DETAILED ACTION
Applicant’s Amendment filed on July 14, 2026 has been reviewed.
Claims 2-18 are cancelled in the previous amendment.
Claims 1 are amended in the amendment.
Claims 1 and 19-37 have been examined.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 July 14, 2026 has been entered.
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 1, 19-21, 23-33 and 35-37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Andrysco et al. (US 2014/0198838 A1), hereinafter referred to as Andrysco, in view of Liu et al. (US 2020/0404330 A1), hereinafter referred to as Liu, and further in view of Kim et al. (US 2019/0320007 A1), hereinafter referred to as Kim.
With respect to claim 1, Andrysco teaches A computer- implemented method comprising:
separating, by one or more streaming video servers (an apparatus 102 acts as a source or sender of streaming video content and includes a selective encoding component 110, para. 0030), a frame of streaming video content into a plurality of sub-regions (the selective encoding component include a classifier component that is configured to identify or recognize portions of a video frame as to the content contained in those portions, and classify different portions of a video frame based upon the identification; portions identified and/or classified as to whether those portions present background or foreground of an image, or other region of interest, para. 0036; also see para. 0023, 0031, 0041, 0042 and 0048), including one or more first sub-regionssecond sub-regions (a user is presented with a video image that selectively preserves image quality of portions of the image that have more information or are of more interest to the user as compared to other portions of less interest that are presented with lower quality, para. 0028; the decoded video frame 914 includes a lower quality background region, decoded background region 808 together with higher quality regions representing foreground, the decoded regions 804, 806 allowing a viewer to appreciate the decoded video frame 814 that includes higher quality regions corresponding to objects that may be of more interest to the viewer than other regions, para. 0054; the classification as to what portion of a video frame constitutes a primary object region based upon user interaction with the video being streamed, the object classifier 504 receive signals indicating user activity, such as real time user activity of a user employing a device that receives video from the selective encoding component, regions of a video frame that lie in the periphery of a user's field of view classified as background regions, para. 0041);
processing, by the one or more streaming video servers, the one or more first sub-regions of the frame of streaming video and the one or more second sub-regions of the frame of streaming video (portions of the selectively encoded video stream representing primary object regions may receive encoding at a better level that maintains the quality of pixels in a video frame associated with the object at a level higher than in other regions of the video frame; the latter regions are encoded to generate a lower quality in pixels that display these regions so that the data rate for generating these latter regions is lowered; "primary object region" used to refer to multiple separate regions of a video frame that ; and
transmitting, by the one or more streaming video servers, the one or more first sub-regions and the one or more second sub-regions of the frame of streaming video to [[a]] the client device (the image portions encoded and transmitted as separate sub-frames, para. 0038; streamed from a sending device such as the apparatus 102 to one or more receiving devices, para. 0043; encoded regions received by a decoder of a receiving device, para. 0054).
Andrysco does not explicitly teach one or more first sub-regions that the one or more streaming video servers have determined are capable of being predicted at a client device based on a series of prior frames of the streaming video content second sub-regions that the one or more streaming video servers have determined are not capable of being predicted at the client device
However, Liu teaches one or more first sub-regions that the one or more streaming video servers have determined are capable of being predicted at a client device based on a series of prior frames of the streaming video content (the video stream are divided into consecutive frame groups, wherein a first frame in a current frame group is set to be a long-term reference frame that uses a first frame in a previous frame group as a reference during generation of the current frame group; and the long-term reference frame is a predictive coded frame for transmitting a difference value and a motion vector obtained by performing a comparison against the first frame in the previous frame group, para. 0076) second sub-regions that the one or more streaming video servers have determined are not capable of being predicted at the client device (the video stream are divided into consecutive frame groups, wherein a first frame in a current frame group is set to be a long-term reference frame that uses a first frame in a previous frame group as a reference during generation of the current frame group; and the long-term reference frame is a predictive coded frame for transmitting a difference value and a motion vector obtained by performing a comparison against the first frame in the previous frame group, para. 0076) in order to as taught by in order to ensure smooth and real-time playback of the video as taught by Liu (para. 0172)
Therefore, based on Andrysco in view of Liu, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Liu to the method of Andrysco in order to ensure smooth and real-time playback of the video as taught by Liu (para. 0172).
