Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 17/550,601

METHOD FOR IMAGE PROCESSING AND APPARATUS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE SAME

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Dec 14, 2021
Examiner
RAHAMAN, SHAHAN UR
Art Unit
2426
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Ateme
OA Round
5 (Non-Final)
76%
Grant Probability
Favorable
5-6
OA Rounds
2y 11m
To Grant
88%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 76% — above average
76%
Career Allow Rate
479 granted / 633 resolved
+17.7% vs TC avg
Moderate +13% lift
Without
With
+12.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
51 currently pending
Career history
684
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.7%
-35.3% vs TC avg
§103
50.0%
+10.0% vs TC avg
§102
14.7%
-25.3% vs TC avg
§112
15.1%
-24.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 633 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
DETAILED ACTION The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 02/11/2026 has been entered. Following prior arts are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US20100110287A1 (Liu) US 20060262846 A1 (Burazerovic) US 20220060619 A1 (Pinhasov) Cristina GOMILA, et al., "SEI message for film grain encoding", JOINT VIDEO TEAM (JVT) OF ISO/IEC MPEG & ITU-T VCEG(ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 AND ITU-T SG16 Q6), May 23, 2003, (Fig.2 and its description; modeling based on reconstructed image) Response to Remarks/Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to prior art rejections have been fully considered and in view of amendments claims have been found allowable over prior art. 112(f) interpretation have been withdrawn considering applicant’s argument Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d): (d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers. The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph: Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers. Claims 4 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Claim 4 dependents upon claim 1, these claim failed to further limit the claim 1. Claim 18 is claiming “perform the first encoding and the second encoding as part of a same encoding processing instance”, these claim is failing to include “wherein the first encoding and the second encoding are performed as part of different encoding processing instances” of claim 10. That is instead of two separate encoding processing instances it is claiming one encoding processing instance. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements. Allowable Subject matters Claims 1-3, 8-10, 14, 16-17 are allowed Claims 4 and 18 are not rejected under prior art Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Shahan Rahaman whose telephone number is (571)270-1438. The examiner can normally be reached on 7am - 3:30pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nasser Goodarzi can be reached at telephone number (571) 272-4195. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center for authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to Patent Center, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/uspto-automated- interview-request-air-form. /SHAHAN UR RAHAMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2426
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Prosecution Timeline

Dec 14, 2021
Application Filed
Apr 12, 2024
Non-Final Rejection — §112
Jul 03, 2024
Response Filed
Sep 18, 2024
Examiner Interview (Telephonic)
Sep 26, 2024
Final Rejection — §112
Jan 27, 2025
Request for Continued Examination
Jan 31, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 03, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §112
Sep 03, 2025
Response Filed
Oct 20, 2025
Final Rejection — §112
Jan 13, 2026
Interview Requested
Jan 20, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Jan 20, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary
Jan 23, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 11, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Feb 26, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Mar 04, 2026
Examiner Interview (Telephonic)
Mar 06, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12602765
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Patent 12598328
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2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12593035
IMAGE ENCODING/DECODING METHOD AND DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12586224
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2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

5-6
Expected OA Rounds
76%
Grant Probability
88%
With Interview (+12.6%)
2y 11m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 633 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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