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
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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, 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hoshino (US 8,193,438 B2).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-3, 7-12 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nagatsuma et al. (US 2013/0305899 A1).
Claims 1, 9 and 10: Nagatsuma et al. discloses a musical instrument, method of forming a sound emitting opening for a musical instrument, and a reinforcing member for a musical instrument shown in FIG. 2 to comprise a housing (musical instrument case 1) including a first opening (first sound emission hole 27). A reinforcing member (rear top plate 8) is attached to rear plate (4) of the housing to reinforce the housing and includes a second opening (sound emission hole 28) disposed to overlap with the first opening, as shown in FIG. 2. The second opening allows/permits emission of sound generated in an interior of the housing to outside of the housing therethrough (page 3 paragraph [0037]) when block lid (30) is open, as can be seen from FIG. 2.
Claim 2: Nagatsuma et al. discloses a musical instrument as stated above, where the first opening is associated with a loudspeaker (26) arranged on both sides of the musical instrument (page 3 paragraph [0036]). Therefore the first opening is arranged on opposite sides of the musical instrument. A total area of the second opening then is greater than an area of the first opening, as can be seen from FIG. 3.
Claims 3 and 11: Nagatsuma et al. discloses a musical instrument and a reinforcing member as stated above, where the housing comprises a plurality of members including a first member (rear plate 4) and a second member (front top plate 7) shown in FIG. 2 to be disposed adjacent to each other. The reinforcing member is further shown to join the first member and the second member to each other.
Claims 7 and 15: Nagatsuma et al. discloses a musical instrument and a reinforcing member as stated above, where the reinforcing member is shown in FIG. 3 to comprise at least one reinforcing column that divides the second opening into a plurality of openings.
Claim 8: Nagatsuma et al. discloses a musical instrument as stated above, where a speaker (loudspeaker 26) is shown in FIG. 2 to be disposed within the housing.
Claim 12: Nagatsuma et al. discloses a reinforcing member as stated above, where the reinforcing member is plate-shaped, as can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3.
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 4 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Nagatsuma et al. (US 2013/0305899 A1).
Claims 4 and 13: Nagatsuma et al. discloses a musical instrument and a reinforcing member as stated above, where the reinforcing member is shown in FIG. 2 to be flat shaped, and attached to the first member and the second member at opposite sides. This reference fails to disclose the reinforcing member to be L-shaped, and to comprise a first flat plate part and a second flat plate part angled with respect to each other, the first flat plate part to be attached to the first member, and the second flat plate part is attached to the second member.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the reinforcing member to be L-shaped with a first flat plate part and a second flat plate part angled with respect to each other, since it has been held that a mere change in shape is generally within the level of ordinary skill in the art. In re Dailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966). The first flat plate part then would attached to the first member, and the second flat plate part is attached to the second member. Doing so would provide increased stability between the reinforcing member and the rear plate of housing due to the increased surface area of the reinforcing member being attached to the rear plate.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nagatsuma et al. (US 2013/0305899 A1) in view of Hoshino (US 8,193,438 B2).
Claim 6: Nagatsuma et al. discloses a musical instrument as stated above, where a cover member (keyboard lid 13) is shown in FIG. 2 to allow transmission of the sound while the cover member is open. This reference fails to disclose the cover member to cover the first opening from inside of the housing.
However Hoshino teaches a musical instrument, where a cover member (fallboard 28) covers a first opening (22) from inside of a housing when the cover member is open due to the placement of first opening and speaker (24), as can be seen from FIG. 3.
Given the teachings of Hoshino, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the musical instrument disclosed in Nagatsuma et al. with providing the first opening and speaker to be positioned closer to a front of the musical instrument. The cover member then would cover the first opening from inside of the housing when the cover member is open. Doing so would allow for a more compact musical instrument due to the back of the musical instrument being closer to the front of the musical instrument, thereby making it easier to transport.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 14 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 5 and 14: Although the prior art (US 2013/0305899 A1) teaches a musical instrument and a reinforcing member for a musical instrument shown in FIG. 2 to comprise a housing (musical instrument case 1) including a first opening (first sound emission hole 27), a reinforcing member (rear top plate 8) attached to rear plate (4) of the housing to reinforce the housing and includes a second opening (sound emission hole 28) disposed to overlap with the first opening, as shown in FIG. 2, where the second opening allows/permits emission of sound generated in an interior of the housing to outside of the housing therethrough (page 3 paragraph [0037]) when block lid (30) is open, as can be seen from FIG. 2, the prior art does not teach nor suggest the second opening to be disposed at a corner part of an L-shaped reinforcing member, where a first flat plate and second flat plate part of the L-shaped reinforcing member meet. The combinations of the claimed limitations are novel and found to be allowable over prior art. The cited references taken singly or in combination do not anticipate nor make obvious applicant's claimed invention.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 11,146,872 B2 pertaining to a musical instrument with reinforcing member having an opening.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER UHLIR whose telephone number is (571)270-3091. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-4.
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/Christopher Uhlir/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619 August 21, 2026
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