Andrysco in view of Liu does not explicitly teach the one or more first sub-regions of the frame of streaming video that are capable of being predicted at the client device with a first codec and the one or more second sub-regions of the frame of streaming video that are not capable of being predicted at the client device with a second codec, the first codec different from the second codec
However, Kim teaches the one or more first sub-regions of the frame of streaming video that are capable of being predicted at the client device with a first codec (the server 310 divide a predetermined frame of the content into a plurality of regions and encode the divided regions with different quality for adaptive streaming in accordance with a flexible streaming environment; the server 310 encode the divided regions into a plurality of different qualities by adjusting factors such as a bit rate, a sampling frequency, a resolution, or a frame rate, the server 310 encode each divided region at various resolutions such as high quality (e.g., 16 Mbps), medium quality (e.g., 12 Mbps), low quality (e.g., 4 Mbps), etc., thereby generating at least one segment for each region, para. 0062)and the one or more second sub-regions of the frame of streaming video that are not capable of being predicted at the client device with a second codec, the first codec different from the second codec (the server 310 divide a predetermined frame of the content into a plurality of regions and encode the divided regions with different quality for adaptive streaming in accordance with a flexible streaming environment; the server 310 encode the divided regions into a plurality of different qualities by adjusting factors such as a bit rate, a sampling frequency, a resolution, or a frame rate, the server 310 encode each divided region at various resolutions such as high quality (e.g., 16 Mbps), medium quality (e.g., 12 Mbps), low quality (e.g., 4 Mbps), etc., thereby generating at least one segment for each region, para. 0062) in order to improve the streaming environment as taught by Kim (para. 0090)
Therefore, based on Andrysco in view of Liu, and further in view of Kim, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Kim to the method of Andrysco in view of Liu in order to improve the streaming environment as taught by Kim (para. 0090).
With respect to claim 19, Andrysco teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more second sub- regions (a user is presented with a video image that selectively preserves image quality of portions of the image that have more information or are of more interest to the user as compared to other portions of less interest that are presented with lower quality, para. 0028; the decoded video frame 914 includes a lower quality background region, decoded background region 808 together with higher quality regions representing foreground, the decoded regions 804, 806 allowing a viewer to appreciate the decoded video frame 814 that includes higher quality regions corresponding to objects that may be of more interest to the viewer than other regions, para. 0054).
With respect to claim 20, Andrysco teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more first sub- regions the one or more streaming video servers have determined are capable of being predicted at client device based on the series of prior frames of the streaming video content (a user is presented with a video image that selectively preserves image quality of portions of the image that have more information or are of more interest to the user as compared to other portions of less interest that are presented with lower quality, para. 0028; the decoded video frame 914 includes a lower quality background region, decoded background region 808 together with higher quality regions representing foreground, the decoded regions 804, 806 allowing a viewer to appreciate the decoded video frame 814 that includes higher quality regions corresponding to objects that may be of more interest to the viewer than other regions, para. 0054).
With respect to claim 21, Andrysco teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the processing
encoding the one or more first sub-regions of the frame of streaming video (primary object region encoded with lossless compression while a background region is encoded with lossy compression, the color space of a background region subject to lossy compression reduced to reflect only the most commonly used colors of a video image, while the color space of a primary object region is not reduced during compression, para. 0024, also see para. 0037); and
encoding the one or more sub-regions of the frame of streaming video (the background region sent for encoding in a manner that compresses the background region so that less data per pixel is required to transmit the background image as compared to the encoding of the regions that result in a lower image quality of background region when transmitted and decoded, para. 0051).
With respect to claim 23, Andrysco teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein separating the frame of streaming video content into a plurality of sub-regions comprises receiving the streaming video content from a game engine (the content communicated unidirectionally and/or bidirectionally to and from a content provider include gaming information, para. 0091).
With respect to claim 24, Andrysco teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
assigning a first priority to the one or more first sub-regions of the frame of streaming video (encoding different portions of a video frame with different quality, portions of a video frame classified as primary object regions assigned a higher priority for transmission to a receiving device; this prioritization of selected portions of a video frame for transmission according to the quality of encoding provides an additional advantage of preserving video quality under circumstances in which video is imperfectly streamed to a receiving device, para. 0067); and
assigning a second priority to the one or more second sub-regions of the frame of streaming video (during transmission of an encoded video frame if data packets containing the selectively encoded primary object regions are transmitted before data packets containing background regions, para. 0067),
wherein the first priority is greater than the second priority (providing selective encoding in which different portions of a video frame are prioritized so that encoding of the different portions generates a quality of portions given a higher priority that is higher than other portions; a user is presented with a video image that selectively preserves image quality of portions of the image that have more information or are of more interest to the user as compared to other portions of less interest that are presented with lower quality, para. 0028).
