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.
Claims 7, 8, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gray et al.
Regarding claims 7 and 8, Gray et al (US 20140311317 A1) discloses the use of a guitar bridge pin bolt comprising: a head (71), a shank (75), a head of the bridge pin bolt having a void therethrough extending from a front of the head to a back of the head to receive a guitar string therethrough (see the void in figure 1), the void extending from the front of the head to the back of the head (see the voild in figure 1) .
Gray does not disclose the use of a thread, a nut or a void extending upward.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to modify the bridge pin device as disclosed in Gray to include a nut and threads since the use of nuts and threads in mounted devices are conventional and well known in the art; and the use of a void extending upward since the use of voids extending in differing directions at specific angles when attaching strings is well known in the art.
Regarding claim 14, Gray does not disclose wherein the guitar bridge pin bolt is formed of brass.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to modify the bridge pin device as disclosed in Gray to include a nut and threads since the use of nuts and threads in mounted devices are conventional and well known in the art; and the use of a brass materials since the use of metallic pins, specifically brass is a well know material for bridge pins.
Claims 9-13 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.
Claims 1-6 and 15-20 are allowed.
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
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