Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/808,959

METHOD FOR DERIVATION OF PICTURE OUTPUT FOR NON-REFERENCED PICTURE IN CODED VIDEO STREAM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Aug 19, 2024
Priority
Mar 31, 2020 — provisional 63/003,112 +2 more
Examiner
LEE, Y YOUNG
Art Unit
2485
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited
OA Round
4 (Non-Final)
48%
Grant Probability
Moderate
4-5
OA Rounds
2y 4m
Est. Remaining
74%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 48% of resolved cases
48%
Career Allowance Rate
202 granted / 420 resolved
-9.9% vs TC avg
Strong +26% interview lift
Without
With
+25.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
4y 4m
Avg Prosecution
18 currently pending
Career history
437
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
8.0%
-32.0% vs TC avg
§103
36.1%
-3.9% vs TC avg
§102
35.2%
-4.8% vs TC avg
§112
9.7%
-30.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 420 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 6/24/26 has been entered. 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. Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by Applicant’s admitted prior art (APA). APA, as specified in Applicant’s Background, clearly discloses the common concept of storing compressed video bitstreams. Claim(s) 1, 3-5, 7, 8, 10-12, 14, 15, and 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Deshpande (2017/0134742) for the same reasons as set forth in Sec. 4 of the parent application 17/087,865, dated 3/18/22. Regarding claims 1, 8, and 15, Deshpande discloses a computer system (and the corresponding method; and non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer program for coding) for coding video data (para [0159]-[0165], [0178], [0179], [0285], [0286], [0395], [0431]), the computer system comprising one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media configured to store computer program code (para [0159]-[0165], [0178], [0179], [0285], [0286], [0395], [0431]); and one or more computer processors configured to access said computer program code and operate as instructed by said computer program code, said computer program code including receiving code configured to cause the one or more computer processors obtaining video data comprising a current picture and one or more other pictures (para [0159]-[0165], [0178], [0179], [0285], [0286], [0395], [0431]); determining a first flag indicating whether the current picture is referenced by the one or more other pictures in an encoding/decoding order (para [0159]-[0165], [0178], [0179], [0285], [0286], [0395], [0431]); determining a second flag indicating to whether the current picture is output (para [0322], [0395], [0603]); and decoding/encoding the video data in accordance with the first flag and the second flag (para [0007], [0397]), a value of the second flag is inferred (e.g. 0) based on a value of the first flag ([0606], [0614], [0655], e.g. alt_output_layer_flag), the first flag and the second flag are signaled in a picture header or a slice header associated with the video data (para [0395], [0604]), and a value of the second flag is inferred based on the value of the first flag not being explicitly signaled (para [0395], [0397], [0411], [0437], [0440]); and transmitting the video bitstream 1014. Regarding claims 3, 10, and 17, Deshpande discloses the current picture is not encoded based on the first flag being set to one (para [0397], [0567]) and the second flag being set to zero (para [0397], [0567]). Regarding claims 4, 11, and 18, Deshpande discloses the first flag corresponds to whether the current picture is referenced for motion compensation or parameter prediction (para [0395], [0397], [0437]). Regarding claims 5, 12, and 19, Deshpande discloses the second flag corresponds to whether the current picture cropped and output for display or other purposes (para [0431], [0434]). Regarding claims 7, and 14, Deshpande discloses the value of the second flag is inferred at the encoder side or at the decoder side (para [0103], [0368]). Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments filed 6/24/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant asserts on p. 7-8 of the Remarks that the reference fails to disclose the second flag is inferred. However, it is submitted that applicant concedes on p. 8 that Deshpande discloses that the value of the second flag may be inferred. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YOUNG LEE whose telephone number is (571)272-7334. The examiner can normally be reached M - F, 11 - 7. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jay Patel can be reached at 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. /Y LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2485
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Show 6 earlier events
Nov 17, 2025
Examiner Interview (Telephonic)
Nov 26, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102
Feb 26, 2026
Response Filed
Mar 25, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §102
May 19, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 24, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Jun 28, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Aug 05, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12707052
IMAGE ENCODING/DECODING METHOD AND DEVICE, AND RECORDING MEDIUM IN WHICH BITSTREAM IS STORED
1y 7m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Patent 12694336
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING PROCESS COMPLIANCE USING ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL MODELS FOR DATA ANALYSIS AND AUTOMATED DECISION-MAKING
2y 11m to grant Granted Jul 28, 2026
Patent 12695879
PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION OF PRE-PROCESSOR USING VIDEO PROXY CODEC
1y 4m to grant Granted Jul 28, 2026
Patent 12684113
DEVICE AND METHOD FOR INTRA PREDICTIONS IN VIDEO CODING
1y 7m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12684172
Method and Apparatus for Sign Coding of Transform Coefficients in Video Coding System
1y 3m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

4-5
Expected OA Rounds
48%
Grant Probability
74%
With Interview (+25.8%)
4y 4m (~2y 4m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 420 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month