Appeal No. 1999-1754
Application No. 08/800,230
thumb extending atop the reel and with the little, ring, and
middle fingers encircling said handle just forward of said
leverage feature.”
Strader discloses a fishing rod and reel system in which
the handle is provided with front and rear protuberances
(unnumbered in the drawing and unmentioned in the text)
extending from the handle as shown in Figures 1 and 2. From 3
the drawings, it would appear that the front protuberance is
trigger-like and extends downwardly only from the handle,
while the rear protuberance extends downwardly and outwardly
around each side to some extent. We do not agree with the
examiner that Strader discloses all of the subject matter
recited in claim 1, and therefore we will not sustain the
rejection of claim 1 or, it follows, of claims 2, 4, 6 and 8,
which depend therefrom. Our reasoning follows.
While it is clear that the rear protuberance of Strader
extends downwardly from the bottom portion of the handle, it
cannot be determined from the disclosure that it extends “to a
user rests the thumb on the top of the reel.
3Notwithstanding the designations provided in column 1, it
would appear that Figure 2 shows a side view of the Strader
fishing rod and Figure 3 a top view.
4
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