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 Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: The quotes should be removed from the claims. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention. The low friction assemblies are mentioned in the specification, but they are not described in the specification. There is not number identifying the low friction guide assemblies. It is unclear where they are located in the drawings. Clarification is required.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cole (US US20180204552A1) in view of Ortel (US10774985B1).
Regarding claim 1, Cole discloses a dampening system for keyboard percussion instruments (105), comprising: two towers; and a damper (140) with an extended vertical member.
Cole does not a T-Bar with two spring towers
Ortel disclosed a T-Bar (2) connected with the two spring towers (6) to assure rigid vertical motion between the two spring towers (68, 70).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to modify the device as disclosed in Cole to include the T-Bar as disclosed in Cole to include the spring towers as disclosed in Ortel in order to provide a clamping force.
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
