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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 1 of 1, filed 10/7/2025 with respect to claims 1-20, have been fully considered and are persuasive. The statutory double patenting rejection of claims 1-20 has been withdrawn in response to Applicant’s amendments. However, see below for nonstatutory double patenting and prior art rejections of Applicant’s amended claims.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable, respectively, over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 11,967,300 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because Applicant amended the instant claims to broaden their scope in response to the statutory double patenting rejection of record.
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, 9, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over McEwen (US 5567897 A, October 22, 1996) in view of McCabe et al. (US 8536431 B1, September 17, 2013), hereinafter McCabe '431.
Regarding claim 1, McEwen teaches a pitch changer system for a stringed musical instrument having a body and a neck (McEwen col. 2, lines 25-27: " My invention is a string tension adjustment device for electric guitars, and particularly for use in conjunction with guitars having a bolt-on neck."), comprising: a lever assembly, a lever tensioning system (McEwen col. 4, lines 51-56: "The actuator 66 is mounted via the pin 78 and is able to rotate about the pin. The actuator 66 includes a pull arm 80 which is generally perpendicular to an actuator arm 82. A spring 84 is mounted to the end of the actuator arm 82 and extends to a post 86 and is attached to the post 86 by an adjustment screw 88."), and a rotating member each configured to be mounted to a body of said stringed musical instrument (McEwen col. 4, lines 1-4: "The lever 52 is pivotally mounted at 54 via a pin 56 extending between legs 58, 58' protruding from the heel 32 of the mechanism 28. FIG. 5 also illustrates the attachment arrangement between the end of the rod 46 and the lever 52."); said lever assembly including a mounting plate (McEwen col. 4, lines 13-19: "The rod 64 is connected to an actuator 66 which is sandwiched between a bottom plate 68 and a top plate 70 of the back mounted mechanism 60. The bottom plate 68 and top plate 70 are mounted to the back of the guitar by screws 72 which are used to replace the screws that traditionally mount the neck of an electric guitar to the body of the guitar."), a lever shaft, and a lever arm extending from the lever shaft (McEwen col. 4, lines 51-56: "The actuator 66 is mounted via the pin 78 and is able to rotate about the pin. The actuator 66 includes a pull arm 80 which is generally perpendicular to an actuator arm 82. A spring 84 is mounted to the end of the actuator arm 82 and extends to a post 86 and is attached to the post 86 by an adjustment screw 88."), and a rotation adjustment assembly (McEwen col. 5, lines 26-32: "Likewise, the extent of the pull or bend on the string can be limited by the adjustment screw 100 which passes through the uppermost spacer 74 and can be screwed to move up or down (as illustrated in FIG. 3) and thereby adjust the length of stroke of movement of the pull arm 80 as it rotates in the clockwise direction about the pin 78 upon actuation of the device."); wherein the rotation adjustment assembly is configured to selectively adjust a rotational range of said lever (McEwen col. 5, lines 26-32: "Likewise, the extent of the pull or bend on the string can be limited by the adjustment screw 100 which passes through the uppermost spacer 74 and can be screwed to move up or down (as illustrated in FIG. 3) and thereby adjust the length of stroke of movement of the pull arm 80 as it rotates in the clockwise direction about the pin 78 upon actuation of the device."); and wherein said lever tensioning system is configured to adjust a tension level of said lever of said lever assembly (McEwen col. 4, lines 61-63: "The strength of the pull of the spring 84 can be adjusted by adjusting the screw 88 so as to tighten the spring or loosen it as the need arises.") such that applying force to said lever arm in a first direction moves said rotating member into rotation to elongate and thereby temporarily change the pitch of a string coupled to said rotating member (McEwen col. 5, lines 14-19: "Pulling rod 64 in the direction of arrow 94 causes the lever arm 52 to be rotated in the direction illustrated by arrow 96 in FIG. 5, thus causing rod 46 to be pulled in the direction of arrow 98 and thereby increasing the tension on the string attached via the eyelet to the block 48 of the mechanism.).
McEwen does not explicitly disclose that the lever shaft is configured to be rotationally moved within a bearing housing of the mounting plate.
