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 .
Prior arts cited in this office action:
Dvir et al. (US 20080159639 A1, hereinafter “Dvir”)
Matysik et al. (US 20220417533 A1, hereinafter “Matysik”)
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/13/2026 with regard to the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 101 of claim 12 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection under 35 U.S.C. has be withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed 01/13/2026 with regard of rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant Arguments/Remarks: Specifically, Applicants respectfully submit that the cited references do not teach or suggest that i) based on property information (being encoded into a bitstream) and a compression rate control parameter (including a resolution level of the image), a compression level of the Rol is determined by using information of the Rol (including a size of the Rol), and ii) the compression level of the Rol is determined as one of a plurality of pre-determined compression level candidates.
Examiner’s Response: examiner disagrees with applicant assertion above that the combination of the cited prior arts does not teach or suggest applicant invention as claim and argued above. Dvir teaches Optionally, the metadata comprise information such as the organization and identification of the contents of the video sequence and the frames…. compressing a one or more blocks in a frame; wherein (c) a block size and/or shape is responsive to the compression level of a tile and/or compression ratio and/or required bit-rate and/or contents of the image or part thereof. optionally responsive to rate settings (636). Optionally, the quantization is carried out using a quantization table, and the table is stored for subsequent image restoration. Optionally, the quantization is into a set of color indexes with a corresponding palette (brightness or color lookup table) (Dvir [0018], [0034]-[0035], [0090], [0129], [0142]). The combination above teaches perform compression based on the content of the region such as color, size, etc. and the rate (636) control, for example, that can control the quantization. Look up table is used for performing quantization.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Independent claims 1, 11 and 12 recites in part “determining the compression levels in units of the RoI”. A thorough review of applicant application as filed fails to reveal applicant claim limitation. Appropriate correction and/or explanation are respectfully requested.
Claims 2-9 depend on claim 1 and are therefore not allowable for the same reason given above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1-12 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Independent claims 1, 11 and 12 recites in part “determining the compression levels in units of the RoI”. A thorough review of applicant application as filed fails to reveal applicant claim limitation. Appropriate correction and/or explanation are respectfully requested.
Claims 2, 7-9 depend on claim 1 and are therefore not allowable for the same reason given above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1-2, 7-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dvir et al. (US 20080159639 A1, hereinafter “Dvir”) and in view of Matysik et al. (US 20220417533 A1, hereinafter “Matysik”).
Regarding claims 1, 11 and 12:
Dvir teaches an image encoding method based on multiple compression levels (Dvir [0004], [0008], where Dvir teaches this invention relates to a method, apparatus, and corresponding receiver for compressing and/or decompressing of images. Some embodiments relate to compressing an image via a video sequence, including an encryption of an image in a video sequence. An aspect of some exemplary embodiments of the invention relates to compressing an image by encoding it as a sequence of video frames, employing spatial and/or temporal compression, and consequent decompressing thereof ), the image encoding method comprising:
obtaining a plurality of Regions of Interest (ROIs) for machine vision from an image (Dvir [0088], where Dvir teaches in exemplary embodiments of the invention, only some of the tiles, or parts thereof, are used for frames 202 in the video sequence 200, for example, responsive to a region of interest, while discarding the others. Optionally, some tiles are compressed to a certain level while others compressed to another level, for example, a region of interest (e.g. center region) is compressed lesser extent relative to other regions in order to achieve a better quality in the decoded image for the region of interest);
determining the compression levels “in units” of the RoI (Dvir [0031], [0035],[0088], where Dvir teaches the image can be divided into a plurality of parts and each part would have a corresponding center region and other regions. Region of interest (e.g. center region) is compressed lesser extent relative to other regions in order to achieve a better quality in the decoded image for the region of interest);
and
encoding the image based on the compression levels, wherein, based on property information of the RoI and a compression rate control parameter of the Rol, a compression level of the Rol is determined by using information of the Rol (Dvir [0098], [0125], [0157], where Dvir teaches in exemplary embodiments of the invention, scalable compression is performed, comprising encoding of the same tile (or part thereof) into frames with different compression levels. The scalable compression allows a consequent decoding of the video sequence to reconstruct the image in several quality levels),
