Patent ID: 7877908

Claim:
A vehicle plate retaining system comprising: at least one vehicle plate retention frame part having a frame member and a frame open area bounded at least in part by the frame member, the vehicle plate retention frame part being mountable to a vehicle, and mountable over a vehicle plate such that the vehicle plate is visible from outside the vehicle and through the frame open area at a display location designated for legal license plate display; the frame member has a peripheral planar surface generally parallel to the open area, the peripheral planar surface extending to the outside edge of the frame member; at least one first part of a two-part separable fastener protrudes from the frame member peripheral planar surface of the vehicle plate retention frame part whereby when mounted to a vehicle the first part faces away from the display location; said first part is molded as one piece with the vehicle plate retention frame part and the molded first part protrudes beyond the peripheral planar surface; at least one cover plate holder, said cover plate holder has a rear part, a front part generally parallel to and spaced from the rear part to define a slot between the rear and front parts, wherein the slot is sized and configured to receive a cover plate capable of functioning as a vehicle license plate, said cover plate being different from said vehicle plate in terms of information displayed, and the cover plate holder has a window opening through which the cover plate is visible from outside of the vehicle, the cover plate thereby obscuring the vehicle plate from view; at least one second part of the two-part separable fastener protrudes from the rear part of the cover plate holder whereby when installed the second part faces the display location, the at least one second part of the two-part separable fastener mating with and removably affixable to the at least one first part of the two-part separable fastener; said second part is molded as one piece with the cover plate holder; and said first and second parts are sized and shaped for snap-fit engagement with each other whereby the cover plate holder removably mounts over the peripheral planar surface of the vehicle retention frame part.