With respect to claim 25, Andrysco teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 24, further comprising:
monitoring a bandwidth over a network connection between the one or more video streaming servers and the client device (selective encoding during video streaming may be triggered based upon a determination that available bandwidth is insufficient, para. 0023; the selective encoding component 110 configured to perform selective encoding when bandwidth is below a bandwidth threshold, para. 0032);
comparing the monitored bandwidth to a threshold value (the selective encoding component 110 configured to perform selective encoding when bandwidth is below a bandwidth threshold, para. 0032);
determining that the monitored bandwidth does not satisfy the threshold value (the selective encoding component 110 configured to perform selective encoding when bandwidth is below a bandwidth threshold, para. 0032; also see para. 0106; 0117); and
in response to determining the monitored bandwidth does not satisfy the threshold value, processing the one or more sub-regions assigned the first priority prior to processing the one or more sub-regions assigned the second priority (the primary object regions constitute a portion of a video frame that corresponds to a set of pixels that show one or more objects or regions of interest within a scene produced by the video frame when presented on a display, selective encoding of portions of streamed video elected to simply reduce data rate for transmitting video content, even if bandwidth is available to stream all portions of a video frame at a data rate consistent with high image quality, selective encoding during video streaming may be triggered based upon a determination that available bandwidth is insufficient, para. 0023; also para. 0027; reduced bandwidth conditions trigger the encoded video stream 306 to be streamed with reduced quality in background portions of each video frame while a higher quality is preserved in primary object regions within the video frame, para. 0034).
With respect to claim 26, Andrysco teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 25, further comprising transmitting the one or more first sub-regions assigned the first priority prior to transmitting the one or more second sub- regions assigned the second priority (during transmission of an encoded video frame if data packets containing the selectively encoded primary object regions are transmitted before data packets containing background regions, the primary object regions also be decoded first by a decoder of a receiving device, para. 0067; during transmission of an encoded video frame if data packets containing the selectively encoded primary object regions are transmitted before data packets containing background regions, the primary object regions also be decoded first by a decoder of a receiving device, para. 0067).
With respect to claim 27, Andrysco teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein transmitting, by the one or more streaming video servers, the one or more first sub-regions and the one or more second sub-regions of the frame of streaming video to the client device comprises transmitting, by the one or more streaming video servers, the one or more first sub-regions and the one or more second of the frame of streaming video encoded with a respective codec to the client device (video is streamed between a source and a destination or receiver with the aid of components including codecs that encode and decode digital data that carries the video content, para. 0027; each region encoded separately; this encoding performed by employing any suitable codec for the application used to stream the video frame; since the regions determined to be primary object regions, their encoding is performed in a manner to preserve higher quality of the regions when decoded after transmission, para. 0048).
With respect to claim 28, Andrysco teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, to the client device, data indicating how the client device is to process the one or more first sub-regions and the one or more second of the frame of streaming video (a signal sent to the device; the signal indicate the user selected region of pixels of a video frame of the video that the user of device wishes to receive at higher quality; this is peer to peer video streaming in which the video contains the face of user of device and the video contains the face of the user of device, each of which initially deemed as foreground objects for selective encoding at higher image quality, para. 0062).
With respect to claim 29, Andrysco teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 28, wherein the data indicating how the client device is to process the one or more first sub-regions and the one or more second of the frame of streaming video comprises a compressed version of a map that represents how the differently processed sub-regions of the frame of streaming video fit together (a signal sent to the device; the signal indicate the user selected region of pixels of a video frame of the video that the user of device wishes to receive at higher quality; this is peer to peer video streaming in which the video contains the face of user of device and the video contains the face of the user of device, each of which initially deemed as foreground objects for selective encoding at higher image quality, para. 0062).
