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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 February 19, 2026 has been entered.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuo (6,892,6069) in view of Mitchell (6,367,354).
PNG
media_image1.png
348
394
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Kuo meets all of the limitations of claim 1, i.e., a plier device comprising:
a top jaw 11 having a bottom handle 13 and a slot 12 and a series of ridges 121 located on at least one surface of the slot Fig. 5;
a bottom jaw 21 having a top handle 25; and
a pawl pivot 30 that extends through the slot to enable gripping by a user on either side of the slot open slot, the pawl pivot operable for rotatable attachment to the bottom jaw to extend below the bottom jaw Fig. 4, wherein the pawl pivot has on at least one surface an engagement element teeth 36 connected to the pawl pivot, wherein the engagement element 36 engages at least one of the series of ridges in a first position Fig. 1, and wherein the engagement element is movable along a first axis along the slot from the first position e.g., bottom max jaw opening to a number of second positions e.g., near top minimum jaw opening along the first axis to engage any of the series of ridges of the slot, wherein the pawl pivot 30 includes at least one recess configured to house an elastic member and a dowel having a curved surface that engages the elastic member and the slot of the top jaw, wherein the pawl pivot 30 includes at least one recess configured to house an elastic member spring and a ball 32, except for the ball to define a dowel having a curved surface that engages the
PNG
media_image2.png
510
293
media_image2.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image3.png
158
232
media_image3.png
Greyscale
elastic member and the slot of the top jaw.
Mitchell teaches a dual analog and ratcheting wrench, wherein a cylindrical dowel or pin 80, Fig. 6 partially shown here having a curved surface exterior surface that engages both a biasing spring and a pusher. Mitchell further teaches that the rolling pin 80 may of course be any type or shape of bearing, i.e., spherical, cylindrical Figs. 1 and 6 or non-cylindrical 11:17-19 . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective date of the invention, to modify the invention of Kuo with the cylindrical dowel as taught by Mitchell as an alternative means of pushing the pawl as suggested.
CLAIM 9
Kuo discloses all of the limitations of claim 9, i.e., an improved plier device comprising:
a bottom jaw 21 having a top handle 25, Fig. 5;
a top jaw 11 having a bottom handle 13, the bottom handle having a slot 12 with a series of ridges 121 located on at least one surface surrounding the slot Fig. 1;
PNG
media_image6.png
418
325
media_image6.png
Greyscale
a pawl pivot 31 that extends through the slot to enable gripping by a user on either side of the slot open slot, the pawl pivot operable for rotatable attachment to the bottom jaw to extend below the bottom jaw Fig. 4, wherein the pawl pivot has on at least one surface an engagement element teeth 36 connected to the pawl pivot, wherein the engagement element 36 is movable along a first axis along the slot from a first position e.g., bottom max jaw opening to a number of second positions e.g., near top minimum jaw opening along the first axis wherein the engagement element is selectively engaged to any of the series of ridges of the slot Figs. 6 and 7, and wherein the pawl pivot 31 includes at least one recess receiving spring, Fig. 5 configured to house an elastic member spring, except for a dowel having a curved surface that engages the elastic member and the slot of the top jaw.
Mitchell teaches a dual analog and ratcheting wrench, wherein a cylindrical dowel or pin 80, Fig. 6 having a curved surface exterior surface that engages both a biasing spring and a pusher. Mitchell further teaches that the rolling pin 80 may of course be any type or shape of bearing, i.e., spherical, cylindrical Figs. 1 and 6 or non-cylindrical 11:17-19 . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective date of the invention, to modify the invention of Kuo with the cylindrical dowel as taught by Mitchell as an alternative means of pushing the pawl as suggested.
CLAIM 17
PNG
media_image7.png
452
417
media_image7.png
Greyscale
Kuo discloses all of the limitations of claim 17, i.e., a dual mode adjustable plier device comprising:
a top jaw 11 having a bottom handle 13;
a bottom jaw 21 having a top handle 25 with an opening configured to overlap @24 at least part of the bottom handle 13, the bottom jaw 21 having a plurality of spaces cutout, Fig. 5 within said bottom jaw for receiving the top jaw and the bottom handle Figs. 5-9;
a slot 12 and a series of ridges 121 located on at least on at least one surface of the slot, wherein the slot is located on at least part of the top jaw 11 and bottom handle 13, Fig. 6;
a pawl pivot 31 that extends through the slot to enable gripping by a user on either side of the slot open slot, the pawl pivot operable for rotatable attachment to the bottom jaw to extend below the bottom jaw Fig. 4, wherein the pawl pivot has on at least one surface an engagement element teeth 36 connected to the pawl pivot, wherein the engagement element 36 is movable along a first axis along the slot from the first position e.g., bottom max jaw opening to a second positions e.g., near top minimum jaw opening to engage any of the series of ridges of the slot, and wherein the pawl pivot includes at least one recess receiving spring, Fig. 5 configured to house an elastic member spring, except for a dowel having a curved surface that engages the elastic member and the slot of the top jaw.
