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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference characters “S6”, “S7”, “S8”, “S9” and “S10” have been used to designate different elements in Figures 3 and 5.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description:
In Figure 5, reference number S15 is shown, but fails to be mentioned in the Specification.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 1-7 are 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1, lines 13-14, it is recited that the basic waveform data corresponds to each level of strength of the hit. Please clarify whether this is intended to recite each level of each hit, or multiple levels (each level) of a singular hit.
Claim 5, last line, please clarify what the applicant intends by “or as per preset”. Such anagoge is indefinite, especially given there is no previous mention of a preset, or what information or data is preset, or how a waveform can be produced per a preset.
Claim 6, last two lines, please clarify what element obtains the additional element (i.e. detection mechanism?), from where the detected values are obtained or of what element these values correspond, and whether “the output data waveform” lacks antecedent basis or if it is instead supposed to recite - - the output waveform data - - as recited in preceding claim 1.
The remaining claims, not specifically addressed, depend from, and therefore include, the rejected limitations outlined above.
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.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the Japanese publication JP S61-9693 A (English Translation provided by the Examiner) in view of that which is well-known in the art.
Given the English translation attached fails to provide paragraph numbers, the Examiner has attempted to use verbatim language from the reference, thereby making it easier to find the cited language/limitations.
In terms of claim 1, ‘9693 teaches a musical tone generation device (equivalent to the "electronic performance device" of the invention as in claim 1) comprising: a residual waveform memory and a reference waveform memory (equivalent to the "storage mechanism") that stores each of a residual waveform (equivalent to the "basic waveform data") according to touch intensity, and a reference waveform (equivalent to the "at least one additional element") that is generated on the basis of the original musical sound waveform (equivalent to the "waveform data extracted from sounds of the musical instrument separately from the basic waveform") and is adaptable to a plurality of touch intensities; a keyboard unit (equivalent to the “hitting portion”); and a touch detection device (equivalent to the "detection mechanism") that outputs touch data indicating touch intensity, wherein the reference waveform and the residual waveform are added and synthesized, and a musical waveform is output according to the touch intensity.
However, ‘9693 fails to explicitly teach a hitting portion that can be hit during a performance, and merely describes providing a keyboard unit that can be pressed at different touch intensities. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the effective filing date, that higher intensity touches or presses could be perceived as hits.
Further, the keyboard unit could easily be rendered as a well-known keyboard percussion instrument such as a xylophone, marimba or a glockenspiel, wherein “hitting” the instrument is a well-known feature to one of ordinary skill in the art (for example, refer to paragraph [0072] in the Japanese publication to Obata (JP 2018-159770 A) (corresponding US publication US 2018/0275816, paragraph [0076])).
As for claim 2, ‘9693 teaches producing waveforms based on a difference between waveforms (“ the difference between the repetitive waveform of the reference waveform for that group”, “finding the difference between the repetitive waveform of the reference waveforms RWI to RW4 and the original musical sound waveform CW1 - CW16”, “The difference between the repeated waveform of RW5 and the musical sound waveforms CW1 to CW20 in that group is calculated”). Therefore, obviousness stands for the reasons cited above.
As for claim 3, ‘9693 teaches the use of multipliers (8, 13). Therefore, obviousness stands.
As for claim 4, ‘9693 teaches the use of a filter (14), an envelope generator (11), a level data generating circuit (12) and again multipliers (8, 13), wherein multiplier (8) subjects an output to amplitude level control, and multiplier (13) performs envelope and multiplied level processing. Therefore, obviousness stands.
As for claim 5, ‘9693 teaches repeating a waveform for a determined length of time, and the presence of multiple waveforms and multiple cycles.
As for claim 6, ‘9693 teaches a reference waveform data set selected according to a timbre selection signal (equivalent to “various parameters different from the strength of the hit) (“tone pitch timbre change parameters”). Therefore, obviousness stands.
As for claim 7, ‘9693 teaches a reference waveform generation means that includes a memory that stores data for generating reference waveforms for each group determined and selects corresponding reference waveforms according to intensity and timbre. Therefore, obviousness stands.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see the Notice of References Cited provided by the Examiner, in particular the US patent application publications to Kusumoto et al. (US 2021/0201880) and Takasaki et al. (US 2021/0201874).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Christina Schreiber whose telephone number is (571)272-4350. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7-4 PM.
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/CHRISTINA M SCHREIBER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837 01/10/2026