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, see pgs. 12-13 of the Remarks, filed 8/28/2026, with respect to the rejection of Claims 1-3, 5-9, 11-15, and 17-18 with regard to the rejection of the claims under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of the claims under 35 U.S.C. 103 has been withdrawn.
However, the claims are still subject to the rejection for Double Patenting that was previously presented in the Office Action dated 6/29/2026. The examiner has provided an updated mapping of claim limitations below to reflect the amendments made to the claims during prosecution. The applicant’s arguments regarding the finality of this Office Action on pg. 11 of the Remarks filed 8/28/2026 are not persuasive in regard to the Double Patenting rejection as the basis for the rejection remains unchanged from the previous Office Action.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1-3, 5-9, 11-15 and 17-18 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-14 of U.S. Patent No. 11,895,319. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the scope of the claims of the instant application are entirely encompassed by the disclosure of claims 1-14 of the ‘319 patent as follows:
Instant application
11,895,319
1: A method for constructing a candidate motion information list, comprising:
generating, by an apparatus, the candidate motion information list comprising one or more candidate motion information sets, wherein each candidate motion information set is obtained from a neighboring affine image block of a current image block by using an inherited control point motion vector prediction method, and wherein each candidate motion information set comprises candidate motion information of x control points of the current image block, where x is an integer greater than or equal to 2; and
based on a quantity of candidate motion information sets in the candidate motion information list being less than a preset quantity value, adding, by the apparatus, at least two extra to-be-selected motion information sets that satisfy a preset condition to the candidate motion information list, wherein respective extra to-be-selected motion information sets are information sets in the candidate motion information list until the quantity of candidate motion information sets in the candidate motion information list is equal to the preset quantity value or until all extra to-be-selected motion information sets have been traversed;
wherein a respective extra to-be-selected motion information set comprises extra to-be-selected motion vectors of at least two control points of the current image block, wherein the respective extra to-be-selected motion information set comprises extra to-be-selected motion information of the at least two control points of the current image block, wherein the extra to-be-selected motion information of each control point of the at least two control points comes from an image block at a specific location adjacent to the control point, and an inter prediction mode is used for the image block at the adjacent specific location; wherein a respective extra to-be-selected motion vector of a respective control point is a motion vector of an inter-coded image block adjacent to the current image block; and
wherein the preset condition comprises:
all control points in a respective extra to-be-selected motion information set having a same reference frame index to avoid scaling of respective extra to-be-selected motion vectors of the respective extra to-be-selected motion information set; and
extra to-be-selected motion vectors of at least two control points of a respective to-be-selected motion information set being different from each other.
1. A method for constructing a candidate motion information list, comprising:
generating the candidate motion information list comprising at least one candidate motion information set obtained from a neighboring affine image block of a current image block by using an inherited control point motion vector prediction method, …..
determining candidate motion information of x control points of the current image block based on motion information of x control points of the i.sup.th neighboring image block, and storing, in the candidate motion information list, a candidate motion information set including the candidate motion information of the x control points of the current image block, where n is a quantity of neighboring image blocks of the current image block, and both x and n are integers greater than or equal to 2;
*[wherein generating the candidate motion information list comprises sequentially performing a first processing process on neighboring image blocks of the current image block in a first preset order, until a quantity of candidate motion information sets in the candidate motion information list is equal to a first preset value or until all neighboring image blocks of the current image block have been traversed] ….
storing, in the candidate motion information list, an extra to-be-selected motion information set that satisfies a preset condition,
wherein the extra to-be-selected motion information set comprises extra to-be-selected motion vectors of at least two control points of the current image block, a respective extra to-be-selected motion vector of a respective control point is a motion vector of an inter-coded image block adjacent to the current image block
and reference frame indexes of all control points in the extra to-be-selected motion information set that satisfies the preset condition are the same
7. The method according to claim 1, wherein extra to-be-selected motion vectors of at least two control points in the extra to-be-selected motion information set that satisfies the preset condition are different.
2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
based on the quantity of candidate motion information sets in the candidate motion information list being less than the preset quantity value, filing the candidate motion information list with one or more third preset candidate motion information sets until the quantity of candidate motion information sets in the candidate motion information list is equal to the preset quantity value.
1
…..
based on the quantity of candidate motion information sets in the candidate motion information list being less than a preset quantity value after having sequentially performed the first processing process on the neighboring image blocks of the current image block in the first preset order and after having stored the extra to-be-selected motion information set in the candidate motion information list, filling the candidate motion information list with a first preset candidate motion information set until the quantity of candidate motion information sets in the candidate motion information list is equal to the preset quantity value.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the neighboring affine image block of the current image block 3is located at a predetermined location on a left side and/or an upper side of the current image block.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the neighboring affine image block of the current image block is located at a predetermined location on a left side or an upper side of the current image block.
