DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is a response to an RCE filed on 04/09/2026, in which claims 107-127 are pending and ready for examination.
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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in this application and a copy has been placed of record in the file.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 04/09/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 107-127 have been considered but are not persuasive.
In regards to claim 107 applicant argues that Van der Auwera is silent about determining the at least one extended angular mode by at least one of the following: neighboring samples, or neighboring pixels.
However, examiner respectfully disagrees. First of all, a review of the specification of the current application shows that nowhere in the specification it is mentioned that the extended angular mode is determined by the neighboring samples or neighboring pixels of the current block, but even if the specification had shown any support for this limitation, the limitation was fully disclosed by the cited portions of Van der Auwera as shown in the rejection of claim 108 of Final Rejection dated 01/09/2026. As shown in Fig. 7 and disclosed in paragraph 159 of Van der Auwera, wide angle intra-prediction modes are used to generate prediction samples of the current block. As further disclosed in paragraph 162, The arrow 710 in FIG. 7 indicates the prediction direction (or prediction angle) of the selected wide angle intra-prediction mode, which originates from the reference sample 712 used for intra-prediction of the prediction sample 704. Thus, reference sample 712 of the intra-prediction sample 708, which is the above neighboring block of the current block is used as the origin of the selected wide angle intra-prediction mode of the current block. Therefore, the argued limitation of claim 107 has been fully disclosed by Van der Auwera, and the claim remains rejected.
Claims 107-127 remain rejected since the system disclosed by the applicant is taught by the prior arts.
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 107 and 108 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. A review of the specification of the current application shows no support for the limitation of “wherein the at least one extended angular mode is determined by at least one of the following: neighboring samples, or neighboring pixels” cited in the newly amended claim 107. If applicant believe that the mentioned limitations was disclosed in the specification of the current application, the burden is on the applicant to show the portions of the spec. that disclose this limitation.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 107 -113, 116-121, and 125-127 are rejected are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Van der Auwera (US 2020/0021817 A1).
Regarding claim 107, Van der Auwera discloses: A method of processing video data, comprising:
performing, during a conversion between a current block of a video and a bitstream of the video (see Fig. 11 and paragraph 97), an intra prediction for the current block based on at least one first parameter (see paragraph 57 and 108, angular intra-prediction mode information identifies the intra-prediction direction) determined using intra prediction angles (see paragraph 108, for each given angular intra-prediction mode, the intra-prediction direction can be identified accordingly) used for an intra prediction of a normal angular mode (see paragraph Table 1 and paragraph 57, using normal 35 angular modes or the wide angle intra prediction modes), at least one extended angular mode being used for the current block (see paragraph 57, wide angle inter-prediction modes); wherein the at least one extended angular mode is determined by at least one of the following: neighboring samples, or neighboring pixels (see Fig. 7 and paragraph 159 and 162, wide angle inter-prediction mode of prediction sample 704 of the current block 703 is selected based on reference sample 712 of neighboring block 708); and
performing the conversion based on the intra prediction (see Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 108, Van der Auwera discloses: The method of claim 107, wherein the at least one extended angular mode is determined (see Van der Auwera, Fig. 7) by at least one of the following:
neighboring samples, or neighboring pixels (see Van der Auwera, Fig. 7 and paragraph 159), and/or
wherein the current block is coded using one of the following:
a decoder side intra mode derivation mode, an intra prediction mode, an intra prediction with sub-partitions mode, or an intra prediction with multiple reference lines mode (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 159), and/or
wherein the at least one extended angular mode is determined from a predefined set (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 57), and/or
wherein the predefined set comprises at least one intra prediction mode with wide angle if the current block is non-square (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 6), and the number of intra prediction modes with wide angle used for the predefined set is larger than a preset value (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 6), and/or
wherein the at least one first parameter is indicated at one of the following:
a sequence level, a group of pictures level, a picture level, a slice level, or a tile group level (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 90), and/or
wherein the at least one first parameter is represented as a syntax element being included in one of:
a video parameter set (VPS), a sequence parameter set (SPS), a picture parameter set (PPS), a dependency parameter set (DPS), a decoding capability information (DCI), an adaptation parameter set (APS), a sequence header, a picture header, a sub-picture header, a slice header, or a tile header (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 90, picture parameter set), and/or
wherein the at least one parameter is indicated at one of the following:
a prediction block (PB), a transform block (TB), a coding block (CB), a prediction unit (PU), a transform unit (TU), a coding unit (CU), a virtual pipeline data unit (VPDU), a coding tree unit (CTU), a CTU row, a slice, a tile, or a sub-picture (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 90, CTU), and/or
wherein the conversion is performed based on coded information and the coded information comprises at least one of the following:
a block size (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 160), a color format, a single/dual tree partitioning, a color component (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 75), a slice type, or a picture type (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 76), and/or
wherein performing the conversion comprises:
encoding the current block into the bitstream based on the intra prediction mode and/or decoding the current block from the bitstream based on the intra prediction mode (see Van der Auwera, Fig. 11, Fig. 12, and paragraph 103).
