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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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) 1, 17, 21-24 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by TecProducts HANDTEC Bucket Grip (see NPL cite no. 1 in IDS filed on 5/8/25). TecProducts clearly discloses (claim 1) a grip for a bucket handle, the grip comprising: a grip body comprising a first portion, a second portion, and an opening disposed between the first portion and the second portion; a cavity disposed inside the grip body and configured to receive a portion of the bucket handle; a latch configured to be selectively actuated between an open position and a closed position; and wherein the cavity is accessible through the opening when the latch is in the open position.
Regarding claim 17, TecProducts clearly discloses that the grip body is substantially U-shaped and further comprises a connecting portion disposed between the first portion and the second portion and substantially opposite from the opening.
Regarding claim 21, TecProducts clearly discloses that the cavity comprises a sidewall that is substantially cylindrical and comprises a first end and a second end, a first enlarged portion disposed at each of the first end and the second end of the sidewall, and a second enlarged portion disposed in a substantially central position of the sidewall.
Regarding claim 22, TecProducts clearly discloses that the cavity comprises a first part disposed in the first portion of the grip body and a second part disposed in the second portion of the grip body; wherein the first part and the second part mirror each other; and wherein the opening is at least partially disposed between the first part and the second part of the cavity.
Regarding claim 23, TecProducts clearly discloses that the first part and the second part of the cavity each comprise: a sidewall that is substantially semi-cylindrical and comprises a first end and a second end; a first enlarged portion disposed at each of the first end and the second end of the sidewall; and a second enlarged portion disposed in a substantially central position of the sidewall.
Regarding claim 24, TecProducts clearly discloses that the first enlarged portion has a first height; wherein the second enlarged portion has a second height; wherein the sidewall has a third height; wherein the first height and the second height are larger than the third height; and wherein the first height and the second height are substantially equal.
Regarding claim 27, TecProducts clearly discloses that the grip body comprises a longitudinal axis, a first end, a second end, and a first interior wall disposed at the first end, and a second interior wall disposed at the second end; wherein the first interior wall and the second interior wall each form an angle of around 36.5 to 37.00 relative to the longitudinal axis and measured in a direction towards the connecting portion of the grip body; and wherein the first interior wall and the second interior wall define a portion of the opening.
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 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TecProducts, as applied to claim 17 above, in view of Joseph 11,667,438. TecProducts discloses all of the claimed subject matter except that the set of finger grips comprises four recessed areas in the grip body each configured to receive a finger of a user holding the grip.
Joseph teaches for a grip (Figs.1 and 5) for a bucket handle 28 with a set of finger grips (Fig 1) and that (claim 18) the set of finger grips comprises four recessed areas in the grip body each configured to receive a finger of a user holding the grip (Fig 1) for the purposes of providing a grip for all four fingers of the hand holding the bucket handle.
Since TecProducts and Joseph are both in the same field of endeavor the purpose disclosed by Joseph would have been recognized in the pertinent art of TecProducts. It would have been obvious at a time before the invention was effectively filed to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the set of finger grips of TecProducts to comprise four recessed areas in the grip body each configured to receive a finger of a user holding the grip for the purposes of providing a grip for all four fingers of the hand holding the bucket handle.
Prior Art
Prior art made of record but not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure for showing other grips for handles with latching mechanisms.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-16, 19, 20, 25, 26, and 28-34 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The improvements comprise that (claim 2) the latch is a single latch disposed in a longitudinally central position on the grip body, (claims 19 and 20) a set of grip surfaces for each of the four recessed areas in the set of finger grips, wherein the set of grip surfaces comprises a plurality of longitudinally extending recesses or a plurality of longitudinally extending protrusions, and (claim 28) the latch comprises a loaded cantilevered beam deflection configuration, and wherein the grip is configured to allow the bucket handle of a five-gallon bucket to pass through the opening to the cavity when the latch is in the open position.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communication from the examiner should be directed to Thomas Lazo whose telephone number is (571) 272-4818. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor Nathaniel Wiehe, can be reached on (571) 272-8648. The fax phone number for this Group is (571) 273-8300.
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/THOMAS E LAZO/Primary Examiner,
Art Unit 3745
September 25, 2026
