Appeal No. 2002-1288 Page 7
Application No. 09/570,759
New ground of rejection
Under the provisions of 37 CFR § 1.196(b), we enter the following new ground of
rejection.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as being anticipated by Hoshino.
A claim is anticipated only if each and every element as set forth in the claim is
found, either expressly or inherently described, in a single prior art reference.
Verdegaal Bros. Inc. v. Union Oil Co., 814 F.2d 628, 631, 2 USPQ2d 1051, 1053 (Fed.
Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 827 (1987). The inquiry as to whether a reference
anticipates a claim must focus on what subject matter is encompassed by the claim and
what subject matter is described by the reference. As set forth by the court in Kalman
v. Kimberly-Clark Corp., 713 F.2d 760, 772, 218 USPQ 781, 789 (Fed. Cir. 1983), cert.
denied, 465 U.S. 1026 (1984), it is only necessary for the claims to "'read on' something
disclosed in the reference, i.e., all limitations of the claim are found in the reference, or
'fully met' by it."
Claim 5 is readable on Hoshino as follows: Apparatus comprising: a guitar-like
instrument (Hoshino's guitar G shown in Figures 6-8) in combination with a soft bottom
rest shaped to fit the guitar-like instrument (Hoshino's U-shaped main guitar stand body
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