However, McCabe '431 teaches that the lever shaft is configured to be rotationally moved within a bearing housing of the mounting plate (McCabe '431 col. 8, line 66 - col. 9, line 5: "While in one embodiment the bearing element, bearings or bearing devices, comprising at least a portion of a ball bearing or like surface, are spatially positioned, in some cases by separate bearing spacers, within a bearing housing connected to the base plate, the preferred embodiment positions a set, a pair of ball bearings, for example, in recesses in each end of the bearing housing.").
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 pitch changer system of McEwen by adding the lever shaft of McCabe '431 to integrate the various bearing arrangement elements (McCabe '431 col. 8, lines 43-52).
Regarding claim 9, McEwen (in view of McCabe '431) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
McEwen further teaches that the rotation adjustment assembly of said lever assembly includes a fixed tuning stop and a movable tuning stop that collectively define the rotational range of said lever (McEwen col. 5, lines 24-32: "The pull arm 80 is positioned so that spacer 74 serves as a stop on counter-clockwise rotation of the mechanism 66. Likewise, the extent of the pull or bend on the string can be limited by the adjustment screw 100 which passes through the uppermost spacer 74 and can be screwed to move up or down (as illustrated in FIG. 3) and thereby adjust the length of stroke of movement of the pull arm 80 as it rotates in the clockwise direction about the pin 78 upon actuation of the device.").
Regarding claim 12, McEwen (in view of McCabe '431) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
McCabe '431 further teaches that said bearing housing is: a) machined as an integral structural part of the mounting plate; or b) at least one of glued, welded, bolted or otherwise securely mounted to the lower surface of the mounting plate (McCabe '431 col. 8, lines 4-11: "Other features included bending a first portion of the unitary component comprising the base plate into a one-piece hinge-like form closest to the bearing axis creating a housing for receiving the bearing devices or bearings and/or the shaft for pivotally supporting the bearing assembly. Optionally, a cylinder or tube for receiving the bearings or bearing devices can be fashioned for the same purpose and welded, for example, to the base plate in the same position.").
Claims 2-3 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over McEwen in view of McCabe '431, and further in view of Fisher (US 20070234875 A1, October 11, 2007).
Regarding claim 2, McEwen (in view of McCabe) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
McEwen (in view of McCabe '431) does not explicitly disclose that said lever assembly includes at least one bearing assembly disposed within said bearing housing, wherein said at least one bearing assembly is configured to receive at least a portion of a bell crank shaft and at least a portion of said lever shaft.
However, Fisher teaches that said lever assembly includes at least one bearing assembly disposed within said bearing housing (Fisher ¶0042: "A split shaft 36/37 is rotatably mounted in yokes or bearing housing 26(a) and 28(a) formed on the distal end of each of the standards 26 and 28 and a center bearing shaft support member 41 which is secured to upper cross support bar 32."), wherein said at least one bearing assembly is configured to receive at least a portion of a bell crank shaft and at least a portion of said lever shaft (Fisher ¶0042: "As seen in FIG. 5 the upper portion of support member 41 has a throughgoing bore drilled there through which holds two coaxial bearing sleeves 42, one for shaft 36 and the other for shaft 37.").
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 pitch changer system of McEwen (as modified by McCabe '431) by adding the split shaft of McCabe '431 to combine a plurality of shafts in one bearing assembly (Fisher ¶0017).
Regarding claim 3, McEwen (in view of McCabe '431 and further in view of Fisher) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 2 as discussed above.
McCabe '431 further teaches that said at least one bearing assembly of said lever assembly includes an upper bearing assembly and a lower bearing assembly each disposed within said bearing housing (McCabe '431 col. 8, line 66 - col. 9, line 5: "While in one embodiment the bearing element, bearings or bearing devices, comprising at least a portion of a ball bearing or like surface, are spatially positioned, in some cases by separate bearing spacers, within a bearing housing connected to the base plate, the preferred embodiment positions a set, a pair of ball bearings, for example, in recesses in each end of the bearing housing.").
