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 .
Applicant’s preliminary amendment filed on March 28, 2024 has been entered and made of record.
Claim Interpretation
Claims 1-14 and 16 are not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because they are all method claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 –
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 11-14 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1 and 2) as being anticipated by Li et al. (U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2020/0011733 A1, Art of record IDS filed on 10/3/2025, referred as Li hereinafter).
Regarding claim 1 as a representative claim, Li teaches an image decoding method, the method comprising:
acquiring a first flag indicating whether a symmetric motion vector difference is used for a current block (in view of BRI and applicant’s spec, para. [0255], see paras. [0141] & [0145] (MVD flag, current block); para. [0155] (opposite directions); para. [0105] and figure 10 (directions such as +Y, -Y, +X, -X; UMVE as described in para. [0102]); and para. [0168] (S1410, prediction information)).
acquiring a control point vector difference of the current block based on the first flag (see S1420 of figure 14 and paras. [0153] and [0169]);
deriving a control point vector of the current block based on the control point vector difference (see para. [0154] and equation 5; S1430 of figure 14 and para. [0170]);
deriving a motion vector of the current block based on the control point vector (see S1450 of figure 4 and para. [0172]); and
generating a prediction sample of the current block by using the motion vector (see S1450 of figure 4 and para. [0172]).
Regarding claim 2, Li further teaches wherein:
the control point vector includes at least two of a first control point vector showing a motion vector of a first control point corresponding to a top-left comer position of the current block, a second control point vector showing a motion vector of a second control point corresponding to a top-right comer position of the current block, a third control point vector showing a motion vector of a third control point corresponding to a bottom-left comer position of the current block or a fourth control point vector showing a motion vector of a fourth control point corresponding to a bottom-right comer position of the current block (see fig. 12 (6 parameter affine mode); figure 13 (CP0 and CP1)).
Regarding claim 3, Li further teaches wherein:
when the first flag indicates that the symmetric motion vector difference is used, the control point vector difference is acquired by deriving a control point vector difference in a first direction based on a control point vector difference in a second direction (see para. [0155] (offset mirroring)).
Regarding claim 4, Li further teaches wherein:
the control point vector difference in the first direction is derived as a value whose size is a same as and sign is opposite to the control point vector difference in the second direction (see para. [0155] (offset mirroring)).
Regarding claim 5, Li further teaches: acquiring an index indicating an affine parameter type used for the current block among a plurality of affine parameter types (see para. [0011] (index), wherein the plurality of affine parameter types include at least one of a 4-parameter type, a 6-parameter type or a 8-parameter type (see para. [0012] (four parameter affine model; six parameter affine model)).
Regarding claim 11, Li further teaches:
acquiring a second flag indicating a control point set that the symmetric motion vector difference is used among a plurality of control point sets when the first flag indicates that the symmetric motion vector difference is used (see para. [0148]).
Regarding claim 12, Li further teaches wherein:
the plurality of control point sets include a first control point set and a second control point set (see para. [0141] (N control points and N-1 control points); para. [0148] (first CP and second CP); ,
the first control point set includes a first control point corresponding to a top-left corner position of the current block and a second control point corresponding to a top-right corner position of the current block (see fig. 13 (CP0 and CP1),
the second control point set includes the first control point and a third control point corresponding to a bottom-left corner position of the current block (see fig. 12 (in 6-parameter affine mode, there are 3 corners; so the second control set includes the two corners of the left side of the current block).
Regarding claim 13, Li further teaches: acquiring a third flag indicating whether a symmetric motion vector difference for affine prediction is activated, wherein the third flag is signaled through at least one of a sequence parameter set (SPS), a picture parameter set (PPS), a picture header (PH) or a slice header (SH) (see para. [0129]).
Regarding claim 14, the advances statements as applied to claim 1 above are incorporated hereinafter. Li further teaches an encoder (see para. [0129]; fig. 4 and para. [0039] (encoder 410); fig. 5 and para. [0054] (encoder 503); and fig. 6 and para. [0077] (encoder 603)).
Regarding claim 16, the advanced statements as applied to claim 1 above are incorporated hereinafter. Li further teaches a transmitter for transmitting a bitstream from encoder to a decoder (see fig. 5 (transmitter 540)).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-10 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 6, the cited prior art does not teach or suggest claim limitations “wherein: the 8-parameter type is indicated by the index only when the first flag indicates that the symmetric motion vector difference is used”.
Regarding claim 7, the cited prior art does not teach or suggest claim limitations “wherein: the fourth control point vector is derived based on a control point vector difference of the first control point and a control point vector difference of the fourth control point”.
Regarding claim 8, the cited prior art does not teach or suggest claim limitations “wherein: the fourth control point vector is derived based on a control point vector difference of the first control point, a control point vector difference of the second control point and a control point vector difference of the fourth control point”.
Regarding claim 9, the cited prior art does not teach or suggest claim limitations “wherein: the fourth control point vector is derived based on a control point vector difference of the first control point, a control point vector difference of the third control point and a control point vector difference of the fourth control point”.
Regarding claim 10, the cited prior art does not teach or suggest claim limitations “wherein: the fourth control point vector is derived by using any one of a control point vector difference of the first control point and a control point vector difference of the second control point”.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lee (U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2019/0141333 Al) teaches an image encoder and decoder (see figures 1-2) comprising obtaining MVD (para. [0067]) and flag (para. [0137]).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUY M DANG whose telephone number is (571)272-7389. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday from 7:00AM to 3:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amandeep Saini can be reached at 571-272-3382. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DMD
1/2026
/DUY M DANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2662