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 § 102
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb.
Regarding claim 1, Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb discloses the use of string instrument, the instrument comprising: a neck (the wood area) having a first neck end and a second neck end opposite and spaced apart from the first neck end; a bridge (on the body); and a body coupled to the first neck end, the body comprising a metal plate, the metal plate having a first side and a second side opposite and spaced apart from the first side, wherein the first side has a convex surface (see the convex area in the figure) and the second side has a concave surface (see the figure).
Regarding claim 2, Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb discloses wherein the bridge is coupled to the first side of the metal plate (see the bridge on the first side of the plate).
Regarding claim 3, Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb discloses wherein, further comprising a tailpiece, wherein the tailpiece is coupled to the first side of the metal plate (see the tailpiece in the figure below the bridge).
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 4-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb in view of GB2212320A.
Regarding claim 4 Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb discloses the use of string instrument, the instrument comprising: a neck (the wood area) having a first neck end and a second neck end opposite and spaced apart from the first neck end; a bridge (on the body); and a body coupled to the first neck end, the body comprising a metal plate, the metal plate having a first side and a second side opposite and spaced apart from the first side, wherein the first side has a convex surface (see the convex area in the figure) and the second side has a concave surface (see the figure).
Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb does not disclose the specific use of pick-ups.
GB2212320A discloses the use of one or more pick-ups (page 5, line 23).
Regarding claim 5, GB2212320A discloses wherein the one or more pickups are coupled to the first side of the body (page 6, line 1).
Regarding claims 6-9 GB2212320A does not disclose the specific number of pick up and pick up types as recited by the applicant.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date at the time the invention was made to modify the device as disclosed in Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb to include the pick-up are recited in GB2212320A and the multiple pick ups and types as recited by the applicant since the use of multiple pick-ups and carrying pick up types are obvious and well known in the art.
Regarding claim 10, Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb discloses wherein the metal plate has a longitudinal axis that is parallel to a longitudinal axis of the neck, wherein the first side of the metal plate is convex as viewed in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the metal plate, wherein the second side of the metal plate is concave as viewed in the plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the metal plate (see the longitudinal axis of the neck and metal plate in the figure).
Regarding claim 11, Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb and GB2212320A don’t disclose the specific of hardened steel.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date at the time the invention was made to modify the device as disclosed in Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb to include the metal plate comprising hardened steel since the use of shovels made from hardened steel is a conventional material used for shovel plates.
Regarding claim 12, Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb discloses wherein the metal plate comprises at least a portion of the head of a shovel (see the metal head in the figure).
Regarding claim 13, Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb does not discloses wherein the body further comprising wood.
However, It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date at the time the invention was made to modify the device as disclosed in Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb to include wood on the since use of guitar bodies made from wood is very often a preferred material used for guitar bodies.
Regarding claim 14, Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb further comprises one or more strings extending from the second neck end to the body (see the strings from the neck end to the body).
Regarding claim 15 and 16, GB2212320A discloses wherein the one or more strings comprises four or more strings, wherein the four or more strings comprises six or more strings.
Regarding claim 17, GB2212320A discloses wherein the instrument is configured to induce vibrations in the metal plate (when plucking the strings).
Regarding claims 18-20, Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb and GB2212320A do not disclose the specific use of capacitors.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date at the time the invention was made to modify the device as disclosed in Justin Johnson 3-string Shovel Guitar 2022 | Reverb to include the use of multiple capacitors that comprise a specific µF since capacitors are well known to control tone.
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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/KIMBERLY R LOCKETT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837