Fisher further teaches an upper and lower bearing assembly configured to enable the rotation of said lever and said bell crank (Fisher ¶0042: "As seen in FIG. 5 the upper portion of support member 41 has a throughgoing bore drilled there through which holds two coaxial bearing sleeves 42, one for shaft 36 and the other for shaft 37.").
Regarding claim 11, McEwen (in view of McCabe '431 and further in view of Fisher) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 2 as discussed above.
McEwen further teaches that said bell crank of said lever assembly includes a plurality of mounting apertures dimensioned to be coupled to the lever tensioning system and thereby select a predetermined throw of said lever during use (McEwen col. 4, line 64 - col. 5, line 1: "The rod 64 is connected to the actuator arm 82 at any one of a series of holes 90 along the perimeter of the actuator arm 82. Thus, the device is adjustable (for the length of the strap pull) depending upon the particular guitar to which it is attached.").
Claims 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over McEwen in view of McCabe '431, and further in view of Fisher and Sato et al. (US 20120000344 A1, January 5, 2012), hereinafter Sato.
Regarding claim 4, McEwen (in view of McCabe '431 and further in view of Fisher) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 2 as discussed above.
McEwen (in view of McCabe '431 and further in view of Fisher) does not explicitly disclose that said at least one bearing assembly of said lever assembly is retained within said bearing housing via at least one retainer screw configured to be received within a threaded aperture formed in a side wall of said bearing housing.
However, Sato teaches that said at least one bearing assembly of said lever assembly is retained within said bearing housing via at least one retainer screw (Sato ¶0033: "By fixing the cover 42 to the upper end of the post 20, the fastening force of the screws 48 acts on the outer race of the bearing 38 through the cover 42.") configured to be received within a threaded aperture formed in a side wall of said bearing housing (Sato ¶0030: "A pair of horizontally extending threaded holes 44 is formed in the side surface 43 a of the attachment recess 43. The threaded holes 44 are located below the insertion portion 40 and the support recess 41.").
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 pitch changer system of McEwen (as modified by McCabe '431 and Fisher) by adding the retainer screw of Sato to fix the positions of the bearings without hindering the operation of the bearings (Sato ¶0007).
Regarding claim 5, McEwen (in view of McCabe '431 and further in view of Fisher) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 2 as discussed above.
McEwen (in view of McCabe '431 and further in view of Fisher) does not explicitly disclose that at least one of said lever shaft and said bell crank shaft includes a threaded aperture dimensioned to receive a retainer screw for retaining said lever shaft in mating relation to said bell crank shaft within said at least one bearing assembly disposed within said bearing housing.
However, Sato teaches that at least one of said lever shaft and said bell crank shaft includes a threaded aperture (Sato ¶0025: "A threaded hole 36 c is formed in the first inserted portion 36 a. The axis of the threaded hole 36 c coincides with the axis of the shaft 14.") dimensioned to receive a retainer screw (Sato ¶0028: "One of the bearings 38 is fixed to the first end portion 14 a of the shaft 14 with a screw 47 along the axial direction of the shaft 14.") for retaining said lever shaft in mating relation to said bell crank shaft (Sato ¶0048: "The other end of the right shaft 14R is rotatably supported by one end of the second coupler shaft 52 b with a pair of bearings 50, 51.") within said at least one bearing assembly disposed within said bearing housing (Sato ¶0051: "A cylindrical coupling portion 56 is formed at an end of the second coupler shaft 52 b. The coupling portion 56 accommodates an end of the right shaft 14R, together with the pair of bearings 50, 51.").
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 pitch changer system of McEwen (as modified by McCabe '431 and Fisher) by adding the retainer screw of Sato to fix the positions of the bearings without hindering the operation of the bearings (Sato ¶0007).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over McEwen in view of McCabe '431, and further in view of Parsons (US 5481954 A, January 9, 1996).
Regarding claim 6, McEwen (in view of McCabe '431) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
McEwen (in view of McCabe '431) does not explicitly disclose that said rotation assembly includes an adjustment member having a thumb wheel dimensioned to extend at least partially through an adjustment member aperture in said mounting plate so a user may manually adjust said rotational range of said lever from said upper surface of said mounting plate.