5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
obtaining and parsing a bitstream, to obtain a first index value and a motion information difference, wherein the first index value is an index value of a motion information predictor of a control point of a current image block in the candidate motion information list;
obtaining the motion information predictor of the control point from the candidate motion information list based on the first index value;
determining motion information of the control point based on the motion information predictor of the control point and the motion information difference; and
determining prediction pixels of the current image block based on the motion information of the control point.
5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
obtaining and parsing a bitstream to obtain a first index value and a motion information difference, wherein the first index value is an index value of a motion information predictor of a control point of the current image block in the candidate motion information list;
obtaining the motion information predictor of the control point from the candidate motion information list based on the first index value;
determining motion information of the control point based on the motion information predictor of the control point and the motion information difference; and
determining prediction pixels of the current image block based on the motion information of the control point.
6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
obtaining and parsing a bitstream, to obtain a second index value, wherein the second index value is an index value of a motion information set of a control point of a current image block in the candidate motion information list;
obtaining the motion information set of the control point form the candidate motion information list based on the second index value; and
determining prediction pixels of the current image block based on the motion information of the control point.
6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
obtaining and parsing a bitstream to obtain a second index value, wherein the second index value is an index value of a motion information set of a control point of the current image block in the candidate motion information list;
obtaining the motion information set of the control point from the candidate motion information list based on the second index value; and
determining prediction pixels of the current image block based on the motion information of the control point.
*claim limitations in [ ] brackets are presented out of order from the original claim in order to more clearly illustrate correspondence with the instant claims.
Claims 7-9, 11-15 and 17-18 are similarly encompassed by the disclosure of claims 7-14 of the ‘319 patent. The examiner notes that the ‘319 patent includes additional limitations not required by the claims of the instant application, however a rejection for Double Patenting is proper for broader later filed claims in view of narrower earlier filed claims.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 7 and 13 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Each of the independent claims includes a clause reciting:
“wherein a respective extra to-be-selected motion information set comprises extra to-be-selected motion vectors of at least two control points of the current image block, wherein the respective extra to-be-selected motion information set comprises extra to-be-selected motion information of the at least two control points of the current image block, wherein the extra to-be-selected motion information of each control point of the at least two control points comes from an image block at a specific location adjacent to the control point, and an inter prediction mode is used for the image block at the adjacent specific location; wherein a respective extra to-be-selected motion vector of a respective control point is a motion vector of an inter-coded image block adjacent to the current image block; and”
The clauses include a duplicate limitation as indicated in bold above. The duplicate limitation should be removed. Appropriate correction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Subject to the rejection for Double Patenting above, claims 1-3, 5-9, 11-15, 17-19 and 22 are otherwise allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Independent claims 1, 7 and 13 require generating, for a current image block, a candidate motion information list including motion sets comprising candidates obtained from a neighboring affine coded block by inheriting control point information, each motion set including two or more control points, when a number of motion information sets is less than a preset value, adding two or more additional motion information sets from extra to-be-selected motion information until the preset value is reached or all the extra to-be-selected motion information is added, the extra to-be-selected motion information comes from specific locations adjacent to the control points of the current block and inter prediction is used at those specific locations, wherein all control points in the extra to-be-selected motion set have the same reference index and differ from each other.
The closest arts are Robert, Huang and Chen. Robert discloses generating a motion candidate list including affine motion candidates, each affine motion candidate including a set of two or three control point motion vectors. Robert further discloses determining whether the number of valid motion candidates in the list is equal to the size of the candidate list and if not, constructing additional affine predictors by selecting inter motion vectors from blocks adjacent to each control point of the current block. Hung discloses that affine candidates must all share a same reference picture or they are otherwise marked as unavailable. Chen discloses a method of ensuring that the control points in an affine candidate differ from each other. However as noted by the applicant on pgs. 12-13 of the Remarks dates 8/28/2026, Chen teaches that extra control points are made to be different from each other by adding an offset to one of the two motion vectors rather than ensuring that the selected spatially adjacent inter motion vectors are different from each other as a prerequisite for selection as an extra to-be-selected motion vector as required by the independent claims. Therefore, none of the references alone or in combination disclose all of the elements required by the independent claims.
Claims 2-3, 5-6, 8-9, 11-12, 14-15, 17-19 and 22 depend from claims 1, 7 and 13 respectively and are allowable for the same reasons.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 JEREMIAH CHARLES HALLENBECK-HUBER whose telephone number is (571)272-5248. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.
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/JEREMIAH C HALLENBECK-HUBER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2423
