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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 04/13/2026 has been entered.
Status of the Application
Claims 1, 3-7, 10, and 13-20 have been cancelled. Claims 2, 8, 9, 11, 12, and 21-35 are currently pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Presented arguments have been fully considered, but are rendered moot in view of new ground(s) of rejection necessitated by amendment(s) initiated by the applicant(s).
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 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.
Claim(s) 2, 21, 26, and 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LI et al. (Hereafter, “Li”) [US 2022/0345692 A1] in view of Panusopone et al. (Hereafter, “Panusopone”) [US 2017/0339404 A1].
In regards to claim 2, Li discloses a method of video decoding ([0018] Aspects of the disclosure provide methods and apparatuses for video encoding/decoding. In some examples, an apparatus for video decoding includes receiving circuitry and processing circuitry.), comprising: for each candidate intra coding mode of a plurality of candidate intra coding modes for a block of a picture ([0114] Template-based intra mode derivation (TIMD) can use reference samples of a current CU as a template and choose a best intra mode among a set of candidate intra prediction modes that is associated with TIMD. [0116] In the disclosure, decoder side template matching based MRL can be applied. [0138] In the process (1200), a second syntax element can further be decoded from the coded information, where the second syntax element can indicate whether the CU is intra predicted based on template based intra mode derivation (TIMID) mode. The TIMD mode can include a set of candidate intra prediction modes.): ([0135] In some embodiments, the template region can further include one or a combination of (i) top samples in a first row above a top side of the CU and (ii) side samples in a first column adjacent to a left side of the CU. The template region can also include one or a combination of (i) top samples in a second row above the first row and (ii) side samples in a second column along the first column.), obtaining a prediction of said template region, based on said candidate intra coding mode and a set of reference samples ([0138] In response to the first syntax element indicating that the CU is predicted based on the template matching based MRL intra prediction mode, and the second syntax element indicating that the CU is intra predicted based on the TIMD mode, the respective prediction samples of the template region can be determined based on (i) the samples positioned in a respective one of the plurality of reference regions, and (ii) a respective candidate intra prediction mode in the set of candidate intra prediction modes.), wherein said set of reference samples is not immediately adjacent to said block, and wherein said prediction of said template region is obtained as if said set of reference samples is immediately adjacent to said block ([0116] Template matching based MRL can use templates to find a reference line (e.g., a best reference line) among candidate reference lines for a current CU/PU, and the reference line can be used for intra prediction of the current CU/PU. [0119] For each candidate reference line, prediction samples of the template can be generated. [0127] The template region can be adjacent to the CU and the plurality of reference regions can be adjacent to the template region.), and determining a respective cost of using said candidate intra coding mode to predict said template region ([0138] The plurality of cost values can be determined. Each of the plurality of cost values can be determined according to a sum of absolute transformed differences between the respective prediction samples of the template region and the reconstructed samples of the template region corresponding to the respective prediction samples.); selecting an intra coding mode from said plurality of candidate intra coding modes based on said respective costs ([0138] A pair of a reference region from the plurality of reference regions and an intra prediction mode from the set of candidate intra prediction modes can be determined, which is associated with a lowest cost value among the plurality of cost values.); predicting samples in said block with intra prediction based on said selected intra coding mode; and decoding said block based on said predicted samples for said block ([0138] The samples of the CU can be reconstructed based on the samples in the determined pair of the reference region and the intra prediction mode.).
Li fails to explicitly disclose selecting a template region, from a set of template regions, adjacent to said block, wherein said candidate intra coding mode determines said selection of said template region.
Panusopone discloses for each candidate intra coding mode of a plurality of candidate intra coding modes for a block of a picture [Fig. 12]: selecting a template region, from a set of template regions, adjacent to said block, wherein said candidate intra coding mode determines said selection of said template region ([0094] At step 1206, the decoder can generate a candidate prediction template 900 from the pixels of the search window 804 using one of the 67 JVET intra prediction modes, as shown in FIG. 15. As described above, JVET intra prediction modes can include a planar mode, a DC mode, and the 65 directional modes shown in FIG. 5. By way of a non-limiting example, FIG. 15 depicts a candidate prediction template 900a being generated with pixel values derived from pixel values of search window 804a associated with reference line 1300a according to a directional intra prediction mode, and a candidate prediction template 900b being generated with pixel values derived from pixel values of search window 804b associated with reference line 1300b according to a directional intra prediction mode. [0096] At step 1210, the decoder can move to a different intra prediction mode and return to steps 1206 and 108 to generate a new candidate prediction template 900 for that intra prediction mode based on the current reference line 1300, and then calculate a matching cost between that candidate prediction template 900 and the CU template 800 associated with the reference line 1300. The decoder can repeat this process until it has reviewed matching costs for candidate prediction templates 900 for some or all of the JVET intra prediction modes, based on the same reference line 1300.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Li with the selection of a candidate prediction template based on the intra prediction mode being processed as taught by Panusopone in order to increase the efficiency of the decoding processing and improve compression by testing candidate templates before choosing the best-fitting intra mode [See Panusopone].
Claim 21 lists all the same elements of claim 2, but in encoding form rather than decoding form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 2 applies equally as well to claim 21.
Claim 26 lists all the same elements of claim 21, but in apparatus form rather than method form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 21 applies equally as well to claim 26.
Claim 31 lists all the same elements of claim 2, but in apparatus form rather than method form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 2 applies equally as well to claim 31.
Claim(s) 8, 9, 11, 12, 22-25, 27-30, and 32-35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Panusopone in further view of MOON et al. (Hereafter, “Moon”) [US 2019/0379891 A1].