However, Parsons teaches that said rotation assembly includes an adjustment member having a thumb wheel dimensioned to extend at least partially through an adjustment member aperture in said mounting plate so a user may manually adjust said rotational range of said lever from said upper surface of said mounting plate (Parsons col. 3, line 40 - col. 4, line 2: "a tuner thumb wheel 76 mounted to the cover plate portion 22 by a pair of mounts 78 so that the wheel is accessible through the tuner wheel aperture 26 in the cover plate, and having a shaft 80 adapted for adjustable extension against a stop element 82 located on the strap lever first arm 34.").
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 pitch changer system of McEwen (as modified by McCabe '431) by adding the thumb wheel of Parsons to define a desired stop point in the pivotal travel of the lever (Parsons col. 2, lines 1-4).
Claims 7-8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over McEwen in view of McCabe '431, and further in view of McCabe (US 9484007 B1, November 18, 2015), hereinafter McCabe '007.
Regarding claim 7, McEwen (in view of McCabe '431) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
McEwen (in view of McCabe '431) does not explicitly disclose that said adjustment member of said lever assembly includes a shaft extending from a thumb wheel dimensioned to engage with an adjustment block having a tuning stop.
However, McCabe '007 teaches that said adjustment member of said lever assembly includes a shaft extending from a thumb wheel dimensioned to engage with an adjustment block (McCabe '007 col. 16, lines 8-10: "Thumbwheel 24 further comprises smooth shaft 30 to rotatably engage base element through bore 32 and threaded shaft 31 to threadably engage holder element 22.") having a tuning stop (McCabe '007 col. 14, lines 4-7: "In this depiction, the extended portion functioning as a stop element is shown making initial contact blocking the rotation of the tremolo in one direction from initial position.").
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 pitch changer system of McEwen (as modified by McCabe '431) by adding the thumbwheel of McCabe '007 to provide a simple and quick means for the musician to adjust the initial position of the tuning fulcrum (McCabe '007 col. 13, lines 8).
Regarding claim 8, McEwen (in view of McCabe '431 and further in view of McCabe '007) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 7 as discussed above.
McCabe '007 further teaches that said shaft of said adjustment member of said lever assembly includes a threaded section and an unthreaded section, said threaded section is dimensioned to be threadably received with a threaded aperture in said adjustment block (McCabe '007 col. 16, lines 8-10: "Thumbwheel 24 further comprises smooth shaft 30 to rotatably engage base element through bore 32 and threaded shaft 31 to threadably engage holder element 22."), and said unthreaded section is dimensioned to engage with a set screw that is used to selectively apply friction to said adjustment member (McCabe '007 col. 14, lines 7-12: "A set screw or adjustment member is shown threadedly connected to the base element to make variable contact with the thumbwheel shaft; tightening the adjustment member fixes the position of the extended portion against the instrument body to 'stop' the tremolo.").
Regarding claim 10, McEwen (in view of McCabe '431) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 9 as discussed above.
McEwen further teaches that the fixed tuning stop of the rotation adjustment assembly of said lever assembly is positioned in a fixed location relative to said bearing housing (McEwen col. 5, lines 24-25: "The pull arm 80 is positioned so that spacer 74 serves as a stop on counter-clockwise rotation of the mechanism 66.").
McEwen (in view of McCabe '431) does not explicitly disclose that the movable tuning stop is positioned on a translating section forming part of the rotation adjustment assembly.
However, McCabe '007 teaches that the movable tuning stop is positioned on a translating section forming part of the rotation adjustment assembly (McCabe '007 col. 16, lines 20-23: "Thumbwheel element 24 threaded portion 31 and smooth portion 30 passes through transverse opening 32 to engage threaded opening 33 in holder element 22 to position extended portion 23.").
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 pitch changer system of McEwen (as modified by McCabe '431) by adding the thumbwheel of McCabe '007 to allow free rotational movement of the thumbwheel in order to threadedly withdraw the stop and, thereby, the holder element, to a position free from limiting the rotation of the lever (McCabe '007 col. 12, lines 1-14).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over McEwen in view of McCabe '431, and further in view of Rose (US 10380977 B1, filed September 24, 2018), hereinafter Rose '977.
