US 6438465

Patent Overview — US 6,438,465 B2

Title: "Technique for effectively searching for information in a vehicle"

Patent number / application: US 6,438,465 B2; Application US 09/792,351

Assignee: American Calcar Inc. (original and current assignee as listed)

Inventors: Michael L. Obradovich, Michael L. Kent, John G. Dinkel

Key dates from the record:

• Priority date: 1997-01-28
• Filing date: 2001-02-23
• Publication of application US20010021887A1: 2001-09-13
• Grant/publication of US 6,438,465 B2: 2002-08-20
• Anticipated expiration: 2017-01-28; status listed as "Expired – Lifetime"

Purpose and plain-language scope (based only on the supplied excerpt): The patent concerns a technique for effectively searching for information in a vehicle. The excerpt's prior-art keywords — "option," "vehicle," "interface," "user," "screen" — indicate the subject matter involves a user interface and screen-based presentation of selectable options within a vehicle. The classification listings further associate the disclosure with vehicle instrumentation and display arrangements (e.g., B60K 35/00, 35/10, 35/20, 35/21, 35/215, 35/22), vehicle heating/cooling/ventilating control systems with position- or GPS-based inputs and displays (B60H 1/00642, 1/00735, 1/00764, 1/00771, 1/00985), and electronic suspension regulation combined with other vehicle control systems (B60G 17/015, 17/0195). These classifications suggest in-vehicle information handling integrated with vehicle systems, but the excerpt does not describe the actual search method, interface structure, or any claim language.

What this excerpt does not establish: It does not reproduce any claims, the written description, embodiments, or drawings, so the specific scope of the claimed invention, its operation, and its relationship to prior art cannot be determined here. No legal conclusion about validity, enforceability, claim coverage, or ownership transfer is supported by the supplied text.

Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US6438465/en