Regarding claim 109, Van der Auwera discloses: The method of claim 108, wherein the at least one extended angular mode comprised in the predefined set is indicated in the bitstream or derived at an encoder or decoder (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 57 and 254), and/or
wherein an extended angular mode of the predefined set is derived from two pre-defined angular modes comprised in an intra prediction mode set predefined for intra prediction, the two pre-defined angular modes being adjacent or non-adjacent to each other (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 125).
Regarding claim 110, Van der Auwera discloses: The method of claim 109, wherein an angle value of the extended angular mode is between angle values of the two pre-defined angular modes (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 57), and/or
wherein an angle precision of the extended angular mode is higher than at least one of angle precisions of the two pre-defined angular modes (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 57 and 175-177), and/or
wherein the angle precision of the extended angular mode is 1/64 or 1/128 (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 57 and 175-177).
Regarding claim 111, Van der Auwera discloses: The method of claim 109, wherein an angle precision of the at least one intra prediction modes with wide angle is higher than a predefined angle precision (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 177).
Regarding claim 112, Van der Auwera discloses: The method claim 111, wherein the at least one first parameter is further determined using a first value and a second value, the product of the first and second values is larger than or equals to 512*32, and/or
wherein the first value is 512 and the second value is 64, or the first value is 1024 and the second value is 32 (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 175-177), and/or
wherein the at least one first parameter is an inverse angular parameter and derived by: inverse angular parameter = function (first value * second value / intra prediction angles), wherein the function is a function of round or a function of ceiling (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 175-177).
Regarding claim 113, Van der Auwera discloses: The method of claim 107, further comprising: determining, based on the extended angular mode, a further intra prediction mode for a further block (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 57), and/or
performing a process on a current block of a video based on a template of the current block (see Van der Auwera, Fig. 5), the process being one of the following:
a refining process,
a process of filtering reference samples (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 109), or
a process of determining a sample locating at a fractional position (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 109).
Regarding claim 116, Van der Auwera discloses: The method of claim 107, further comprising: determining, during a conversion between a current block of a video and a bitstream of the video, whether an extended angular mode is used for the current block (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 57 and Fig. 10);
applying, based on the determining, a coding tool during an intra prediction process during which an intra prediction mode for the current block is determined (see Van der Auwera, Fig. 10); and
performing the conversion based on the intra prediction mode (see Van der Auwera, Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 117, Van der Auwera discloses: The method of claim 116, wherein the coding tool is one of the following: a smooth filter (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 112), a position dependent intra prediction combination (PDPC) filter, a gradient PDPC filter (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 154), or an interpolation filter (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 109), and/or
wherein applying the coding tool comprises: applying at least one interpolation filter with a first precision different from a second precision to generate samples at fractional positions, the second precision being used for a situation where a normal angular mode is used for the current block, and wherein the first precision is higher than the second precision (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 166-167).
Regarding claim 118, Van der Auwera discloses: The method of claim 117, wherein applying the coding tool comprises one of the following:
applying the at least one interpolation filter with the first precision based on color components, or applying the at least one interpolation filter with the first precision to a first color component (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 105-107); and
applying at least one interpolation filter with the second precision to a second color component (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 105-107), and where either the first or second color components is one of the following:
a color component Y, Cb or Cr in a YCbCr format (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 92), or
a color component R, G and B in an RGB format.
Regarding claim 119, Van der Auwera discloses: The method of claim 117, wherein applying the at least one interpolation filter with the first precision comprises: applying the at least one interpolation filter with the first precision if an extended angular mode is used for the current block (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 185-188), and/or
wherein the at least one interpolation filter with the first precision belongs to an interpolation filter set allowed to be used for a situation where an extended angular mode is used for the current block, and wherein different interpolation filters comprised in the interpolation filter set are defined for different extended angular modes (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 188), and/or
wherein the at least one interpolation filter with the first precision is derived at a decoder or included in the bitstream (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 189), and/or
wherein a precision of the interpolation filter equals to 1/T, wherein T is an integer equaling to T= 2k, where K is an integer lager than 6, and/or
wherein an interpolation filter of the at least one interpolation filter is a N-tap filter using N samples to interpolate a sample at a fractional position, wherein N is the number of taps of the interpolation filter (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 188); and wherein the interpolation filter is defined by: f(x) = [a[0]x, a[1]x, a[2]x, ... a[N - 1]x], where, x represents a fractional position, a[i], represents the i-th filter coefficient for the fractional position x, and a[0]x + a[1]x + a[2]x +... + a[N-1]x =T (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 188-189), and/or
wherein the maximum of the fractional position x depends on a precision of intra prediction angle, and/or wherein a value of the fractional position x is larger than 0 and smaller than the precision of intra prediction angle, and/or wherein the precision of intra prediction angle is a number with power of 2 (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 109 and 112), and/or
where the precision of intra prediction angle is one of 32, 64 or 128 (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 108-112).
