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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 3/31/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-4 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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, 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) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tian et al. (US 2024/0430471 A1) in view of Filippov et al. (US 2026/0006260 A1).
Consider claim 1, Tian teaches a 3D data decoding apparatus for decoding encoded data, the 3D data decoding apparatus comprising: a mesh prediction unit configured to derive a prediction position of a base mesh vertex position from the encoded data ([0134] – [0139]); and an arithmetic decoder configured to arithmetically decode a prediction residual ([0134] – [0139]), adds a value of the prediction residual to the prediction position to derive the base mesh vertex position ([0134] – [0147]).
However, Tian does not explicitly teach the arithmetic decoder decodes a part of suffix bins of a syntax element related to the prediction residual by using one of a context and a bypass according to a value of a suffix bin index.
Filippov teaches the arithmetic decoder decodes a part of suffix bins of a syntax element related to the prediction residual by using one of a context and a bypass according to a value of a suffix bin index ([0230] – [0238], [0251] – [0266]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known technique of decoding a part of suffix bins of a syntax element by using one of a context and a bypass according to a value of a suffix bin index because such incorporation would help control computational costs. [0232].
Consider claim 3, Tian teaches a 3D data encoding apparatus for encoding 3D data, the 3D data encoding apparatus comprising: a mesh prediction unit configured to derive a prediction position of a base mesh vertex position ([0150] – [0160]); and an arithmetic encoder configured to arithmetically encode a prediction residual ([0150] – [0160]); and a base mesh encoder configured to encode the base mesh vertex position ([0150] – [0160]).
However, Tian does not explicitly teach the arithmetic decoder decodes a part of suffix bins of a syntax element related to the prediction residual by using one of a context and a bypass according to a value of a suffix bin index.
Filippov teaches the arithmetic decoder decodes a part of suffix bins of a syntax element related to the prediction residual by using one of a context and a bypass according to a value of a suffix bin index ([0230] – [0238], [0251] – [0266]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known technique of decoding a part of suffix bins of a syntax element by using one of a context and a bypass according to a value of a suffix bin index because such incorporation would help control computational costs. [0232].
Consider claim 2, the combination of Tian and Nishimura teaches all the limitations in claim 1 but does not explicitly teach the arithmetic decoder counts a number of the suffix bins decoded using the context for each prescribed number of vertices, and switches from decoding the prefix bins using the context to decoding the suffix bins without using the context in a case that the number of the suffix bins is equal to or greater than a prescribed value
Filippov teaches the arithmetic decoder counts a number of the suffix bins decoded using the context for each prescribed number of vertices, and switches from decoding the prefix bins using the context to decoding the suffix bins without using the context in a case that the number of the suffix bins is equal to or greater than a prescribed value ([0230] – [0238], [0251] – [0266]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known technique of decoding a part of suffix bins of a syntax element by using one of a context and a bypass according to a value of a suffix bin index because such incorporation would help control computational costs. [0232].
Consider claim 4, Budagavi teaches the arithmetic encoder counts a number of the suffix bins encoded using the context for each prescribed number of vertices, and switches from decoding the suffix bins using the context to encoding the prefix bins without using the context in a case that the number of the suffix bins is equal to or greater than a prescribed value. ([0230] – [0238], [0251] – [0266]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known technique of decoding a part of suffix bins of a syntax element by using one of a context and a bypass according to a value of a suffix bin index because such incorporation would help control computational costs. [0232].
Conclusion
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/TAT C CHIO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2486
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