US Patent Issued to Scout Motors on Nov. 3 for "Wide opening tailgate with integrated step" (Michigan, Virginia Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 3 -- United States Patent no. 12,780,331, issued on Nov. 3, was assigned to Scout Motors Inc. (Tysons, Va.).

"Wide opening tailgate with integrated step" was invented by Jason Scott (Farmington Hills, Mich.), Randy Frank (Tysons, Va.) and Kenneth Trumble (Royal Oak, Mich.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An integrated tailgate assembly for a vehicle includes a tailgate moveable between a closed position, an open position, and a step position. The integrated tailgate assembly is configured to provide a stepping surface for a user, to assist with egress and ingress into a vehicle storage compartment. In some implementations, the integrated tailgate assembly includes a first ...