Regarding claim 120, Van der Auwera discloses: The method of claim 119, wherein values of filter coefficients of the interpolation filter are in a descending order according to values the fractional position x (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 109), and/or
wherein values of filter coefficients of the interpolation filter are in an ascending according to values the fractional position x (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 109), and/or
wherein values of filter coefficients of the interpolation filter are in an ascending if the fractional position x is small than or equals to a value of half of the precision of intra prediction angle; and values of filter coefficients of the interpolation filter are in a descending if the fractional position x is larger than the value of half of the precision of intra prediction angle, and/or where values of filter coefficients of the interpolation filter are in a descending if the fractional position x is small than or equals to a value of half of the precision of intra prediction angle; and values of filter coefficients of the interpolation filter are in an ascending if the fractional position x is larger than the value of half of the precision of intra prediction angle (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 109).
Regarding claim 121, Van der Auwera discloses: The method of claim 113, wherein the current block is coded with one of the following: an intra-coded mode, an inter-coded mode, or a combined inter and intra prediction mode (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 52), and/or
wherein the process is the refining process and performing the process comprises: determining the following for the current block: a first cost, determined by applying the refining process to the template and a second cost, determined by not applying the refining process to the template; and applying the refining process to the current block based on the first and second costs (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 215), and/or
wherein the process is a process of filtering reference samples and performing the process comprises: determining the following for the current block: a third cost, determined by filtering reference samples of the current block during an intra prediction of the template, and a fourth cost, de determined rived by not filtering the reference samples of the current block during the intra prediction of the template; and filtering the reference samples based on the third and fourth costs (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 201), and/or
wherein the process is a process of determining a sample locating at a fractional position and performing the process comprises: determining the following for the current block: a seventh cost, determined by using a first interpolation filter to determine samples located in fractional positions during an intra prediction of the template, and an eighth cost, determined by using a second interpolation filter to determine the samples located in the fractional positions during the intra prediction of the template; and determining the sample locating at the fractional position based on the seventh and eighth costs (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 201).
Regarding claims 125 and 126, claims 125 and 126 are drawn to an apparatus and a computer readable storage medium having limitations similar to the method claimed in claim 1 treated in the above rejections. Therefore, apparatus and CRM claims 125 and 126 correspond to method claim 1 and are rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used above. Please see Fig. 12 and 13, and paragraph 268 for apparatus and non-transitory memory used to implement the method disclosed by Van der Auwera.
Regarding claim 127, Van der Auwera discloses: The method of claim 107, further comprising:
storing the bitstream in a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 66-67).
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.
Claims 114 and 115 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Van der Auwera (US 2020/0021817 A1) in view of Deng (US 2022/0007059 A1).
Regarding claim 114, Van der Auwera discloses: The method of claim 113, wherein the current block and the further block are in the same picture, sub-picture or slice or tile of the video (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 100), and/or
wherein the further block is adjacent or non-adjacent to the current block (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 100 and Fig. 2 and 5), and/or
wherein determining the further intra prediction mode comprises: constructing, based on the extended angular mode (see Van der Auwera, paragraph 57).
Van der Auwera does not disclose: a most probable mode list for the further block of the video; and determining the further intra prediction mode based on the most probable mode list.
However, Deng from the same or similar endeavor discloses: constructing a most probable mode list for the further block of the video (see Deng, paragraph 27); and determining the further intra prediction mode based on the most probable mode list (see Deng, paragraph 27).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to “constructing a most probable mode list for the further block of the video; and determining the further intra prediction mode based on the most probable mode list” as taught by Deng in the video coding method taught by Van der Auwera to reduce the average bitrate of video coding (see Deng, paragraph 354).
Regarding claim 115, the combination of Van der Auwera and Deng discloses: The method of claim 114, wherein constructing the most probable mode list based on the extended angular mode comprises one of the following: including the extended angular mode into the most probable mode list; or excluding the extended angular mode from the most probable mode list (see Deng, paragraph 354), and/or
wherein constructing the most probable mode list based on the extended angular mode comprises: mapping the extended angular mode to a predefined angular mode; and including the mapped predefined angular mode into the most probable mode list, and wherein the predefined angular mode is a normal angular mode nearest to the extended angular mode (see Deng, paragraph 354).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 122-124 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
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 MARYAM A NASRI whose telephone number is (571)270-7158. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00-8:00 M-T.
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, Joseph Ustaris can be reached at 5712727383. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARYAM A NASRI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2483
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