ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 4 -- United States Patent no. 12,320,168, issued on June 3, was assigned to Witte Automotive GmbH (Velbert, Germany).

"Electronic sensor module, handle module, and movable vehicle element" was invented by Reinaldo Mensch (Wuppertal, Germany), Christian Zammert (Wuppertal, Germany) and Markus Herdering (Bochum, Germany).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An electronic sensor module for a handle may have one sensor unit having a movable sensor element and a fixed sensor element which is arranged spaced apart from and opposite the movable sensor element. The module may also have an electronics unit which is electrically connected to the sensor elements for triggering a switching...