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 .
Rejections - 35 USC § 112
2. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.--The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
3. Claims 1-17 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claims 1, 9 and 17 recite the phrase "maybe” which renders the claims indefinite because the intended scope of the claim was unclear. It is unclear if the feature after the term “may” is a part of the claimed limitation or not. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claims 2-8 and 10-16 are rejected by virtue of their dependency to claim 1 or 9.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. 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; or
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
5. Claims 1-5, 9-13 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by MASAKI (JP 3843749 B2, machine translation).
Regarding claims 1, 9 and 17, MASAKI discloses an electronic stringed instrument (Fig. 1) and a method for practicing the instrument including a computer program product encoded on a storage device for performing the method (para. 0048), the instrument comprising: at least one linear string member (51) to be plucked by a user (para. 0010); a plurality of string support members (e.g., 10 in Fig. 2) each supporting the string member at different positions in a longitudinal direction of the string member (para. 0025), each of the string support members being individually deformable in accordance with a plucking of the string member by the user (para. 0027, 0029); a plurality of sensors that output signals indicating respective deformation states of the plurality of string support members, wherein the respective deformation states of the plurality of string support members may be different from each other depending on a way the string member is plucked; and at least one processor configured to generate a musical tone control signal based on the signals output from the plurality of sensors (para. 0035, 0043, 0045).
Regarding claims 2-4 and 10-12, MASAKI discloses: wherein the plurality of string support members support the string member at respective ends, in the longitudinal direction, of the string member (Figs. 1-4); wherein each of the plurality of string support members has one of the plurality of sensors attached thereto so that the one of the plurality of sensors outputs a signal representing the deformation state of the string support member to which the sensor is attached (Figs. 1-4; para. 0025, 0027, 0029); wherein each of the plurality of string support members has one of the plurality of sensors provided adjacent thereto, so that the one of the plurality of sensors outputs a signal representing the deformation state of the string support member adjacent to which the sensor is provided (Figs. 1-4; para. 0025, 0027, 0029).
Regarding claims 5 and 13, MASAKI discloses: wherein the at least one processor is configured to generate the musical tone control signal based on an average value of the signals output from the plurality of sensors (para. 0044: “Two plucked string detection units 67 are provided for each string member 51”; para. 0052; see also para. 0012, 0014, 0016: different musical tones are generated depending on the plucking direction and intensity of plucking, but not on the longitudinal location of the string where the plucking is made).
Allowable Subject Matter
6. Claims 6-8 and 14-16 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 and to overcome the rejection set forth in sections 2-3 above in this office action.
Reasons for Allowance
7. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The primary reason for the allowance of claims 6-8 and 14-16 is the inclusion of the limitation: wherein the at least one processor is configured to estimate a plucked position in the longitudinal direction of the string member based on the signals output from the plurality of sensors, and generate the musical tone control signal that reflect the estimated plucked position. It is this limitation found in each of the claims, in combination with the rest of the limitations as recited in independent claim 1 or 9, that has not been found, taught or suggested by the prior art of record, which makes claims 6-8 and 14-16 distinguish over the prior art.
Contact Information
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIANCHUN QIN whose telephone number is (571)272-5981. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5:30PM EST M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dedei Hammond can be reached at (571)270-7938. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JIANCHUN QIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837