DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status.
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
2. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 07/10/2026 has been entered.
3. In the applicant’s submission, claims 9, 12, 15, and 16 were amended; claims 17-18 were cancelled. Accordingly, claims 9-16 are pending and being examined. Claims 9, 12, 15, and 16 are independent form.
4. The non-statutory double patenting rejections have been withdrawn in view of applicant’s amendment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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 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.
6. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
7. Claims 9-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lee (US 2005/0180340, hereinafter “Lee”).
Regarding claim 9, Lee discloses the three-dimensional data encoding method (the method and the apparatus for encoding 3D data; see abstract and fig.3A, fig.3B, and fig.4), comprising:
assigning three-dimensional points included in point cloud data to a plurality of layers, based on geometry information of the three-dimensional points (see the volume data converting unit converts the volume (3D) data 300 to the octree or quadtree 320 in fig.3A, where the 3D point cloud data is converted into voxel data and in turn converted into the quadtree/octree data; wherein an adaptive quadtree includes three layers in parent-child relationship, denoted by ‘S’, ‘W’, ‘B’, and ‘E’ in the tree layers: that is, the root (including only one node), the second layer (including four nodes: S, S, W, and B), and the leaf layer (8 nodes), shown by fig.8(b), see para.56. It should be noticed that a point cloud includes a discrete set of data points representing a 3D shape or object in space.), each of the three-dimensional points being assigned to one of the plurality of layers (as shown by fig.8, wherein each of the 3D data points shown in fig.8 (a) is assigned to one of the four nodes of the middle/second layer, and further assigned into one of the nodes of the lowest/leaf layer, as shown in fig.8 (c). For example, the four points in the upper-left conner of fig.8(a) are finally assigned into one of the four (W, B, B, B) nodes of the lowest layer of the quadtree fig.8(c).);
generating first information used for specifying whether to permit referring to, for a current three-dimensional point included in the three-dimensional points, attribute information of another three-dimensional point belonging to a same layer as the current three-dimensional point (see “node encoding unit 340” in fig.3A, see para.60: the adaptive quadtree is created by labeling: `S` (split), `B` (black), and `W` (white) nodes as shown figs.8-9 and Table 1; see para.75: “If SOP indicates that the current node is an `S` node, as shown in illustration (c) of FIG. 14, DIB includes the average color of the current node area and up to eight flags indicating whether the child nodes are `W.`” In other words, if the current node is a `S` node, then the method may calculate the average color values of the current same node/layer as detailed information bits (DIB)); and
encoding attribute information of the current three-dimensional point to generate a bitstream, by or without referring to the attribute information of the other three-dimensional point according to the first information, wherein the bitstream includes the first information, each of the layers is a level of detail (see “bitstream generating unit 360” in fig.3A, see fig.14 and para.74: “The bitstream of each of the nodes is composed of SOP (`S` or `P`) and DIB (detailed information bits) as shown in illustration (b) of FIG. 14.”), and in the levels of detail, a higher layer has a sparser point cloud in which three-dimensional points are more distant, and a lower layer has a denser point cloud in which three-dimensional points are closer (as shown by fig.8(b) and fig.8(a)-(c), wherein, from the top layer (i.e., the root) ‘S’ [Wingdings font/0xE0] the middle layer ‘S’ [Wingdings font/0xE0] the leaf ‘B’, the object’s densities (i.e., the ratio of the number of the highlighted voxels in the each node) are gradually increasing: 6/16=0.375 (in the top layer), 3/4=0.75 (in the middle layer), and 1/1=1 (in the lowest/leaf layer). See para.63-66.).
Regarding claim 10, Lee discloses the three-dimensional data encoding method according to claim 9, wherein when the first information specifies to permit referring to the attribute information of the other three-dimensional point, the attribute information of the current three-dimensional point is encoded by referring to attribute information of an encoded three-dimensional point included in three-dimensional points belonging to the same layer as the current three-dimensional point (see para.75: “If SOP indicates that the current node is an `S` node, as shown in illustration (c) of FIG. 14, DIB includes the average color of the current node area and up to eight flags indicating whether the child nodes are `W.`”).
Regarding claim 11, Lee discloses the three-dimensional data encoding method according to claim 9, wherein in the encoding, the attribute information of the current three-dimensional point is encoded by referring to attribute information of a three-dimensional point belonging to a layer higher than a layer to which the current three-dimensional point belongs (see para.76: If SOP indicates that the current node is a `P` node, as shown in illustration (d) of FIG. 14, the depth information of the voxels [included in the DIB] within the current node area is PPM-encoded”, wherein the PPM-encoding operation encodes the voxels of the current depth (i.e., layer) k according to the contexts of previous depth (i.e., layer) k-1 and current depth (i.e., layer) k as shown by fig.13. See para.72: “FIG. 13 shows contexts used for PPM-encoding voxels. A two-dimensional plane with a depth of `k` on the right side is a section where there are voxels previously encoded and to be currently encoded, and a two-dimensional plane with a depth of `k-1` on the left side is a neighboring section where there are voxels previously encoded.”), regardless of the first information (It should be noticed that the PPM-encoding operation is related not to the header information of ‘width’ and ‘height’. See, fig.14).