wherein the information of the Rol includes a size of the RoI, wherein the property information of the RoI is encoded into a bitstream (Dvir [0035], [0090], [00135], External settings or parameters (610) are provided (602). Optionally, the parameters, or part thereof, are provided by a user such as by configuration file or API. The parameters may comprise the rate (bits per second of the video sequence 200) or the quality level (e.g. as the range of luminance or colors relative to the original),
wherein the compression rate control parameter includes a resolution level of the image (Dvir [0125], [0162], where Dvir teaches In exemplary embodiments of the invention, the coder may accept operation parameters such as compression level, type of compression, number of frames in a GOP or other parameters such as the required bit rate. For example, by setting a configuration file or using API (application programming interface) to set the parameters),
wherein a first compression level of a first RoI of the Rols is different from a second
compression level of a second Rol of the RoIs (Dvir [0088], [0098]-0099], where Dvir teaches Optionally, some tiles are compressed to a certain level while others compressed to another level, for example, a region of interest (e.g. center region) is compressed lesser extent relative to other regions in order to achieve a better quality in the decoded image for the region of interest),
wherein a number of the compression levels of the RoIs is same as a number of the
RoIs (Dvir [0088], [0098]-0099], where Dvir teaches Optionally, some tiles are compressed to a certain level while others compressed to another level, for example, a region of interest (e.g. center region) is compressed lesser extent relative to other regions in order to achieve a better quality in the decoded image for the region of interest), and
wherein the compression level of the RoI is determined as one of a plurality of pre-
determined compression level candidates (Dvir [0090], [0142], where Dvir teaches The DCT coefficients are quantized (626), i.e. some coefficients (high frequencies) of the transform are reduced or eliminated, optionally responsive to rate settings (636). Optionally, the quantization is carried out using a quantization table, and the table is stored for subsequent image restoration. The quantized coefficient are entropy encoded, optionally by arithmetic coding (628) (such as in JPEG compression).
Although Dvir teaches the image can be divided into a plurality of parts and each part would have a corresponding center region and other regions. Region of interest (e.g. center region) is compressed lesser extent relative to other regions in order to achieve a better quality in the decoded image for the region of interest), he fails to explicitly teaches determining a plurality of regions of interests.
However, Matysik explicitly teaches a detection module to detect portions of the image data that contain possible regions of interest. Information indicating the portions that contain the possible regions of interest is then used during a compression process so that the portions that contain the possible regions of interest are compressed using one or more compression algorithms to facilitate further analysis and the remainder are treated differently. the compression process to be used, may not only chose lower or higher quantization factors, but may also switch quantization tables prepared specifically for computer vision algorithms depending on the regions of interest. (Matysik Abstract, [0004]-[0007], [0033], [0044]-[0050], fig. 3).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to detect a plurality of regions of interest and compressed and/or encode them based on their content and/or desired bit rate. In other to facilitate transmission, storage, and/or further processing.
Regarding claim 2:
Dvir in view of Matysik teaches wherein the compression level of the region of interest (ROI) is determined using a compression rate control algorithm (Dvir [0035], [0075], [0088]; Matysik [0033], [0044]-[0050]).8).
Regarding claim 7:
Dvir in view of Matysik teaches wherein the compression level of the ROI is determined based on a combination of a resolution level and a quantization level of the image (Dvir [0006]-[009], [0017], [0035], [0075], [0088], [0131], [0157]; Matysik [0033], [0044]-[0050]).
Regarding claim 8:
Dvir in view of Matysik teaches wherein, in response of the resolution level having higher priority and the quantization level having lower priority, ROI detection process is performed on compression level candidates to which resolution level candidates belong in an order of quantization level candidates (Dvir [0006]-[009], [0017], [0035], [0075], [0088], [0131], [0157]; Matysik [0033], [0044]-[0050]).
Regarding claim 9:
Dvir in view of Matysik teaches wherein the order of the quantization level candidates is from a maximum quantization level candidate to a minimum quantization level candidate (Dvir [0006]-[009], [0017], [0035], [0075], [0088], [0109], [0131], [0157]; Matysik [0033], [0044]-[0050]).
Regarding claim 10:
Dvir in view of Matysik teaches wherein the order of the quantization level candidates is from a minimum quantization level candidate to a maximum value quantization level candidate (Dvir [0006]-[009], [0017], [0035], [0075], [0088], [0109] [0131], [0157]; Matysik [0033], [0044]-[0050]).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WEDNEL CADEAU whose telephone number is (571)270-7843. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:00-5:00.
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/WEDNEL CADEAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632 February 26, 2026