Academic commentary about patent law, i.p. law, creativity, and more

November 26, 2006

KSR – The patent at issue

posted by Joe at 4:04 pm

U.S. Patent No. 6,237,565 is the patent at issue in the KSR v. Teleflex case, to be argued this Tuesday, November 28.

Claim 4 is the only claim in suit:

4. A vehicle control pedal apparatus (12) comprising:

a support (18) adapted to be mounted to a vehicle structure (20);

an adjustable pedal assembly (22) having a pedal arm (14) moveable in force and aft directions with respect to said support (18);

a pivot (24) for pivotally supporting said adjustable pedal assembly (22) with respect to said support (18) and defining a pivot axis (26); and

an electronic control (28) attached to said support (18) for controlling a vehicle system;

said apparatus (12) characterized by said electronic control (28) being responsive to said pivot (24) for providing a signal (32) that corresponds to pedal arm position as said pedal arm (14) pivots about said pivot axis (26) between rest and applied positions wherein the position of said pivot (24) remains constant while said pedal arm (14) moves in fore and aft directions with respect to said pivot (24).

The second page of the patent, with numbered images, is below.


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