DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 08/19/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 08/19/2026, with respect to the “bracket permanently connected to an interior portion of the lid and the handle” have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Giebel US5299553.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 21-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Giebel US5299553.
Regarding claim 21, Giebel US5299553 discloses a hood hanger assembly for a grilling apparatus having a lid with a handle to cover a grilling surface (Fig. 8, abstract), comprising:
a bracket (Fig. 8, bracket 50) fixedly connected to the handle and the lid (Fig. 8,handle 13, lid 11), said bracket including at least one tab (hook 52), whereby the at least one tab is configured to attach to the grilling apparatus such that the lid partially covers a portion of the grilling surface (Col. 5 Ln. 35-40).
Regarding claim 22, Giebel further discloses the hood hanger assembly of claim 21, wherein the bracket includes at least one aperture (see annotated Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 23, Giebel further disclose the hood hanger assembly of claim 22, wherein the bracket is fixedly connected to the handle via at least one fastener extending through the lid into the at least one aperture (See annotated Fig. 8).
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Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable0 over Giebel US5299553 in view of Croft US4759338.
Regarding claim 1, Giebel US5299553 discloses a hood hanger assembly for a grilling apparatus including a lid having a handle having a handle positioned on an exterior portion of the lid (Fig. 8, abstract, lid 11, handle 13), comprising:
a bracket permanently connected to an interior portion of the lid and the handle (bracket 50, the limitation “permanently connected” is interpreted in light of instant specification Fig. 3),
said bracket including a tab (hook 52) whereby the tab is configured to attach to the grilling apparatus such that the lid is in a first position (Col. 7 Ln. 34-41).
Giebel does not expressly disclose
said bracket including an opening defined by a first tab extending from an inner edge of the opening and a second tab extending from the outer edge of the opening,
whereby the first tab is configured to attach to the grilling apparatus such that the lid is in a first position and the second tab is configured to attach to the grilling apparatus such that the lid is in a second position, wherein the first position is not the same as the second position.
Croft US4759338 teaches a hood hanger assembly for a grilling apparatus including a lid (Fig. 3), comprising:
a bracket connected to the lid (Support device 10, Fig. 1 and Fig. 3), said bracket including an opening defined by a first tab extending from an inner edge of the opening and a second tab extending from the outer edge of the opening (tabs 18, seen in Fig. 1),
whereby the first tab is configured to attach to the grilling apparatus such that the lid is in a first position and the second tab is configured to attach to the grilling apparatus such that the lid is in a second position, wherein the first position is not the same as the second position (Best seen in Fig. 3).
Croft teaches that such a plurality of tabs would allow the retaining hooks to hold the cover open in a variety of selected positions (abstract).
The language “extending from an inner edge of the opening” and “extending from the outer edge of the opening” are interpreted in light of instant specification. Instant Fig. 4 depicts a portion of the bracket between the edge of the opening and the second tab 170. Instant Fig. 7 similarly depicts a portion of the bracket between the edge of the opening and the second tab. The term “extending” is a broad term meaning to spread or stretch forth.
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The examiner must apply the broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the specification. Accordingly, the examiner construes Croft such that the intervening body of the bracket is part of the tab or, at least falls within the scope of the disclosure for “extending from”.
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It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to modify the prior art bracket with a multiple tab configuration, as taught by Croft, since doing so amounts to a known technique for supporting lids or cover in grilling devices with the known predictable result of allowing for holding the lid open in a variety of positions.
Regarding claim 2, Giebel does not expressly disclose, wherein the bracket is a metal bracket.
Croft US4759338 teaches constructing grill cover supports from metal (Col. 2 Ln. 38-40).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to modify the prior art device such that the bracket is metal since doing so amounts to a simple substitution of known materials in the art with the known predictable result of supporting a cover.
Regarding claim 3, the modified Giebel teaches the hood hanger assembly of claim 1, wherein the bracket is connected to the lid and the handle via at least one fastener (Giebel, Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 8, the modified Giebel teaches the hood hanger assembly of claim 1, wherein the first tab extends at least partially over the opening (Croft, Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 9, the modified Giebel teaches the hood hanger assembly of claim 8, wherein the second tab is positioned below the opening (Croft, Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 10, the modified Giebel teaches the hood hanger assembly of claim 1, wherein the first tab extends over an outer edge of the lid a bottom portion of the grilling apparatus in the first position (Croft, Col. 7 Ln. 39-41).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable0 over Giebel US5299553 in view of Croft US4759338 in view of Daily US4390002.
Regarding claim 4, Giebel does not expressly disclose the hood hanger assembly of claim 1, wherein in the first position, the lid covers less than half a bottom portion of the grilling apparatus.
Daily US4390002 teaches a kettle cooker wherein the lid is supported in two different open positions (Fig. 1 and Fig. 5), comprising:
wherein in a first position, the lid covers less than half a bottom portion of the grilling apparatus (Figure 5) and a second position different from the first (Fig. 1).
Daily establishes that it is known in the art to support a lid for a kettle cooker in partially open and partially closed positions (Col. 2 Ln. 1-6).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the combined references such that in the first position, the lid covers less than half a bottom portion of the grilling apparatus since doing so would provide the known predictable result of providing fully opened and partially opened positions (Columns 3 and 4, Lines 43-48 and 59-68, respectively).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable0 over Giebel US5299553 in view of Croft US4759338 in view of Kerulis US20170251870.
Regarding claim 5, Giebel does not expressly disclose the hood hanger assembly of claim 1, wherein each of the first and the second tabs has a plurality of openings.
Kerulis US20170251870 teaches, a securable lid for cookware comprising a plurality of tabs wherein each of the first and second tabs have a plurality of openings (Fig. 4, 60). Kerulis teaches that such openings improve flexibility of the tabs ¶30
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to modify the prior art device with openings in the tabs, as taught by Kerulis, since doing so amounts to a known technique for improving securing tabs with the known predictable result of improving flexibility of the tabs.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Deepak Deean whose telephone number is (571)270-3347. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 10-4.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Hoang can be reached at 517-272-6460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DEEPAK A DEEAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3762 /MICHAEL G HOANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762