With respect to claim 30, Andrysco teaches A system comprising:
one or more computers and one or more storage devices on which are stored instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations (computer-readable storage medium includes instructions that, when executed, para. 0116) comprising:
separating, by one or more streaming video servers (an apparatus 102 acts as a source or sender of streaming video content and includes a selective encoding component 110, para. 0030), a frame of streaming video content into a plurality of sub-regions (the selective encoding component include a classifier component that is configured to identify or recognize portions of a video frame as to the content contained in those portions, and classify different portions of a video frame based upon the identification; portions identified and/or classified as to whether those portions present background or foreground of an image, or other region of interest, para. 0036; also see para. 0023, 0031, 0041, 0042 and 0048), including one or more first sub-regionssecond sub-regions (a user is presented with a video image that selectively preserves image quality of portions of the image that have more information or are of more interest to the user as compared to other portions of less interest that are presented with lower quality, para. 0028; the decoded video frame 914 includes a lower quality background region, decoded background region 808 together with higher quality regions representing foreground, the decoded regions 804, 806 allowing a viewer to appreciate the decoded video frame 814 that includes higher quality regions corresponding to objects that may be of more interest to the viewer than other regions, para. 0054; the classification as to what portion of a video frame constitutes a primary object region based upon user interaction with the video being streamed, the object classifier 504 receive signals indicating user activity, such as real time user activity of a user employing a device that receives video from the selective encoding component, regions of a video frame that lie in the periphery of a user's field of view classified as background regions, para. 0041);
processing, by the one or more streaming video servers, the one or more first sub-regions of the frame of streaming video and the one or more second sub-regions of the frame of streaming video (portions of the selectively encoded video stream representing primary object regions may receive encoding at a better level that maintains the quality of pixels in a video frame associated with the object at a level higher than in other regions of the video frame; the latter regions are encoded to generate a lower quality in pixels that display these regions so that the data rate for generating these latter regions is lowered; "primary object region" used to refer to multiple separate regions of a video frame that ; and
transmitting, by the one or more streaming video servers, the one or more first sub-regions and the one or more second sub-regions of the frame of streaming video to [[a]] the client device (the image portions encoded and transmitted as separate sub-frames, para. 0038; streamed from a sending device such as the apparatus 102 to one or more receiving devices, para. 0043; encoded regions received by a decoder of a receiving device, para. 0054).
Andrysco does not explicitly teach one or more first sub-regions that the one or more streaming video servers have determined are capable of being predicted at a client device based on a series of prior frames of the streaming video content second sub-regions that the one or more streaming video servers have determined are not capable of being predicted at the client device
However, Liu teaches one or more first sub-regions that the one or more streaming video servers have determined are capable of being predicted at a client device based on a series of prior frames of the streaming video content (the video stream are divided into consecutive frame groups, wherein a first frame in a current frame group is set to be a long-term reference frame that uses a first frame in a previous frame group as a reference during generation of the current frame group; and the long-term reference frame is a predictive coded frame for transmitting a difference value and a motion vector obtained by performing a comparison against the first frame in the previous frame group, para. 0076) second sub-regions that the one or more streaming video servers have determined are not capable of being predicted at the client device (the video stream are divided into consecutive frame groups, wherein a first frame in a current frame group is set to be a long-term reference frame that uses a first frame in a previous frame group as a reference during generation of the current frame group; and the long-term reference frame is a predictive coded frame for transmitting a difference value and a motion vector obtained by performing a comparison against the first frame in the previous frame group, para. 0076) in order to as taught by in order to ensure smooth and real-time playback of the video as taught by Liu (para. 0172)
Therefore, based on Andrysco in view of Liu, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Liu to the system of Andrysco in order to ensure smooth and real-time playback of the video as taught by Liu (para. 0172).
