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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-3, 6-10, 13-15, and 18-19 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6, 8-10, 13, 15, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al., (U.S. Pub. No. 2017/0208336 A1) in view of Piao et al., (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0281285 A1).
As per claim 1, Li teaches an image decoding method performed by a decoding apparatus (abstract and fig. 9): receiving partition information for a current coding block ([0055], [0135-0136]); partitioning the current coding block into a plurality of sub-coding blocks based on the partition information (figs. 4-7; [0078-0079]); performing intra prediction for each of the plurality of sub-coding blocks ([0053]; figs. 1, 9); generating a reconstructed picture based on the intra prediction ([0063], [0083]; figs. 1, 9), wherein the current coding block includes three sub-coding blocks partitioned from the current coding blocks ([0085], [0088-0089], and figs. 4-7). Li does not explicitly disclose current coding bock is directly partitioned into a first sub-coding block having a rectangular shape, a second sub-coding block having a square block, and a third sub-coding block having a square shape, and wherein a size of the current coding block is 2Nx2N, a size of the first sub-coding block is 2NxN, a size of the second sub-coding block is NxN and a size of the third sub-coding block is NxN, and wherein the first sub-coding block, the second sub-coding block and the third sub-coding block are symmetrical with respect to a vertical center line of the current coding block.
However, Piao teaches the current coding block is directly partitioned into a first sub-coding block having a first rectangular shape, a second sub-coding block having a square block, and a third sub-coding block having a square shape, and wherein a size of the current block is 2Nx2N, a size of the first sub-coding block is 2NxN, a size of the second sub-coding block is NxN and a size of the third sub-coding block is NxN ([0077], [0085], and at least figs. 9- 10, and wherein the first sub-coding block, the second sub-coding block and the third sub-coding block are symmetrical with respect to a vertical center line of the current coding block (figs. 9-10).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Piao with Li for the benefit of improving coding efficiency.
As per claim 2, Li (modified by Piao) as a whole teaches everything as claimed above, see claim 1. In addition, Li teaches wherein the current coding block is partitioned into the three sub-coding blocks in a vertical direction (figs 4-. 7; [0073-0074], [0078-0079], [0120]).
As per claim 3, Li (modified by Piao) as a whole teaches everything as claimed above, see claim 1. In addition, Li teaches wherein the current coding block is partitioned into the three sub-coding blocks in a horizontal direction (figs. 4-7; [0073-0074], [0078-0079], [0120]).
As per claim 6, Li (modified by Piao) as a whole teaches everything as claimed above, see claim 1. In addition, Li teaches wherein depths of the first sub-coding block, the second sub-coding block, and the third sub-coding block are the same (fig. 4B el. 57-59).
As per claim 8, Li teaches an image encoding method performed by an image encoding apparatus ([0009] and figs. 1 and 8), the image decoding method comprising: partitioning a current coding block into a plurality of sub-coding blocks (figs. 2, 4A-7, abstract, [0007], [0047-0049], [0073], [0079]), performing intra prediction for each of the plurality of sub-coding blocks ([0053]; figs. 1, 9); and encoding image information comprising partition information for the plurality of sub-coding block ([0007], [0049-0050], [0073] and fig. 4B); wherein the current coding block is partitioned into three sub-coding block includes three sub-coding blocks partitioned from the current block (fig. 4A-6E). Li does not explicitly disclose current coding bock is directly partitioned into a first sub-coding block having a rectangular shape, a second sub-coding block having a square block, and a third sub-coding block having a square shape, and wherein a size of the current coding block is 2Nx2N, a size of the first sub-coding block is 2NxN, a size of the second sub-coding block is NxN and a size of the third sub-coding block is NxN, and wherein the first sub-coding block, the second sub-coding block, and the third sub-coding block are symmetrical with respect to a vertical center line of the current coding block.
