LYS IHOR A., MORGAN FREDERICK M., PIEPGRAS COLIN, ROBERGE BRIAN, KIM HERN, DOWLING KEVIN J., LOGAN DEREK, CELLA CHARLES H.
CPC class: F21V33/006

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