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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1 and 3-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Shultz (US 2911871 A, September 14, 1954), in view of Dixon (US 8415551 B1, November 5, 2010).
Regarding claim 1, Schultz teaches a pickup system for an instrument having strings (Schultz col. 1, lines 17-20: “It is an object of the present invention to provide an electromagnetic pickup device for individually varying the amplitude of the reproduction of the various strings of a stringed musical instrument or the like”), the system comprising: a wire coil wound onto a core of a coil bobbin, the wire coil having an axis (Schultz col. 2, lines 3-7: "A coil form 17 having a peripheral groove 18 around which wire 19 is wound fits downwardly onto the mag- 6 nets 15 and 16, the coil form 17 being provided with a central longitudinal opening 20 which receives the pole piece 13 upwardly therethrough."); and magnetic strips outside the wire coil (Schultz col. 2, lines 27-30: "A magnetic field 30 (Figure 2) is created by the opposite positioning of permanent magnets 15 and 16 adjacent the sides of pole piece 13. "), the magnetic elements each having a polarization axis orthogonal to the axis of the wire coil (Schultz col. 2, lines 30-36: "The permanent magnetic fields opposing each other south to south at the iron pole piece 13 do not repel each other but are thrust upwardly into the pole piece 13, screws 28 and beyond thereby creating a tall magnetic south phase of the field before the lines of force proceed to the north ends of the magnets."); wherein a longitudinal center of the coil bobbin (Schultz col. 2, lines 43-44: "Coil 19 disposed around the coil form 17 surrounds the pole piece 13") is populated with core elements (Schultz col. 2, lines 22-24: "A plurality 'of adjusting screws 28 having enlarged slotted heads 29 are screwed into the internally threaded openings 14 through the casing openings 22 (Figure 4).").
Schultz does not explicitly disclose that the core elements having high gauss permanent magnets attached thereto, the high gauss permanent magnets each having an axis of polarization disposed parallel to the axis of the wire coil and therefore in an orthogonal orientation to the polarization axes of the magnetic strips.
However, Dixon teaches the core elements having high gauss permanent magnets attached thereto (Dixon col. 6, lines 34-38: "FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the pole piece 103 that is representative of the composite pole pieces 100-105 in the pickup 100. The representative pole piece 103 has an upper component 130 that is fabricated from Alnico 5 and a lower component 137 that is fabricated from Material 77 soft ferrite." Alnico 5 is a high-gauss Alnico alloy.), the high gauss permanent magnets each having an axis of polarization disposed parallel to the axis of the wire coil and therefore in an orthogonal orientation to the polarization axes of the magnetic strips (Dixon col. 6, lines 41-43: "The upper Alnico 5 component 130 is typically magnetized in a direction that is approximately parallel to the pole piece axis 135.").
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the pickup system of Schultz by adding the high gauss permanent magnets of Dixon to extend a tall magnetic field by adding additional permanent magnets in abutment with the pole piece (Shultz col. 2, lines 28-38).
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Regarding claim 3, Schultz (in view of Dixon) teaches a pickup system comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
Dixon further teaches that the high gauss permanent magnets are directly attached to the core elements (Dixon col. 3, lines 28-34: "Composite pole piece components may be held in fixed relative positions by joining the pieces together or pole piece components may be held together by mechanical pressure. Soldering, bonding with an adhesive, and other known techniques may be used to join the components. In some cases, the bonding materials may be electrically conductive and/or magnetically permeable." Dixon teaches direct and indirect methods of attaching the high gauss permanent magnets to the core elements.).
Regarding claim 4, Schultz (in view of Dixon) teaches a pickup system comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
Dixon further teaches that the high gauss permanent magnets are not directly attached to the core elements (Dixon col. 3, lines 28-34: "Composite pole piece components may be held in fixed relative positions by joining the pieces together or pole piece components may be held together by mechanical pressure. Soldering, bonding with an adhesive, and other known techniques may be used to join the components. In some cases, the bonding materials may be electrically conductive and/or magnetically permeable." Dixon teaches direct and indirect methods of attaching the high gauss permanent magnets to the core elements. Claim 1 recites that the magnets are attached to the core elements, which may be direct as in claim 3 or indirect as here in claim 4; however, the two elements must be attached as recited in claim 1.) to allow for a complex overall field structure and for the establishing of a predetermined ratio of response between disparately-magnetized wire coils (This limitation is inherent and/or obvious due to the fact that the references have met the structural limitations recited in this claim. MPEP § 2112.01(I) states: "Where the claimed and prior art products are identical or substantially identical in structure or composition, or are produced by identical or substantially identical processes, a prima facie case of either anticipation or obviousness has been established." This limitation is also prima facie obvious by virtue of being a result-effective variable. See MPEP §§ 2144.05(II)(B).).
