Appeal 2007-2217
Application 11/231,232
DECISION ON APPEAL
Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from the Examiner’s
rejection of claims 1-21. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b), and
we heard the appeal on August 7, 2007. We affirm.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Appellants invented a system that automatically controls vehicle
exterior lights (e.g., headlights). In one embodiment, a controller generates
an exterior light status indicator signal as a function of at least a portion of a
detected image, such as an oncoming vehicle.2 Claim 9 is illustrative:
9. A vehicle automatic vehicle exterior light control, comprising:
an image sensor having an array of pixels; and
a controller comprising at least one output, said controller is
configured to receive at least a portion of at least one image acquired
by said image sensor, wherein said controller is configured to control
said at least one output and to generate an exterior light status
indicator signal as a function of said at least a portion of at least one
image.
The Examiner relies on the following prior art references to show
unpatentability:
Schierbeek US 5,715,093 Feb. 3, 1998
Pabla US 5,780,974 Jul. 14, 1998
O’Farrell US 5,798,575 Aug. 25, 1998
Schofield US 6,498,620 B2 Dec. 24, 2002
(filed Jun. 3, 1997)
2 See generally Specification ¶¶ 0047 and 0125.
2
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