Appeal No. 2003-0928 Page 10
Application No. 09/692,431
The appellant's argue (brief, pp. 8-9) that Murray does not teach or suggest the
claimed spacing indicia. We agree.
Murray's invention relates to a visual aid to assist a driver in maneuvering a
towing vehicle toward a trailer or other vehicle to be towed for precisely aligning the
hitch components of the two vehicles. The device mounts only to the towed vehicle and
includes a mast 23 consisting of four mast sections 23a, 23b, 23c, and 23d, three
ferrules 24a, 24b, 24c and a protective end cap 25. The ferrules 24a, 24b and 24c are
permanently attached to the mast sections 23a, 23b and 23c respectively. The mast
sections 23a, 23b, 23c, 23d can be separated from one another and inserted into
adaptor 18 for easy storage as illustrated in Figure 9.
Murray's mast does not include a series of spacing indicia. Thus, it would not
have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person of ordinary skill in
the art to have modified the upper shafts of Law's telescoping masts to include equally
spaced indicia along the outer surface of each shaft. Accordingly, the decision of the
examiner to reject claims 3 and 5 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 is reversed.
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