CTNF 18/797,916 CTNF 87915 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Status of the Claims Claims 1-20 are currently pending. Priority Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in the Republic of Korea on 08/09/2023, 10/04/2023, 01/15/2024, 05/14/2024, and 08/08/2024. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the KR10-2023-0104425, KR10-2023-0132036, KR10-2024-0006357, KR10-2024-0063445, and KR10-2024-0106405 applications as required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/08/2024 in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-3, 5-6, 8, 10-13, 15-16, 18 and 20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ikonin et al. (US 20230262243 A1, hereinafter Ikonin) in view of Bae et al. (US 20250030856 A1, hereinafter Bae) . Concerning claim 1, Ikonin teaches a method of decoding a features map (¶ 0038 ), the method comprising: decoding a metadata and the feature map ( fig. 10 & ¶0165: parsing a syntax element from the bitstream; fig. 3: S310-S350 & ¶0188: parsing side information and decoding the feature map ); performing inverse conversion on a decoded feature map ( Performing the inverse conversion is implicit in decoding the feature map because decoding is the inverse operation of encoding.; ¶0010: decoding of the feature map or its region is performed ); and restoring features from inverse converted features ( Restoring or reconstructing the features from the inverse converted features is implicit in decoding the feature map because decoding is the inverse operation of encoding.; ¶0010: decoding of the feature map or its region is performed ). Not explicitly taught is wherein a feature distortion compensation is performed on at least one of the decoded feature map, the inverse converted features or restored features. Bae, in the same field of endeavor, teaches reducing distortion in end-to-end-feature compression in coding of multi-dimensional data, wherein a feature distortion compensation is performed on at least one of the decoded feature map, the inverse converted features or restored features ( ¶0144-0156: providing one or more distortion recovery engines that operate on the output of the video decoder ). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to add the features of Bae into the Ikonin invention in order to mitigate distortion. Concerning claim 2, Ikonin, now incorporating the teachings of Bae, further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the metadata comprises position information for the feature distortion compensation ( ¶0238; ¶¶0250-0253 ), and wherein according to the position information for the feature distortion compensation, at least one of the decoded feature map ( ¶0238; ¶¶0250-0253 ), the inverse converted features or the restored features is selected as a target for the feature distortion compensation. Concerning claim 3, Ikonin, now incorporating the teachings of Bae, further teaches wherein the position information represents an index or an identifier indicating one of a plurality of candidate positions ( figs. 16 & 18-19 ). Concerning claim 5, Bae further teaches wherein the feature distortion compensation is performed based on a feature distortion compensation parameter ( ¶0180: distortion reduction engine based on quantization parameter ), and wherein the metadata comprises feature distortion compensation parameter information for deriving the feature distortion compensation parameter ( ¶0180: distortion reduction engine based on quantization parameter ). Concerning claim 6, Ikonin, now incorporating the teachings of Bae, further teaches wherein the feature distortion compensation parameter information is decoded in a unit of a layer or a channel ( ¶0233: the region signaled may be a channel of the feature map ). Bae also teaches wherein the feature distortion compensation parameter information is decoded in a unit of a layer or a channel ( ¶0180: decoded picture corresponds to a channel ). Concerning claim 8, Ikonin, now incorporating the teachings of Bae, wherein the feature distortion compensation parameter comprises a scaling factor, and wherein the scaling factor is derived based on at least one of a maximum value basis scaling factor or a minimum value basis scaling factor ( fig. 19; ¶0230 ). Concerning claim 10, Ikonin, now incorporating the teachings of Bae, wherein the metadata further comprises information on a period during which the feature distortion compensation parameter is maintained ( ¶¶0155-0156: QP for picture type ). Concerning claim 11, claim 11 is the corresponding encoding method to the decoding method of claim 1 and is rejected under the same rationale. It is well-known that encoding and decoding are inverse operations. Ikonin, now incorporating the teachings of Bae, further teaches the inverse encoding operations ( ¶0010; ¶0039: encoding a feature map ). Concerning claim 12, claim 12 is the corresponding encoding method to the decoding method of claim 2 and is rejected under the same rationale. It is well-known that encoding and decoding are inverse operations. Ikonin, now incorporating the teachings of Bae, further teaches the inverse encoding operations ( ¶0010; ¶0039: encoding a feature map ). Concerning claim 13, claim 13 is the corresponding encoding method to the decoding method of claim 3 and is rejected under the same rationale. It is well-known that encoding and decoding are inverse operations. Ikonin, now incorporating the teachings of Bae, further teaches the inverse encoding operations ( ¶0010; ¶0039: encoding a feature map ). Concerning claim 15, claim 15 is the corresponding encoding method to the decoding method of claim 5 and is rejected under the same rationale. It is well-known that encoding and decoding are inverse operations. Ikonin, now incorporating the teachings of Bae, further teaches the inverse encoding operations ( ¶0010; ¶0039: encoding a feature map ). Concerning claim 16, claim 16 is the corresponding encoding method to the decoding method of claim 6 and is rejected under the same rationale. It is well-known that encoding and decoding are inverse operations. Ikonin, now incorporating the teachings of Bae, further teaches the inverse encoding operations ( ¶0010; ¶0039: encoding a feature map ). Concerning claim 18, claim 18 is the corresponding encoding method to the decoding method of claim 8 and is rejected under the same rationale. It is well-known that encoding and decoding are inverse operations. Ikonin, now incorporating the teachings of Bae, further teaches the inverse encoding operations ( ¶0010; ¶0039: encoding a feature map ). Concerning claim 20, claim 20 is the corresponding non-transitory computer-readable medium to the encoding method of claim 11 and is rejected under the same rationale. Ikonin, now incorporating the teachings of Bae, further teaches a non-transitory medium comprising code which when executed on one or more processors performs the steps of any of the methods (¶ 0066 ) . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 4, 7, 9, 14, 17, and 19 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 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES M ANDERSON II whose telephone number is (571)270-1444. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10AM-6PM. 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, BRIAN PENDLETON can be reached at 571-272-7527. 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. /James M Anderson II/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2425 Application/Control Number: 18/797,916 Page 2 Art Unit: 2425 Application/Control Number: 18/797,916 Page 3 Art Unit: 2425 Application/Control Number: 18/797,916 Page 4 Art Unit: 2425 Application/Control Number: 18/797,916 Page 5 Art Unit: 2425 Application/Control Number: 18/797,916 Page 6 Art Unit: 2425 Application/Control Number: 18/797,916 Page 7 Art Unit: 2425 Application/Control Number: 18/797,916 Page 8 Art Unit: 2425
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