Appeal No. 2002-1288 Page 5
Application No. 09/570,759
teaches the use of a guitar stand with an angled cavity 28 covered with a buffer layer 60
as shown in plan view in figure 1 and in cross section in figure 4; (3) ascertained3 that
Garrison does not disclose the use of an angled cavity that is shaped closely for
receiving the guitar; and (4) concluded that
[i]t would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time
the invention was made to modify the guitar holder as taught by Garrison with
the cavity as taught by Hoshino for providing retentive and cushioning
capabilities for a guitar while being used or viewed.
The appellants argue (brief, pp. 3-5) that Hoshino does not teach the use of a
guitar stand with an angled cavity and therefore it would not have been obvious at the
time the invention was made to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have modified
Garrison's guitar holder to arrive at the claimed invention. We agree.
Hoshino teaches (column 2, lines 23-26) that guitar stand 10 includes a concave
region 28 for holding the guitar on the upper surface of the main guitar stand body 20
and that a buffer 60 of rubber or sponge is provided on the upper surface of the
concave region for protecting the guitar. Hoshino further teaches (column 2, lines 12-
21) that the main guitar stand body 20 comprises a frame which is approximately in the
shape of U, with an opening at its front and is sized to hold the lower part of the
3 After the scope and content of the prior art are determined, the differences between the prior art
and the claims at issue are to be ascertained. Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 17-18, 148 USPQ
459, 467 (1966).
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