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
Figure 1 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g).
The Specification states that Figure 1 shows a “standard electric guitar”.
Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. 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 under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “acoustic musical instrument” must be shown or the feature canceled from the claims. No new matter should be entered.
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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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.
Specification
The specification is objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o). Correction of the following is required: The Specification made no mention of an acoustic musical instrument as recited in the claims, and only an electric instrument is shown in the drawings.
Claim Objections
Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 18, line 13 on the second page, Examiner believes “noted” should be - - notes - - .
Appropriate correction is required.
Claims
The cancellation of claims 1-17, and the addition of new claims 18-20, have been accepted.
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 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the US patent application publication to Bos (US 2011/0017048) in view of that which is well-known in the art.
In terms of claim 18, Bos teaches a real-time tone shifting device (10) (see Figure 1) for receiving analog audio signals representing musical notes produced in real time by an acoustic musical instrument (see paragraph [0028]) and outputting the musical notes in real time through a loudspeaker of an amplifier (see paragraph [0029]) such that one or more notes, temporarily selected by a player during performance,
are lowered by a half tone using a decrement switch (58) (see paragraph [0030]), wherein the temporary selection can be modified by the player during the performance, comprising: (a) an analog-to-digital converter (see paragraph [0026]); (b) a computing unit (see paragraph [0026]); (c) a note-selecting device(see paragraph [0025]); and
(d) a digital-to-analog converter configured to be connected electrically to an amplifier that is configured to play music through the loudspeaker (see paragraphs [0028] and [0029]); wherein the analog-to-digital converter is configured to (i) receive the analog audio signals that represent the musical notes played in real time by the acoustic musical instrument, (ii) convert the analog audio signals into digital signals, and (iii) send the converted digital signals to the computing unit (see Figure 1 and paragraph [0026]); wherein the note-selecting device is configured to enable a player of the
musical instrument to select one or more particular notes to be lowered by a half tone in real time (see Figure 1, and paragraphs [0024], [0025] and [0030]); wherein the computing unit is configured to (i) receive from the note-selecting device an input as to the one or more particular notes selected by the player during the performance, (ii) receive the converted digital signals from the analog-to-digital converter, and (iii) change the converted digital signals by lowering the selected one or more particular notes, and (iv) send the changed digital signals to the digital-to-analog converter (see Figure 1 and paragraphs [0026] and [0027]); wherein the digital-to-analog converter is configured to (i) receive the changed digital signals from the computing unit, (ii) convert the changed digital signals to analog form, and (iii) send the changed analog form to the amplifier for being played through the loudspeaker (see Figure 1 and paragraphs [0028] and [0029]); wherein the real-time tone shifting device is configured to enable the
loudspeaker to play in real time the played musical notes in a different way from a
way said played musical notes are actually played on the musical instrument, such
that said one or more selected notes are played in real time through the loudspeaker at a half tone lower than they are actually played on the musical instrument (see Figure 1 and paragraphs [0024]-[0030]).
Bos fails however, to explicitly teach lowering by a quarter tone. Bos again teaches lowering by a half tone (see paragraphs [0027] and [0030]), but fails to indicate lowering by a quarter tone. Bos further teaches general drop tuning (see paragraph [0024], therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to lower by a quarter tone, since Bos teaches drop tuning and it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
Bos further fails to explicitly teach the use of a microphone. However, given Bos teaches the device can be used with an acoustic guitar (see paragraphs [0006] and [0016]), and it is well-known in the art to implement or attach a microphone to an acoustic guitar, it would have been obvious to use a microphone in conjunction with the device of Bos in order to convert and amplify the notes of the acoustic guitar.
Still further, Bos fails to explicitly teach selecting from twelve optional octave notes. Given Bos teaches an input device with numerous keys (see Figure 1 and paragraph [0033], decrement and increment switches (58, 60), with images (74-83)), and it is well-known in the art that an octave has 12 notes, it would have been obvious to have and use 12 keys, each for designating a different note for a larger variety of instruments in order to have additional input means, using more push buttons with less depressions.
Lastly, Bos fails to explicitly teach modifying or cancelling the temporary selection. Providing an alternative operational means would have bene obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. The act of cancelling or modifying a selection is well-known in the art and easily implemented through an additional switch or pressing of a current switch a second time. Adding additional modification or cancelling switches would have been obvious since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960).
As for claim 19, it is again well-known that an octave has 12 notes, therefore, it would have again been obvious to provide twelve keys for the reasons cited above.
As for claim 20, Bos teaches a display (68), and teaches selection through switches, but fails to explicitly teach the display as selectable. Examiner takes Official Notice that touch screen displays are well-known and easily implemented in the art, thus incorporating a selectable touch display into the configuration of Bos, incorporating the display and switches into a single entity, would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. Further, incorporating a selectable display would have been obvious, since it has been held that forming in one piece an article which has formerly been formed in two pieces (display and switches) and put together (into an integral interface) involves only routine skill in the art. Howard v. Detroit Stove Works, 150 U.S. 164 (1893).
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, in particular, the US patent application publications to Lemons (US 2008/0264241), Mann et al. (US 2010/0307321), Yamauchi et al. (US 2011/0203444), Ruokangas et al. (US 2007/0191976) and Moussa (US 2003/0145714), and the European publication to Hiyoshi et al. (EP 0507355 A2).
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.
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, 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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CHRISTINA M SCHREIBER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837 02/20/2026