Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/554,120

GROUPED FEATURE MAP QUANTISATION

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Oct 05, 2023
Priority
Apr 07, 2021 — AU 2021202140 +1 more
Examiner
SUH, JOSEPH JINWOO
Art Unit
2485
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Canon Inc.
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
78%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
86%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 78% — above average
78%
Career Allowance Rate
406 granted / 522 resolved
+19.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+7.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
13 currently pending
Career history
543
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.9%
-33.1% vs TC avg
§103
64.5%
+24.5% vs TC avg
§102
11.3%
-28.7% vs TC avg
§112
11.3%
-28.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 522 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . Claim Status This Office Action responds to application 18/554120 filed on 4/23/26. Claims 1, 4-6, 9-10, and 15-16 are pending. 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 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 of this title, 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. 1. Claims 1, 4 - 6, 9, 10, 15, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al., US 2023/0082561 A1 (hereinafter Kim) in view of Rossato et al., US 10873772 B2 (hereinafter Rossato), and further in view of Kai et al., US 2021/0158212 A1 (hereinafter Kai). As for claim 1, Kim discloses a method of decoding feature maps from a bitstream, the method comprising: decoding ([0192], e.g., decoding), from the bitstream ([0191], e.g., bitstream), an encoded frame ([0191], e.g., encoded feature and [0085], e.g., frame) including a plurality of integer feature maps ([0191], e.g., feature and integer type), the encoded frame having been generated based on a first plurality of floating-point feature maps ([0191], e.g., feature and floating-point type); unpacking ([0192], e.g., decode, note unpacking implied) the decoded frame to decode the plurality of integer feature maps; a value ([0199], e.g., max(F)-min(F)) based on a maximum value ([0200], e.g., maximum value) among the first plurality of floating-point feature maps; generating a plurality of floating-point feature maps ([0199], e.g., equation 2, note the output) based on the value based on the maximum value and the decoded plurality of integer feature maps; and decoding a flag ([0205], e.g., flag information). Kim does not explicitly disclose, but Rossato teaches decoding a value (col. 115, l. 6-27, e.g., decode the range value). Therefore, given the teachings as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the references of Kim and Rossato before him/her to modify the image encoding/decoding method and device for performing feature quantization/de-quantization, and recording medium for storing bitstream of Kim with the teaching of transmission of reconstruction data in a tiered signal quality hierarchy of Rossato with a motivation to process the data quickly and efficiently by using the range information . Kim as modified by Rossato does not explicitly teach, but Kai teaches a flag ([0151], e.g., flag) indicating whether the value based on the maximum value is updated; wherein when the flag is 1, an updated value is used for generating a plurality of floating-point feature maps ([0151], e.g., 1 and needs to be updated), and when the flag is 0, the value based on the maximum value is used for generating a floating-point feature maps ([0151], e.g., 0 and will not be updated). Therefore, given the teachings as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the references of Kim, Rossato, and Kai before him/her to modify the image encoding/decoding method and device for performing feature quantization/de-quantization, and recording medium for storing bitstream of Kim with the teaching of learning method and learning apparatus of Kai with a motivation to process the data quickly and efficiently by using the update information in the flag. As for claim 4, the claim recites an apparatus for decoding feature maps from encoded data of the method of claim 1, and is similarly analyzed. As for claim 5, the claim recites a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium which stores a program for executing a method decoding feature maps from encoded data of the method of claim 1, and is similarly analyzed. As for claim 6, the claim recites a method of encoding feature maps into encoded data of the method of claim 1, and is similarly analyzed. As for claim 9, the claim recites an apparatus for encoding feature maps into encoded data of the method of claim 1, and is similarly analyzed. As for claim 10, the claim recites a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium which stores a program for executing a method encoding feature maps into encoded data of the method of claim 1, and is similarly analyzed. As for claim 15, most of limitations of this claim have been noted in the rejection of Claim 1. In addition, Kim further discloses decoding a value ([0199], e.g., max(F)-min(F)) based on a minimum value ([0200], e.g., minimum value) among the first plurality of floating- point feature maps; and generating the plurality of floating-point feature maps ([0199], e.g., equation 2, note the output) based on the value based on the maximum value, the value based on the minimum value and the decoded plurality of integer feature maps. As for claim 16, most of limitations of this claim have been noted in the rejection of Claim 1. In addition, Kim further discloses encoding a value ([0199], e.g., max(F)-min(F)) based on a minimum value ([0200], e.g., minimum value) among the plurality of floating-point feature maps; and generating the plurality of floating-point feature maps ([0199], e.g., equation 2, note the output) based on the value based on the maximum value, the value based on the minimum value and the plurality of floating-point feature maps. Citation of Pertinent Prior Art The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: 1. US 2005/0053294 discloses techniques and tools for progressive and interlaced video coding and decoding. 2. US 2006/0126962 discloses methods and systems for reducing blocking artifacts with reduced complexity for spatially-scalable video coding. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH SUH whose telephone number is 571-270-7484. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Thursday, 7:30 AM - 6:00 PM. 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) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Jay Patel can be reached on 571-272-2988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /JOSEPH SUH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2485
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Show 4 earlier events
Dec 03, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Dec 19, 2025
Request for Continued Examination
Jan 08, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 14, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Apr 06, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Apr 23, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
May 01, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
May 18, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12707054
CHROMA QUANTIZATION IN VIDEO CODING
1y 6m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Patent 12695865
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1y 9m to grant Granted Jul 28, 2026
Patent 12684153
METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PROCESSING VIDEO SIGNAL BY USING ADAPTIVE COLOR SPACE TRANSFORM
1y 10m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12684168
POINT CLOUD CODING METHOD
1y 6m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12666025
QUANTIZATION MATRICES IN VIDEO COMPRESSION
1y 8m to grant Granted Jun 23, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
78%
Grant Probability
86%
With Interview (+7.9%)
2y 7m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 522 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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