Andrysco in view of Liu does not explicitly teach the one or more first sub-regions of the frame of streaming video that are capable of being predicted at the client device with a first codec and the one or more second sub-regions of the frame of streaming video that are not capable of being predicted at the client device with a second codec, the first codec different from the second codec
However, Kim teaches the one or more first sub-regions of the frame of streaming video that are capable of being predicted at the client device with a first codec (the server 310 divide a predetermined frame of the content into a plurality of regions and encode the divided regions with different quality for adaptive streaming in accordance with a flexible streaming environment; the server 310 encode the divided regions into a plurality of different qualities by adjusting factors such as a bit rate, a sampling frequency, a resolution, or a frame rate, the server 310 encode each divided region at various resolutions such as high quality (e.g., 16 Mbps), medium quality (e.g., 12 Mbps), low quality (e.g., 4 Mbps), etc., thereby generating at least one segment for each region, para. 0062)and the one or more second sub-regions of the frame of streaming video that are not capable of being predicted at the client device with a second codec, the first codec different from the second codec (the server 310 divide a predetermined frame of the content into a plurality of regions and encode the divided regions with different quality for adaptive streaming in accordance with a flexible streaming environment; the server 310 encode the divided regions into a plurality of different qualities by adjusting factors such as a bit rate, a sampling frequency, a resolution, or a frame rate, the server 310 encode each divided region at various resolutions such as high quality (e.g., 16 Mbps), medium quality (e.g., 12 Mbps), low quality (e.g., 4 Mbps), etc., thereby generating at least one segment for each region, para. 0062) in order to improve the streaming environment as taught by Kim (para. 0090)
Therefore, based on Andrysco in view of Liu, and further in view of Kim, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Kim to the system of Andrysco in view of Liu in order to improve the streaming environment as taught by Kim (para. 0090).
With respect to claim 31, Andrysco teaches The system of claim 30, wherein the one or more second sub-regions (a user is presented with a video image that selectively preserves image quality of portions of the image that have more information or are of more interest to the user as compared to other portions of less interest that are presented with lower quality, para. 0028; the decoded video frame 914 includes a lower quality background region, decoded background region 808 together with higher quality regions representing foreground, the decoded regions 804, 806 allowing a viewer to appreciate the decoded video frame 814 that includes higher quality regions corresponding to objects that may be of more interest to the viewer than other regions, para. 0054).
With respect to claim 32, Andrysco teaches The system of claim 30, wherein the one or more first sub-regions that the one or more streaming video servers have determined are capable of being predicted at client device based on the series of prior frames of the streaming video content (a user is presented with a video image that selectively preserves image quality of portions of the image that have more information or are of more interest to the user as compared to other portions of less interest that are presented with lower quality, para. 0028; the decoded video frame 914 includes a lower quality background region, decoded background region 808 together with higher quality regions representing foreground, the decoded regions 804, 806 allowing a viewer to appreciate the decoded video frame 814 that includes higher quality regions corresponding to objects that may be of more interest to the viewer than other regions, para. 0054).
With respect to claim 33, Andrysco teaches The system of claim 30, wherein the processing
encoding the one or more first sub-regions of the frame of streaming video (primary object region encoded with lossless compression while a background region is encoded with lossy compression, the color space of a background region subject to lossy compression reduced to reflect only the most commonly used colors of a video image, while the color space of a primary object region is not reduced during compression, para. 0024, also see para. 0037); and
encoding the one or more sub-regions of the frame of streaming video (the background region sent for encoding in a manner that compresses the background region so that less data per pixel is required to transmit the background image as compared to the encoding of the regions that result in a lower image quality of background region when transmitted and decoded, para. 0051).
With respect to claim 35, Andrysco teaches The system of claim 30, wherein separating the frame of streaming video content into a plurality of sub-regions comprises receiving the streaming video content from a game engine (the content communicated unidirectionally and/or bidirectionally to and from a content provider include gaming information, para. 0091).
With respect to claim 36, Andrysco teaches The system of claim 30, further comprising:
assigning a first priority to the one or more first sub-regions of the frame of streaming video (encoding different portions of a video frame with different quality, portions of a video frame classified as primary object regions assigned a higher priority for transmission to a receiving device; this prioritization of selected portions of a video frame for transmission according to the quality of encoding provides an additional advantage of preserving video quality under circumstances in which video is imperfectly streamed to a receiving device, para. 0067); and
assigning a second priority to the one or more second sub-regions of the frame of streaming video (during transmission of an encoded video frame if data packets containing the selectively encoded primary object regions are transmitted before data packets containing background regions, para. 0067),
wherein the first priority is greater than the second priority (providing selective encoding in which different portions of a video frame are prioritized so that encoding of the different portions generates a quality of portions given a higher priority that is higher than other portions; a user is presented with a video image that selectively preserves image quality of portions of the image that have more information or are of more interest to the user as compared to other portions of less interest that are presented with lower quality, para. 0028).