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Regarding claim 5, Schultz (in view of Dixon) teaches a pickup system comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
Schultz further teaches a method of using the pickup system of claim 1 with an instrument having strings (Schultz col. 1, lines 17-20: “It is an object of the present invention to provide an electromagnetic pickup device for individually varying the amplitude of the reproduction of the various strings of a stringed musical instrument or the like”), the method comprising adjusting one or more of the core elements relative to the outboard magnetic strips to allow for selectively and individually increasing a range of flux field geometries of one or more of the strings of the instrument (Schultz col. 2, lines 22-27: "A plurality 'of adjusting screws 28 having enlarged slotted heads 29 are screwed into the internally threaded openings 14 through the casing openings 22 (Figure 4). The screws may be "tuned" by means of a slotted head 29 in a manner well known to those well skilled in the art." Adjusting the screw inherently changes a range of flux field geometries of one or more of the strings of the instrument. MPEP § 2112.01(I) states: "Where the claimed and prior art products are identical or substantially identical in structure or composition, or are produced by identical or substantially identical processes, a prima facie case of either anticipation or obviousness has been established." This limitation is also prima facie obvious by virtue of being a result-effective variable. See MPEP §§ 2144.05(II)(B).).
Regarding claim 6, Schultz (in view of Dixon) teaches a pickup system comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
Schultz further teaches the adjusting of the one or more of the core elements comprises repositioning a core element along the axis of polarization thereof (Schultz col. 2, lines 22-27: "A plurality 'of adjusting screws 28 having enlarged slotted heads 29 are screwed into the internally threaded openings 14 through the casing openings 22 (Figure 4). The screws may be "tuned" by means of a slotted head 29 in a manner well known to those well skilled in the art.").
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Schultz in view of Dixon and further in view of Bolger et al. (US 8309836 B1, June 12, 2011), hereinafter Bolger.
Regarding claim 2, Schultz (in view of Dixon) teaches a pickup system comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
Schultz further teaches an enclosure containing the wire coil and the coil bobbin (Schultz col. 2, lines 8-12: "A brass or plastic casing 21 open at the bottom is adapted to fit downwardly over the top wall of coil form 17, the casing 21 being provided with the longitudinally spaced openings 22 aligned with the upper ends of the generally threaded openings 14 of the pole piece 13.").
Schultz (in view of Dixon) does not explicitly disclose at least one additional wire coil within the enclosure that receives flux solely from the outboard magnetic strips.
However, Bolger teaches or suggests at least one additional wire coil within the enclosure (Bolger col. 2, lines 6-11: "The musical instrument pickup 200 comprises a first coil 201 and a second coil 202. The first coil 201 and the second coil 202 may be a same length and each may comprise wire coils that are wired in series or in parallel.") that receives flux solely from the outboard magnetic strips (Bolger col. 2, lines 45-49: "Furthermore, the bar magnet 203 is magnetically coupled to the first plurality of non-magnetic pole pieces 204 and the second plurality of non-magnetic pole pieces 207. However, the bar magnet 203 is not magnetically coupled to the plurality of magnetic-pole pieces 206.").
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the pickup system of Schultz (as modified by Dixon) by adding the double coil arrangement of Bolger to resist 60 cycle hum (Bolger col. 3, lines 33-34).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Schultz in view of Dixon and further in view of Palmieri (US 20190108823 A1, April 11, 2019).
Regarding claim 7, Schultz (in view of Dixon) teaches a pickup system comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
Schultz (in view of Dixon) does not explicitly disclose that the adjusting of the one or more of the core elements comprises adjusting the strength of one or more of the high gauss permanent magnets of the one or more of the core elements.
However, Palmieri teaches that the adjusting of the one or more of the core elements comprises adjusting the strength of one or more of the high gauss permanent magnets of the one or more of the core elements (Palmieri ¶0014: "The sensing element can preferably be adjusted for balancing the output of the various strings by means of varying the flux along its span with a combination of magnet strengths, sizes, and placements.").
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the pickup system of Schultz (as modified by Dixon) by adding the adjustable strength core element of Palmieri to balance the output of the various strings (Palmieri ¶0014).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHILIP SCOLES whose telephone number is (703)756-1831. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30-4:30 ET.
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/PHILIP G SCOLES/
Examiner, Art Unit 2837
/DEDEI K HAMMOND/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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