Regarding claim 12, Lee discloses a three-dimensional data decoding method (the method and the apparatus for decoding 3D data; see abstract and fig.5A, fig.5B, and fig.6), comprising: assigning three-dimensional points included in point cloud data to a plurality of layers, based on geometry information of the three-dimensional points (see the volume data converting unit converts the volume (3D) data 300 to the octree or quadtree 320 in fig.3A, where the 3D point cloud data is converted into voxel data and in turn converted into the quadtree/octree data; wherein an adaptive quadtree includes three layers in parent-child relationship, denoted by ‘S’, ‘W’, ‘B’, and ‘E’ in the tree layers: that is, the root (including only one node), the second layer (including four nodes: S, S, W, and B), and the leaf layer (8 nodes), shown by fig.8(b), see para.56. It should be noticed that a point cloud includes a discrete set of data points representing a 3D shape or object in space.), each of the three-dimensional points being assigned to one of the plurality of layers (as shown by fig.8, wherein each of the 3D data points shown in fig.8 (a) is assigned to one of the four nodes of the middle/second layer, and further assigned into one of the nodes of the lowest/leaf layer, as shown in fig.8 (c). For example, the four points in the upper-left conner of fig.8(a) are finally assigned into one of the four (W, B, B, B) nodes of the lowest layer of the quadtree fig.8(c));
obtaining first information from a bitstream, the first information used for specifying whether to permit referring to, for a current three-dimensional point included in the three-dimensional points, attribute information of another three-dimensional point belonging to a same layer as the current three-dimensional point (see 540 of fig.5A, and para.80: “The adaptive octree recovering unit 540 recovers the adaptive octree from the recovered nodes, and in turn converts the recovered adaptive octree into an octree. While the adaptive octree has five kinds of labels, the octree does not have these labels but has only black or white value.” See para.84: “If the SOP indicates that the current node is an `S` node, as shown in illustration (c) of FIG. 14, DIB is decoded into the average color of the current node area”); and
decoding attribute information of the current three-dimensional point from the bitstream, by or without referring to the attribute information of the other three-dimensional point according to the first information, wherein each of the layers is a level of detail (see 560 of fig.5A, and para.81: “the volume data recovering unit 560 recovers the original 3D object data from the input octree data, where the original 3D object data is any one of PointTexture, voxel, and octree data.” See [0083] “The bitstream reading unit 500 reads nodes of a tree from bitstreams of the encoded 3D data (operation 50)), and in the levels of detail, a higher layer has a sparser point cloud in which three-dimensional points are more distant, and a lower layer has a denser point cloud in which three-dimensional points are closer (as shown by fig.8(b) and fig.8(a)-(c), wherein, from the top layer (i.e., the root) ‘S’ [Wingdings font/0xE0] the middle layer ‘S’ [Wingdings font/0xE0] the leaf ‘B’, the object’s densities (i.e., the ratio of the number of the highlighted voxels in the each node) are gradually increasing: 6/16=0.375 (in the top layer), 3/4=0.75 (in the middle layer), and 1/1=1 (in the lowest/leaf layer). See para.63-66.).
Regarding claim 13, Lee discloses the three-dimensional data decoding method according to claim 12, wherein when the first information specifies to permit referring to the attribute information of the other three-dimensional point, the attribute information of the current three-dimensional point is decoded by referring to attribute information of a decoded three-dimensional point included in three-dimensional points belonging to the same layer as the current three-dimensional point (See para.84: “If the SOP indicates that the current node is an `S` node, as shown in illustration (c) of FIG. 14, DIB is decoded into the average color of the current node area”).
Regarding claim 14, Lee discloses the three-dimensional data decoding method according to claim 12, wherein in the decoding, the attribute information of the current three-dimensional point is decoded by referring to attribute information of a three-dimensional point belonging to a layer higher than a layer to which the current three-dimensional point belongs (see para.91: “FIG. 13 shows contexts used for PPM-decoding voxels. A two-dimensional plane with a depth of `k` on the right side is a section where there are voxels previously decoded and to be currently decoded, and a two-dimensional plane with a depth of `k-1` on the left side is a neighboring section where there are voxels previously decoded.”), regardless of the first information (It should be noticed that the PPM-decoding operation is related not to the header information of ‘width’ and ‘height’. See, fig.14).
Regarding claim 15, claim 15 parallels claim 9 and is an inherent variation of claim 9, thus it is interpreted and rejected for the reasons set forth in the rejection of claim 9.
Regarding claim 16, claim 16 parallels claim 12 and is an inherent variation of claim 12, thus it is interpreted and rejected for the reasons set forth in the rejection of claim 12.
Response to Arguments
8. Applicant’s arguments, with respects to claim 9, filed on 07/10/2026, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On pages 8-9, the applicant submits:
As such, Applicant submits that an octree, such as the octree disclosed in Lee, does not satisfy the above-noted feature now recited in claim 9 which indicates that "in the levels of detail, a higher layer has a sparser point cloud in which three-dimensional points are more distant, and a lower layer has a denser point cloud in which three-dimensional points are closer".
(The emphases added by the applicant.)
The examiner respectfully disagrees with the argument. As explained in the rejections of the claims, Lee, see fig.8(a)-(c), clearly discloses, wherein each of the 3D data points shown by fig.8 (a) is assigned to one of the four nodes of the meddle layer, and further assigned into one of the nodes in the lowest/leaf layer, as shown in fig.8 (c). For example, the four points in the upper-left conner of fig.8(a) are finally assigned into one of the four (W, B, B, B) nodes in the lowest layer of the quadtree fig.8(c); wherein, from the top layer (i.e., the root) ‘S’ [Wingdings font/0xE0] the middle layer ‘S’ [Wingdings font/0xE0] the leaf ‘B’, the object’s densities (i.e., the ratio of the number of the highlighted voxels in the each node) are gradually increasing: 6/16=0.375 (in the top layer), 3/4=0.75 (in the middle layer), and 1/1=1 (in the lowest/leaf layer). See para.63-66. Therefore, the arguments are unpersuasive.
Conclusion
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RUIPING LI whose telephone number is (571)270-3376. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30am--5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, HENOK SHIFERAW can be reached on (571)272-4637. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RUIPING LI/Primary Examiner, Ph.D., Art Unit 2676
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