With respect to claim 37, Andrysco teaches One or more non-transitory computer storage media encoded with computer program instructions that when executed by one or more computers cause the one or more computers to perform operations (computer-readable storage medium includes instructions that, when executed, para. 0116) comprising:
separating, by one or more streaming video servers (an apparatus 102 acts as a source or sender of streaming video content and includes a selective encoding component 110, para. 0030), a frame of streaming video content into a plurality of sub-regions (the selective encoding component include a classifier component that is configured to identify or recognize portions of a video frame as to the content contained in those portions, and classify different portions of a video frame based upon the identification; portions identified and/or classified as to whether those portions present background or foreground of an image, or other region of interest, para. 0036; also see para. 0023, 0031, 0041, 0042 and 0048), including one or more first sub-regionsand one or more second sub-regions (a user is presented with a video image that selectively preserves image quality of portions of the image that have more information or are of more interest to the user as compared to other portions of less interest that are presented with lower quality, para. 0028; the decoded video frame 914 includes a lower quality background region, decoded background region 808 together with higher quality regions representing foreground, the decoded regions 804, 806 allowing a viewer to appreciate the decoded video frame 814 that includes higher quality regions corresponding to objects that may be of more interest to the viewer than other regions, para. 0054; the classification as to what portion of a video frame constitutes a primary object region based upon user interaction with the video being streamed, the object classifier 504 receive signals indicating user activity, such as real time user activity of a user employing a device that receives video from the selective encoding component, regions of a video frame that lie in the periphery of a user's field of view classified as background regions, para. 0041);
processing, by the one or more streaming video servers, the one or more first sub-regions of the frame of streaming video and the one or more second sub-regions of the frame of streaming video (portions of the selectively encoded video stream representing primary object regions may receive encoding at a better level that maintains the quality of pixels in a video frame associated with the object at a level higher than in other regions of the video frame; the latter regions are encoded to generate a lower quality in pixels that display these regions so that the data rate for generating these latter regions is lowered; "primary object region" used to refer to multiple separate regions of a video frame that ; and
transmitting, by the one or more streaming video servers, the one or more first sub-regions and the one or more second sub-regions of the frame of streaming video to [[a]] the client device (the image portions encoded and transmitted as separate sub-frames, para. 0038; streamed from a sending device such as the apparatus 102 to one or more receiving devices, para. 0043; encoded regions received by a decoder of a receiving device, para. 0054).
Andrysco does not explicitly teach one or more first sub-regions that the one or more streaming video servers have determined are capable of being predicted at a client device based on a series of prior frames of the streaming video content second sub-regions that the one or more streaming video servers have determined are not capable of being predicted at the client device
However, Liu teaches one or more first sub-regions that the one or more streaming video servers have determined are capable of being predicted at a client device based on a series of prior frames of the streaming video content (the video stream are divided into consecutive frame groups, wherein a first frame in a current frame group is set to be a long-term reference frame that uses a first frame in a previous frame group as a reference during generation of the current frame group; and the long-term reference frame is a predictive coded frame for transmitting a difference value and a motion vector obtained by performing a comparison against the first frame in the previous frame group, para. 0076) second sub-regions that the one or more streaming video servers have determined are not capable of being predicted at the client device (the video stream are divided into consecutive frame groups, wherein a first frame in a current frame group is set to be a long-term reference frame that uses a first frame in a previous frame group as a reference during generation of the current frame group; and the long-term reference frame is a predictive coded frame for transmitting a difference value and a motion vector obtained by performing a comparison against the first frame in the previous frame group, para. 0076) in order to as taught by in order to ensure smooth and real-time playback of the video as taught by Liu (para. 0172)
Therefore, based on Andrysco in view of Liu, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Liu to the media of Andrysco in order to ensure smooth and real-time playback of the video as taught by Liu (para. 0172).
