Appeal No. 2000-1477 Page 3
Application No. 08/654,739
The appellant’s invention relates generally to grille guards for vehicles, and more
particularly to a grill guard having a footstep for enhancing the access to the hood and
engine compartment of trucks and sport utility vehicles, which often are high off of the
ground. As manifested in independent claim 1, the invention comprises at least one
horizontal grille guard member, at least one vertical grille guard member attached to the
horizontal member, and a footstep attached to the vertical member proximate a lower
end thereof in such a fashion, and of such construction, as to support the weight of a
person. The step comprises a generally tubular horizontal member formed of a
material sufficient to resist bending under a person’s weight, and an integrated flattened
portion formed on the tubular member for providing a user with a structural “visual
queue”1 that the flattened portion is to be used for stepping upon.
The examiner has taken the position that the subject matter of claim 1 is
unpatentable over the grille guard shown on page 3 of Go Rhino. In arriving at this
conclusion, the examiner expresses the view that the lowermost horizontal component
shown in the illustration is “capable” of being used as a step, and that it would have
been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form it as a tubular member having an
integrated flattened portion in view of the steps shown on the side of the truck on page
1It appears to us that “queue” should be “cue,” in that the common applicable
definitions of the former seem to be far removed from the meaning the appellant
attaches to it, while that of the latter is “a feature indicating the nature of something
perceived.” Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition, 1996, pages 958
and 282.
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