Regarding claim 13, McEwen (in view of McCabe) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 1 as discussed above.
McEwen (in view of McCabe '431) does not explicitly disclose a swing-plate assembly configured to cooperate with said lever tensioning system.
However, Rose '977 teaches a swing-plate assembly (Rose '977 col. 6, lines 28-34: "In a preferred aspect of the present invention, adjustment apparatus 102 includes a two piece tremolo block assembly, including an upper block 120 integrally formed or otherwise attached to and extending from below the underside of baseplate 104, a lower block 122 pivotally connected to the upper block, and upper and lower tailpiece members 124, 126.") configured to cooperate with said lever tensioning system (Rose '977 col. 6, lines 52-56: "The bottom surface 144 of lower block 122 may include a plurality apertures 149 extending toward baseplate 104 or another mechanism configured to secure springs 151 for coupling the adjustment device 102 to guitar body 12.").
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 pitch changer system of McEwen (as modified by McCabe '431) by adding the swing-plate assembly of Rose '977 to allow the lever to change angles during use (Rose '977 col. 2, lines 10-14).
Claims 14 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Rolling (US 9076412 B1, July 7, 2015) in view of Glaser et al. (US 20140196590 A1, July 17, 2014), hereinafter Glaser.
Regarding claim 14, Rolling teaches a pitch changer system for a stringed musical instrument (Rolling col. 1, lines 14-17: "This invention pertains generally to the field of stringed musical instruments, and more particularly to a string bender that allows a musician to vary the resonance of a string while playing the instrument.") having a body, a neck (Rolling abstract: "A guitar string bender"), and a saddle mounting plate attached to the body (Rolling col. 5, lines 11-14: "Bridge mount 200 has a mounting and intonation screw 215 which couples into a standard hole on a guitar bridge, so that bridge mount 200 may be used to replace one or more of the existing string mounts."), the pitch changer system comprising: a lever assembly configured to be mounted to said body of said stringed musical instrument, said lever assembly including a lever rotatably coupled to a mounting plate (Rolling col. 7, lines 16-20: "Puller lever 307 is pivotally mounted through pintle 308 to back cover plate 315. Engaging with puller lever 307 distally to wire cable 316 and pintle 308 is torsion bar arm 305, which extends from and is rigidly coupled with torsion bar 301."); a saddle assembly configured to be mounted to a saddle mounting plate (Rolling col. 5, lines 11-14: "Bridge mount 200 has a mounting and intonation screw 215 which couples into a standard hole on a guitar bridge, so that bridge mount 200 may be used to replace one or more of the existing string mounts."), said saddle assembly including: a saddle block including a static saddle and a hinge block, wherein said static saddle is dimensioned to have a first string of said instrument extending thereover during use (Rolling col. 6, lines 43-50: "Projection 267 acts as a fixed bridge saddle for the other string in the string pair. Another change in this second preferred embodiment is that rather than a pair of height adjustment screws at the front of the bridge mount, there is one height adjustment screw 268 passing through hole 269 on side projection 267, and one height adjustment screw 217 passing through hole 259 on the string bender mounting block body 255."); and a rotating member hingedly coupled to said hinge block (Rolling col. 5, lines 4-9: "Saddle lever 100, for exemplary purposes illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, has two pivot pins 101 extending transversely and protruding from the lever. These pivot pins 101 operatively fit into slot 201 in string bender mounting block body 205, and serve as a pivotal axis that allows saddle lever 100 to pivot through a limited arc relative to bridge mount 200."), said rotating member including a string aperture dimensioned to receive a second string of said instrument (Rolling col. 5, line 35-38: "String 50 will pass from string loop attachment 111 down and then towards mounting and intonation screw 215, passing below the axis defined by pivot pins 101 before rising up and passing through string tunnel 113."), wherein said rotating member may be selectively rotated relative to said hinge block (Rolling col.5, lines 42-28: "As may be apparent from FIG. 10, when saddle lever 100 is pivoted about the axis defined by pivot pins 101, such as by a musician pressing upon the long handle end 109 of saddle lever 100, this will cause saddle lever 100 to rotate about pivot pins 101, and thereby wrap additional string 50 about saddle lever 100."); and a lever tensioning system configured to be mounted to said body of said stringed musical instrument (Rolling col. 7, lines 14-16: "Wire cable 316 is preferably tensioned between string attachment loop 119 and puller lever 307, such as is better visible in FIG. 15."), wherein applying force to move said lever in a first direction forces said rotating member into rotation to elongate and thereby temporarily change the pitch of a string coupled to the rotating member (Rolling col. 7, lines 28-32: "This rotation of torsion bar 301 will cause a clockwise rotation of torsion bar 305, as viewed from FIG. 15, which will in turn cause puller lever 307 to rotate counterclockwise about pintle 308, and thereby pull on wire cable 316.").