In regards to claim 8, the limitations of claim 2 have been addressed. Li discloses wherein said template region only includes reconstructed samples above said block ([0132] In some embodiments, the template region can further include one or a combination of (i) top samples in a row above a top side of the CU and (ii) side samples in a column adjacent to a left side of the CU.)
Moon discloses wherein said template region only includes reconstructed samples above said block responsive to that said candidate intra coding mode is a vertical mode that belongs to a pre-determined set of vertical modes or that only uses above reference samples for intra prediction ([0199] Next, only the angular modes on the right side of Mode 18 are used to obtain SADs for the template B 2003. Among the values of the SADs calculated for the respective modes on the right side of Mode 18, a mode with which the least SDA value is calculated is determined as the intra prediction mode of the template B 2003. [Fig. 2] angular modes on the right side of Mode 18 are vertical modes).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Li with the use of template B (top region) when the intra prediction mode is on the right side of Mode 18 (vertical) as taught by Moon in order to improve intra picture prediction efficiency in an image encoding or decoding process by deriving an intra prediction mode used to encode or decode an image by using an already reconstructed pixel region [See Moon].
In regards to claim 9, the limitations of claim 2 have been addressed. Li discloses wherein said template region only includes reconstructed samples above said block ([0132] In some embodiments, the template region can further include one or a combination of (i) top samples in a row above a top side of the CU and (ii) side samples in a column adjacent to a left side of the CU.)
Moon discloses wherein said template region only includes reconstructed samples above said block responsive to that said candidate intra coding mode corresponds to an MPM candidate from a top block ([0247] In the case of the upper-side block 3707, since the intra prediction mode of the upper-side block 3707 is the same as the intra prediction mode derived from the template B 3709, the same intra prediction mode is used as the MPM candidate. [0248] As an alternative, the MPM candidates can be set by using four modes including the intra prediction mode of the left-side block 3703, the intra prediction mode derived from the template A 3705, the intra prediction mode of the upper-side block 3707, and the intra prediction mode derived from the template B 3709.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Li with the intra prediction mode of the upper block is the same as the MPM candidate and using the template of the upper block as taught by Moon in order to improve the compression efficiency of an image and the image quality of a reproduced image by using a more effective intra prediction technique [See Moon, 0028.
In regards to claim 11, the limitations of claim 2 have been addressed. Li discloses wherein said template region only includes reconstructed samples to the left of said block ([0132] In some embodiments, the template region can further include one or a combination of (i) top samples in a row above a top side of the CU and (ii) side samples in a column adjacent to a left side of the CU.)
Moon discloses wherein said template region only includes reconstructed samples to the left of said block responsive to that said candidate mode is a horizontal mode that belongs to a pre-determined set of horizontal modes or that only uses left reference samples for intra prediction ([0198] For example, referring to FIG. 2, only the angular modes on the left side of Mode 18 are used to obtain SADs for the template A 2004. [Fig. 2] angular modes on the left side of Mode 18 are horizontal modes).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Li with the use of template A (left region) when the intra prediction mode is on the left side of Mode 18 (horizontal) as taught by Moon in order to improve intra picture prediction efficiency in an image encoding or decoding process by deriving an intra prediction mode used to encode or decode an image by using an already reconstructed pixel region [See Moon].
In regards to claim 12, the limitations of claim 2 have been addressed. Li discloses wherein said template region only includes reconstructed samples to the left of said block ([0132] In some embodiments, the template region can further include one or a combination of (i) top samples in a row above a top side of the CU and (ii) side samples in a column adjacent to a left side of the CU.)
Moon discloses wherein said template region only includes reconstructed samples to the left of said block responsive to that said candidate mode corresponds to an MPM candidate from a left block ([0198] For example, referring to FIG. 2, only the angular modes on the left side of Mode 18 are used to obtain SADs for the template A 2004. [Fig. 2] angular modes on the left side of Mode 18 are horizontal modes).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Li with the use of template A (left region) when the intra prediction mode is on the left side of Mode 18 (horizontal) as taught by Moon in order to improve intra picture prediction efficiency in an image encoding or decoding process by deriving an intra prediction mode used to encode or decode an image by using an already reconstructed pixel region [See Moon].
Claim 22 lists all the same elements of claim 8, but in encoding form rather than decoding form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 8 applies equally as well to claim 22.
Claim 23 lists all the same elements of claim 9, but in encoding form rather than decoding form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 9 applies equally as well to claim 23.
Claim 24 lists all the same elements of claim 11, but in encoding form rather than decoding form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 11 applies equally as well to claim 24.
Claim 25 lists all the same elements of claim 12, but in encoding form rather than decoding form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 12 applies equally as well to claim 25.
Claim 27 lists all the same elements of claim 22, but in apparatus form rather than method form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 22 applies equally as well to claim 27.
Claim 28 lists all the same elements of claim 23, but in apparatus form rather than method form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 23 applies equally as well to claim 28.
Claim 29 lists all the same elements of claim 24, but in apparatus form rather than method form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 24 applies equally as well to claim 29.
Claim 30 lists all the same elements of claim 25, but in apparatus form rather than method form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 25 applies equally as well to claim 30.
Claim 32 lists all the same elements of claim 8, but in apparatus form rather than method form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 8 applies equally as well to claim 32.
Claim 33 lists all the same elements of claim 9, but in apparatus form rather than method form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 9 applies equally as well to claim 33.
Claim 34 lists all the same elements of claim 11, but in apparatus form rather than method form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 11 applies equally as well to claim 34.
Claim 35 lists all the same elements of claim 12, but in apparatus form rather than method form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 12 applies equally as well to claim 35.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kaitlin A Retallick whose telephone number is (571)270-3841. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chris Kelley can be reached at (571) 272-7331. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KAITLIN A RETALLICK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2482
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