Appeal No. 2003-1827 Page 3
Application No. 09/589,016
respective positions articulated by the appellants and the examiner. For the reasons
which follow, we cannot sustain the rejection.
Claim 6, the sole independent claim on appeal, reads as follows:
6. A device for opening a lid of a trunk of a motor vehicle
comprising:
an actuating element operatively arranged in the trunk
and capable of emitting a beam when actuated, and
a remotely operable closing system operatively
arranged on the motor vehicle and operable to lock and
unlock the lid, the remotely operable closing system being
capable of receiving a beam corresponding to the beam
emitted from the actuating element and unlocking the lid,
wherein, when the actuating element is actuated, the
beam is emitted therefrom and received by the remotely
operable closing system which unlocks the lid.
Gager discloses a vehicle trunk emergency release and warning system having a
presence detector 40 located in the trunk of the vehicle for sensing the presence of a
person in the trunk and an internal manual latch release 70 for the trunk lid. When the
presence detector detects a person in the trunk compartment, it may actuate an alarm
to alert the driver of that fact, cause the latch release 70 to be illuminated or
automatically activate the trunk compartment lid release 90. As recognized by the
examiner, Gager differs from the invention recited in claim 6 in that it lacks an actuating
element operatively arranged in the trunk and capable of emitting a beam when
actuated. While either the presence detector 40 or the latch release 70 may actuate a
lid release, neither is disclosed as being capable of emitting a beam.
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