Andrysco in view of Liu does not explicitly teach the one or more first sub-regions of the frame of streaming video that are capable of being predicted at the client device with a first codec and the one or more second sub-regions of the frame of streaming video that are not capable of being predicted at the client device with a second codec, the first codec different from the second codec
However, Kim teaches the one or more first sub-regions of the frame of streaming video that are capable of being predicted at the client device with a first codec (the server 310 divide a predetermined frame of the content into a plurality of regions and encode the divided regions with different quality for adaptive streaming in accordance with a flexible streaming environment; the server 310 encode the divided regions into a plurality of different qualities by adjusting factors such as a bit rate, a sampling frequency, a resolution, or a frame rate, the server 310 encode each divided region at various resolutions such as high quality (e.g., 16 Mbps), medium quality (e.g., 12 Mbps), low quality (e.g., 4 Mbps), etc., thereby generating at least one segment for each region, para. 0062)and the one or more second sub-regions of the frame of streaming video that are not capable of being predicted at the client device with a second codec, the first codec different from the second codec (the server 310 divide a predetermined frame of the content into a plurality of regions and encode the divided regions with different quality for adaptive streaming in accordance with a flexible streaming environment; the server 310 encode the divided regions into a plurality of different qualities by adjusting factors such as a bit rate, a sampling frequency, a resolution, or a frame rate, the server 310 encode each divided region at various resolutions such as high quality (e.g., 16 Mbps), medium quality (e.g., 12 Mbps), low quality (e.g., 4 Mbps), etc., thereby generating at least one segment for each region, para. 0062) in order to improve the streaming environment as taught by Kim (para. 0090)
Therefore, based on Andrysco in view of Liu, and further in view of Kim, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Kim to the media of Andrysco in view of Liu in order to improve the streaming environment as taught by Kim (para. 0090).
Claims 22 and 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Andrysco et al. (US 2014/0198838 A1), hereinafter referred to as Andrysco, in view of Liu et al. (US 2020/0404330 A1), hereinafter referred to as Liu, further in view of Kim et al. (US 2019/0320007 A1), hereinafter referred to as Kim, and furthermore in view of Nicholson et al. (US 2023/0298143 A1), hereinafter referred to as Nicholson.
With respect to claim 22, Andrysco teaches The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein separating the frame of streaming video content into a plurality of sub-regions comprises separating, by the one or more streaming video servers, the frame of the streaming video content into a foreground sub-region, and a background sub-region (the selective encoding component include a classifier component that is configured to identify or recognize portions of a video frame as to the content contained in those portions, and classify different portions of a video frame based upon the identification; portions identified and/or classified as to whether those portions present background or foreground of an image, or other region of interest, para. 0036; also see para. 0023, 0031, 0041, 0042 and 0048).
Andrysco in view of Liu, and further in view of Kim does not explicitly teach the streaming video content into a mid-ground sub-region,
However, Nicholson teaches the streaming video content into a mid-ground sub-region (receiving one or more objects in a video stream forming a middle-ground in the image, para. 0032) in order to offers the choice of blurring or replacing the entire background as taught by Nicholson (para. 0003),
Therefore, based on Andrysco in view of Liu, further in view of Kim, and furthermore in view of Nicholson, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Nicholson to the method of Andrysco in view of Liu, and further in view of Kim in order to offers the choice of blurring or replacing the entire background as taught by Nicholson (para. 0003).
With respect to claim 34, Andrysco teaches The system of claim 30, wherein separating the frame of streaming video content into a plurality of sub-regions comprises separating, by the one or more streaming video servers, the frame of the streaming video content into a foreground sub-region, and a background sub-region (the selective encoding component include a classifier component that is configured to identify or recognize portions of a video frame as to the content contained in those portions, and classify different portions of a video frame based upon the identification; portions identified and/or classified as to whether those portions present background or foreground of an image, or other region of interest, para. 0036; also see para. 0023, 0031, 0041, 0042 and 0048).
Andrysco in view of Liu, and further in view of Kim does not explicitly teach the streaming video content into a mid-ground sub-region,
However, Nicholson teaches the streaming video content into a mid-ground sub-region (receiving one or more objects in a video stream forming a middle-ground in the image, para. 0032) in order to offers the choice of blurring or replacing the entire background as taught by Nicholson (para. 0003),
Therefore, based on Andrysco in view of Liu, further in view of Kim, and furthermore in view of Nicholson, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Nicholson to the system of Andrysco in view of Liu, and further in view of Kim in order to offers the choice of blurring or replacing the entire background as taught by Nicholson (para. 0003).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 19-37 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAO HONG NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2666. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8AM-4:30PM EST.
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/H.H.N/Examiner, Art Unit 2447
July 25, 2026
/JOON H HWANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2447
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