Rolling does not explicitly disclose that such that said saddle block may be reversed to thereby use said static saddle for said second string of said instrument and said rotating member for said first string of said instrument.
However, Glaser teaches that said saddle block may be reversed (Glaser ¶0032: "When the pitch changer 30 is reconfigured into the second configuration, the arch block 57 may be rotated substantially 180 such that the arch block 59 blocks the first slot 38 and provides an anchor for the bender saddle 20 when the bender saddle is positioned in the second slot 40.") to thereby use said static saddle for said second string of said instrument and said rotating member for said first string of said instrument (Glaser ¶0031: "The fixed saddle 22 in the G-string position is then removed from the guitar and installed in the B-string position where the bender saddle 20 was previously located. The bender saddle 20 is installed in the G-string position with the rocker arm 32 extending through the second slot 40 of the saddle plate 18 such that the rocker arm 32 is engaged by the offset second collector arm 46 of the push block 42.").
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 pitch changer system of Rolling by adding the reversing saddle block of Glaser to reconfigure the guitar such that the bender saddle is attached to a second string for varying the tension in the second string (Glaser ¶0025).
Regarding claim 18, Rolling (in view of Glaser) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 14 as discussed above.
Rolling further teaches that a force of said first string extending over said static saddle (Rolling col. 6, lines 43-50: "Projection 267 acts as a fixed bridge saddle for the other string in the string pair. Another change in this second preferred embodiment is that rather than a pair of height adjustment screws at the front of the bridge mount, there is one height adjustment screw 268 passing through hole 269 on side projection 267, and one height adjustment screw 217 passing through hole 259 on the string bender mounting block body 255.") helps create contact between a height adjustment screw of saddle block and said bridge mounting plate (Rolling col. 8, lines 21-28: "This string tension drives pivot pins 101 to the bottom or end of slots 201, 251, securing saddle lever 100, 150 into string bender bridge mount 200, 250. This string tension also causes saddle lever 100, 150 to rotate, in a direction counterclockwise as illustrated in FIG. 10, until either low stop adjustment screw 104 contacts bottom lip 207, if low stop adjustment screw 104 is provided, or until saddle lever 100, 150 contacts bottom lip 207.").
Regarding claim 19, Rolling (in view of Glaser) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 14 as discussed above.
Rolling further teaches that said saddle block is height adjustable (Rolling col. 6, lines 44-50: "Another change in this second preferred embodiment is that rather than a pair of height adjustment screws at the front of the bridge mount, there is one height adjustment screw 268 passing through hole 269 on side projection 267, and one height adjustment screw 217 passing through hole 259 on the string bender mounting block body 255.").
Regarding claim 20, Rolling (in view of Glaser) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 14 as discussed above.
Rolling further teaches that said saddle block is longitudinally adjustable (Rolling col. 5, lines 10-17: "Bridge mount 200 has a mounting and intonation screw 215 which couples into a standard hole on a guitar bridge, so that bridge mount 200 may be used to replace one or more of the existing string mounts. Mounting and intonation screw 215 is used when a string is in place to adjust the tuning of the string, simply by rotating mounting and intonation screw 215 in either a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion, exactly as prior art mounting and intonation screws function.").
