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 .
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yunbin (20130312585) in view of Rose (US 4254685).
Regarding claim 1, Yunbin et al discloses the use of a drumhead assembly, including: a drumhead (1) made of a mesh material and having a striking surface (paragraph 0022).
Yunbin does not disclose the specific use of a ring.
Rose discloses that the use of a ring member(15), disposed on a side of the drumhead opposite to the striking surface (figure 1), the ring member being made of an incompressible plastic material (column 3, line 1). Rose further discloses wherein a thickness of the drumhead is larger than a thickness if the ring member (column 3, lines 10-15 and 58-68, column 4, lines 1-5).
Yunbin and Rose do not specifically disclose the specific dimensions as recited by the applicant.
WO 2011120395 A1 discloses the use of drum with a drumhead thickness between .3mm and .5 mm and a mesh size of the drum head is between 40 and 60T (see under the drawing section, paragraphs 5and 6).
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to modify the device as the device as disclosed in Yunbin to include the plastic ring as disclosed in Rose and the use of an incompressible plastic as recited by the applicant and a specific thickness in order to provide a rim with a snug fit, that is sturdy and maintains its shape.
Claims 2, 3, 4, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yunbin (20130312585) in view of Rose (US 4254685) and Adinolfi (US621053).
Yunbin and Rose do not disclose a ring member disposed between the drumhead and a drum shell.
Regarding claim 2, Adinolfi discloses that the use of ring members is conventional (column 1, line 51), the ring member being in surface contact with the drumhead and partially covering a drumhead; and the ring member being configured to be disposed between the drumhead (see figure 3) and a drum shell are conventional and well-known connections in the art.
Yunbin and Rose do not disclose a ring member covering a plurality of meshes.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to modify the device as disclosed in Yunbin to include the plastic ring as disclosed in Rose, the use of an incompressible plastic as recited by the applicant, and the ring member covering a mesh drumhead as disclosed in Adinolfi since the use of ring members covering a drumheads is conventional and well known in the art.
Regarding claim 3, Adinolfi discloses wherein the incompressible plastic material includes polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (column 2, lines 14 and 15).
Regarding claim 4, Yunbin et al discloses the use of a drumhead assembly, including: a drumhead (1) made of a mesh material and having a striking surface (paragraph 0022).
Yunbin does not disclose the specific use of a ring.
Rose discloses that the use of a ring member(15), disposed on a side of the drumhead opposite to the striking surface (figure 1), the ring member disposed in a side of the drumhead opposite to the striking surface, the ring member being made of an incompressible plastic material (column 3, line 1); wherein a thickness of the ring member is between .1 mm and .3 mm (column 3, lines 10-15 and 58-68, column 4, lines 1-5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to modify the device as the device as disclosed in Yunbin to include the plastic ring as disclosed in Rose and the use of an incompressible plastic as recited by the applicant and a specific thickness in order to provide a drum that can be played without striking the drum rim.
Regarding claim 9, further including a frame member (22) being annular, wherein the frame (22) member is disposed around the drumhead. Adinolfi further discloses that ring members are conventional in the art (column 1, lines 50-55).
Yunbin, Rose, and Adinolfi do not show a frame member integrally connecting a drumhead with the ring member.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to modify the device as disclosed in Yunbin to include the plastic ring as disclosed in Rose, the use of an incompressible plastic as recited by the applicant and the frame member integrally connecting a drumhead with the ring member since frame members are a well-known means of connecting a drumhead to a ring member.
Claims 5, and 6 are allowed.
Claim 10 is 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/1/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The allowability of the claims related to the head and ring dimensions is withdrawn since WO 2011120395 A1 discloses the use of drum with a drumhead thickness between .3mm and .5 mm and a mesh size of the drum head is between 40 and 60T (see under the drawing section, paragraphs 5and 6).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIMBERLY R LOCKETT whose telephone number is (571)272-2067. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5:00 pm 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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/KIMBERLY R LOCKETT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