Mitchell teaches a dual analog and ratcheting wrench, wherein a cylindrical dowel or pin 80, Fig. 6 having a curved surface exterior surface that engages both a biasing spring and a pusher. Mitchell further teaches that the rolling pin 80 may of course be any type or shape of bearing, i.e., spherical, cylindrical Figs. 1 and 6 or non-cylindrical 11:17-19 . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective date of the invention, to modify the invention of Kuo with the cylindrical dowel as taught by Mitchell as an alternative means of pushing the pawl as suggested.
Regarding claim 3, PA (prior art, Kuo modified by Mitchell) meets the limitations, i.e., the plier device of claim 1, 9 or 17, meeting the narrative/functional language of wherein the engagement element teeth 36 is configured for disengagement or engagement with the ridges by either force on at least one surface of the pawl pivot or force on at least one of the bottom handle or the top handle at least capable of.
Regarding claims 4 and 11, PA meets the limitations, i.e., the plier device of claim 1 or the improved device of claim 9, meeting the narrative/functional language of further comprising an opening between the top jaw and lower jaw can be made smaller size of the opening or larger by applying force on at least one surface of the pawl pivot or force on at least one of the bottom handle or the top handle to move the bottom jaw toward or away from the top jaw.
Regarding claims 5 and 12, PA meets the limitations, i.e., the plier device of claim of 1 or the improved device of claim 9, further comprising: the pawl pivot having a recess receiving spring, Fig. 5 on at least one surface, each recess of the pawl pivot can be one of circular receiving compression spring, rectangular, oval, or any polygonal shape adapted to house at least one of an elastic member, dowel pin, and/or ball bearing configured to operate within a recess of the pawl pivot and against a surface of at least a portion of at least one jaw handle.
Regarding claims 6 and 13, PA meets the limitations, i.e., the plier device of claim 1 or 9, wherein the pawl pivot 31 is configured to abut via the spring against a surface of at least a portion of at least one jaw handle 25, Fig. 9 during opening of at least one plier handle.
PNG
media_image8.png
457
404
media_image8.png
Greyscale
[AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (WEDGE)]Regarding claims 7 and 15, PA meets the limitations, i.e., the plier device of claim 1 or 9, wherein at least part of the bottom handle 13 includes a protruding wedge annotated Fig.9 partially shown here configured to stop movement of at least part of the top handle.
Regarding claims 8, 16 and 20, PA meets the limitations, i.e., the plier device of claim 1, 9 or 17, meeting the narrative/functional language of further comprising: a force applied on at least one of one plier handle or the pawl pivot transfers said force onto or away from the ridges of the slot and along the first axis Fig. 8.
Regarding claim 14, PA meets the limitations, i.e., the improved plier device of claim 9, meeting the narrative/functional language of wherein the engagement element engage teeth 36 with ridges of the slot in a first position Fig. 4, and wherein the engagement element 36 is disengaged from ridges of the slot during force acting at least one of the pawl pivot and/or a handle Fig. 8, and wherein the engagement element 36 is reengaged with at least one second position ridge position when force is reduced or stopped Fig. 6.
Regarding claim 19, PA meets the limitations, i.e., the dual mode adjustable plier device of claim 17, wherein the pawl includes a substantially H shaped structure defined by the pivot element head 33 and bottom nut 34, Fig. 5, at least partially configured to move oscillating along an axis e.g., axis defined by spring to a number of different positions.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument, however in view of RCE, Examienr is available for further discussion.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HADI SHAKERI whose telephone number is (571)272-4495. The fax phone number for forwarding unofficial documents for discussion purposes only is (571) 273-4495. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Keller can be reached on 571 272 8548. The fax number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Hadi Shakeri/
May 2, 2026 Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
Prosecution Insights