However, Piao teaches the current coding block is directly partitioned into a first sub-coding block having a first rectangular shape, a second sub-coding block having a square block, and a third sub-coding block having a square shape, and wherein a size of the current block is 2Nx2N, a size of the first sub-coding block is 2NxN, a size of the second sub-coding block is NxN and a size of the third sub-coding block is NxN ([0077], [0085], and at least figs. 9- 10, and wherein the first sub-coding block, the second sub-coding block and the third sub-coding block are symmetrical with respect to a vertical center line of the current coding block (figs. 9-10).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Piao with Li for the benefit of improving coding efficiency.
As per claim 9, which is the corresponding image encoding method with the limitations of the decoding method as recited in claim 2, thus the rejection and analysis made for claim 2 also applies here.
As per claim 10, which is the corresponding image encoding method with the limitations of the decoding method as recited in claim 3, thus the rejection and analysis made for claim 3 also applies here.
As per claim 13, which is the corresponding image encoding method with the limitations of the decoding method as recited in claim 6, thus the rejection and analysis made for claim 6 also applies here.
As per claim 15, Li teaches a transmission method for image data, the method comprising: obtaining a bitstream for the image data (figs. 1, 8, 11), wherein the bitstream is generated based on partitioning a current coding block into a plurality of sub-coding blocks (figs. 2, 4A-7, 10A-11 and [0007], [0047-0049], [0073], [0079]), performing intra prediction for each of the plurality of sub-coding blocks ([0053]; figs. 1, 9, 11); and encoding image information comprising partition information for the plurality of sub-coding blocks (([0007], [0049-0050], [0073] and figs. 4B, 10A-10B); and transmitting the image data comprising the bitstream (figs. 1 and 8), wherein the current coding block includes three sub-coding blocks partitioned from the current coding block (fig. 4A-6E). Li does not explicitly disclose current coding bock is directly partitioned into a first sub-coding block having a rectangular shape, a second sub-coding block having a square block, and a third sub-coding block having a square shape, and wherein a size of the current coding block is 2Nx2N, a size of the first sub-coding block is 2NxN, a size of the second sub-coding block is NxN and a size of the third sub-coding block is NxN, and wherein the first sub-coding block, the second sub-coding block and the third sub-coding block are symmetrical with respect to a vertical center line of the current coding block.
However, Piao teaches the current coding block is directly partitioned into a first sub-coding block having a first rectangular shape, a second sub-coding block having a square block, and a third sub-coding block having a square shape, and wherein a size of the current block is 2Nx2N, a size of the first sub-coding block is 2NxN, a size of the second sub-coding block is NxN and a size of the third sub-coding block is NxN ([0077], [0085], and at least figs. 9- 10, and wherein the first sub-coding block, the second sub-coding block and the third sub-coding block are symmetrical with respect to a vertical center line of the current coding block (figs. 9-10).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Piao with Li for the benefit of improving coding efficiency.
As per claim 18, which is the corresponding transmission method with the limitations of the decoding method as recited in claim 6, thus the rejection and analysis made for claim 6 also applies here.
Claim(s) 7, 14 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al., in view of Piao et al., (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0281285 A1) and further in view of Kim et al., (U.S. Pub. No. 2015/0358618 A1).
As per claim 7, Li (modified by Piao) as a whole teaches everything as claimed above, see claim 1. Li does not explicitly disclose wherein the intra prediction for the plurality of sub-blocks are performed based on a raster scan order.
However, Kim teaches wherein the intra prediction for the plurality of sub-blocks are performed based on a raster scan order (figs. 4-6; [0056], [0066] and [0076]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Kim with Li (modified by Piao) in order to improve the accuracy of prediction on a current block to be encoded or decoded in encoding or decoding an image, and thus provide a satisfactory image reproduction quality for the image by improved coding efficiency, [0008].
As per claim 14, which is the corresponding image encoding method with the limitations of the decoding method as recited in claim 7, thus the rejection and analysis made for claim 7 also applies here.
As per claim 19, which is the corresponding transmission method with the limitations of the decoding method as recited in claim 7, thus the rejection and analysis made for claim 7 also applies here.
Conclusion
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JESSICA PRINCE
Examiner
Art Unit 2486
/JESSICA M PRINCE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2486
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