5DETAILED 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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/08/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
See the details below.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 12/08/2025 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of U.S. Patent No. US 12108052 B2 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 21-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium itself cannot be configured to transmit a bitstream.
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 –
(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.
Claims 21-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kadono et al. (Pub. No. US 2004/0076237 A1).
Regarding claims 21-24, Kadono discloses A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium configured to store a program and cause a device to transmit a bitstream ([0247] recording a program implementing the steps of … method to a floppy disk or other computer-readable data recording medium; [0251]; [0257] Video data captured with a camera ex116 can also be sent via computer ex111 to the streaming server ex103. The video data received from the camera ex116 can be encoded by the camera ex116 or by the computer ex111. The software for video coding and decoding can be stored to any computer-readable data recording medium (such as a CD-ROM disc, floppy disk, or hard disk drive) that the computer ex111 can access).
See MPEP 2111.05 (III), when determining the scope of the claims, “a bitstream” is not given patentable weight, because “a bitstream” is non-functional descriptive material. It is merely static data that imparts no function (unlike an executable computer program which performs a function). It does not have any functional relationship with the intended computer system. Thus, the computer-readable data recording medium disclosed in Kadono meets claims 21-24.
Regarding claims 25-28, Kadono discloses A method for sending a bitstream, the method comprising: sending the bitstream ([0257] Video data captured with a camera ex116 can also be sent via computer ex111 to the streaming server ex103).
See MPEP 2111.05, when determining the scope of the claims, “a bitstream” is not given patentable weight, because “a bitstream” is non-functional descriptive material. It is merely static data that imparts no function (unlike an executable computer program which performs a function) for the sending method. Thus, Kadono meets claims 25-28.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 5-7, 9, 13-15, 29-32 would be allowed over the prior art.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Applicant uniquely claimed a distinct feature in the instant invention, which is not found in the prior art, either singularly or in combination. The feature is “when a partitioning structure of a luma component of the target block is identical to a partitioning structure of the chroma component of the target block, whether information about the prediction mode is to be encoded is determined based on whether a palette mode is used for the chroma component of the target block”. This feature is not found or suggested in the prior art.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/XIAOLAN XU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2488