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Rolling in view of Glaser, and further in view of Rose '977.
Regarding claim 15, Rolling (in view of Glaser) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 14 as discussed above.
Rolling (in view of Glaser) does not explicitly disclose a swing-plate assembly configured to extend into a swing plate recess formed in the body of the stringed musical instrument, said swing plate assembly including a recess configured to receive said third region of said lever tensioning system.
However, Rose '977 suggests a swing-plate assembly configured to extend into a swing plate recess formed in the body of the stringed musical instrument (Rose '977 col. 6, lines 1-5: "FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary tremolo 100 including an adjustment apparatus 102. As is shown in FIG. 5, tremolo 100 is adapted to be coupled to guitar body 12 such that adjustment apparatus 102 is configured to be positioned primarily within tremolo cavity 36."), said swing plate assembly including a recess configured to receive said third region of said lever tensioning system (Rose '977 col. 6, lines 52-56: "The bottom surface 144 of lower block 122 may include a plurality apertures 149 extending toward baseplate 104 or another mechanism configured to secure springs 151 for coupling the adjustment device 102 to guitar body 12.").
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 pitch changer system of Rolling (as modified by Glaser) by adding the swing-plate assembly of Rose '977 to allow the lever to change angles during use (Rose '977 col. 2, lines 10-14).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Rolling in view of Glaser, and further in view of Dorfman et al. (US 20060156901 A1, July 20, 2006), hereinafter Dorfman.
Regarding claim 16, Rolling (in view of Glaser) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 14 as discussed above.
Rolling further teaches that said hinge block includes a first pair of apertures dimensioned to receive a hinge pin to maintain said rotating member in a first position relative to said hinge block (Rolling col. 5, lines 4-9: "Saddle lever 100, for exemplary purposes illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, has two pivot pins 101 extending transversely and protruding from the lever. These pivot pins 101 operatively fit into slot 201 in string bender mounting block body 205, and serve as a pivotal axis that allows saddle lever 100 to pivot through a limited arc relative to bridge mount 200.").
Rolling (in view of Glaser) does not explicitly disclose a second pair of apertures dimensioned to receive said hinge pin to maintain said rotating member in a second position relative to said hinge block.
However, Dorfman suggests a second pair of apertures dimensioned to receive said hinge pin to maintain said rotating member in a second position relative to said hinge block (Dorfman ¶0092: "As shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, toe portion 762 of link 760 may have between one and about five positions, preferably between about two and about four positions, and in the embodiment shown about three positions. Positions may be defined by bearings 769 having open centers or holes 766, 767 and 768 for receiving foot board pin 726.").
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 pitch changer system of Rolling (as modified by Glaser) by adding the adjustable dimensions of Dorfman to allow each musician to find a comfortable position (Dorfman ¶0094).
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Rolling in view of Glaser, and further in view of Rose et al. (US 20030177883 A1, September 25, 2003), hereinafter Rose '883.
Regarding claim 17, Rolling (in view of Glaser) teaches a pitch changer system comprising the features of claim 14 as discussed above.
Rolling (in view of Glaser) does not explicitly disclose that said hinge block includes a recess for accessing a first side of said first and second pair of apertures to facilitate selectively removing said hinge pins to selectively rotate said rotating member relative to said hinge block.
However, Rose '883 teaches that said hinge block includes a recess for accessing a first side of said first and second pair of apertures (Rose '883 ¶0209: "This “opening” or slot would provide access to the transverse recesses in the flanges 526 to allow the rods 528 to be lifted out of the flanges 526 and thus off the plate 524") to facilitate selectively removing said hinge pins to selectively rotate said rotating member relative to said hinge block (Rose '883 ¶0209: "However, if desired, the bridge assembly 512 could be made to be easily and readily removable simply by removing or eliminating a segment of the upstanding flanges 526 on the lower support plate 524 between the outer edges thereof and the transverse recess therein.").
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 pitch changer system of Rolling (as modified by Glaser) by adding the removable rods of Rose '883 to permit easy and ready removal of the assembly (Rose '883 ¶0209).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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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