Appeal No. 2000-2108
Application No. 09/075,943
holding the guide plate in an apart position from said base
plate (Fig. 2).
According to the examiner (final rejection, pages 3-4),
the vehicle hitch positioning apparatus of Carroll includes
all of the structure set forth in appellant's claim 2, except
that Carroll fails to show a guide plate with upper and lower
ramps. To account for this difference, the examiner relies on
Lazar and its showing of a vehicle hitch positioning apparatus
having a guide plate (44, 54) with an upper slanted portion
(54) and a lower ramped portion (44). In the examiner's view,
it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art
at the time of appellant's invention to provide Carroll with a
guide plate with upper and lower ramps as in Lazar, because
the upper and lower ramps aid in the engagement of the vehicle
tow hitch onto the trailer ball by allowing the tow hitch to
drop on the ball in a substantially vertical direction.
Appellant does not contest the examiner's combination of
Carroll and Lazar, but argues that, even if combined in the
manner proposed by the examiner, the resultant apparatus would
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