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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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) 1 and 3-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al (2023/0085554) for the same reasons as set forth in Sec. 8 of the last OA, dated 3/27/26.
Regarding [Claims 1, 8, and 10], Kim discloses a feature decoding method performed by a feature decoding apparatus for transmitting a bitstream 13, the feature decoding method comprising obtaining information on transform of feature information and the feature information from a bitstream ([0215]: " ... the HLS may be encoded and/or signaled for video and/or image encoding ... the image/video encoding method may be performed based on such image/video information ... ", corresponding to "obtaining information on transform of feature information and the feature information from a bitstream ... "); and inversely transforming the feature information based on the information on the transform ([0215]: " ... when applied to VCM ... network (e.g. neural network) is used to encode the encoded information ... ", [0226]: " ... the decoder 43 may decode a video/image by performing a series of procedures such as dequantization, inverse transformation, and prediction corresponding to operation of the encoder 34 ... "), wherein the information on the transform comprises information on a transform type for inversely transforming or transforming the feature information (0215]: " ... when applied to VCM, the video/image information may include information indicating which Al task the encoded information is encoded for, and which network (e.g. neural network) is used to encode the encoded information, and/or information indicating for what purpose the encoded information is encoded ... "), wherein a transform type is determined among a plurality of predetermined transform types (e.g. Fig. 42) based on the information on the transform type, and wherein the feature information is inversely transformed or transformed based on the transform type ([0321]: " ... using an encoding format of the feature information by a decoding apparatus ... Here, the decoded feature information may be feature information transformed based on an encoding format for the feature information in the encoding process ... Inverse transform of the feature information may be performed based on the decoded feature information and an encoding format for the feature information ... ").
Regarding [Claim 3] Kim discloses the feature decoding method of claim 2, wherein the information on the transform further comprises supplementary information corresponding to the identified transform type, and wherein the feature information is inversely transformed based on the identified transform type and the supplementary information (Table 4: " ... Data representation change method ... Methods of reconstructing the data representation of the abstracted feature to the representation of the input feature may be used ... Additional information for data representation change ... information for driving it when reconstruction using a neural network is required, etc... ", Table 5: " ... Type ... Method used for encoding ... Side Information ... Additional information necessary for decoding ... quantization ...).
Regarding [Claim 4] Kim discloses the feature decoding method of claim 1, wherein the transform applied to the feature information includes quantization of the feature information based on the transform type, and wherein the inversely transforming includes dequantizing the feature information ([0226]: " ... the decoder 43 may decode a video/image by performing a series of procedures such as dequantization, inverse transformation, and prediction corresponding to operation of the encoder 34 ... ").
Regarding [Claim 5] Kim discloses the feature decoding method of claim 1, wherein the information on the transform comprises first information indicating whether or not transform is applied to the feature information, and wherein the information on the transform type is included in the information on the transform based on the first information indicating that the transform is applied to the feature information (Table 4: " ... Data representation change method ... Methods of reconstructing the data representation of the abstracted feature to the representation of the input feature may be used ... Additional information for data representation change ... information for driving it when reconstruction using a neural network is required, etc... ", shows that using a neural network is not always required and that use of neural network and required parameters are provided as additional information).
Regarding [Claim 6] Kim discloses the feature decoding method of claim 5, wherein based on the first information indicating that the transform is applied to the feature information, the information on the transform comprises second information indicating an application unit of the transform, and wherein the application unit of the transform comprises at least one of a sequence level, a feature map level or a channel level ([0294]: " ... All features of Layer N: FeatN ... ", [0298]: " .. C-th channel feature of Layer N: FeatN[C] ... ", [0305]: " ... In FIG. 42, FeatHeight[.], FeatWidth*[], Feat Num* [], and FeatL [ ] represent parameters reconstructed through an inverse transform process ...).
Regarding [Claim 7] Kim discloses the feature decoding method of claim 6, wherein based on the second information indicating a level equal to or below the feature map level, the information on the transform comprises third information indicating a feature map to which the transform is applied or a feature channel to which the transform is applied ([0293]: " ... FIG.38 illustrates an example in which, as an input image composed of three channels passes through each layer or successive layers, a spatial size may be reduced and the number of channels is gradually increased .. ", [0294]: " ... All features of Layer N: FeatN ... ", [0298]: " .. C-th channel feature of Layer N: FeatN[C] ... ", [0299]: " ... C-th channel feature (x, y) coordinate value of Layer N: FeatN[C][x][y] ... ").
Regarding [Claim 9] Kim discloses a computer-readable recording medium storing a bitstream (e.g. 190 output) generated by the feature encoding method of claim 8.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/14/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant's argument on p. 7-8 of the Remarks that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., a transform type that is adaptively determined to optimize according to the objective attributes of the data) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
12519978 discloses Alpha Block Transforms For Alpha Channel Compression
20260006207 discloses FEATURE ENCODING/DECODING METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND RECORDING MEDIUM STORING BITSTREAM
20260006231 discloses COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED MULTI-SCALE MACHINE LEARNING MODEL FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF COMPRESSED VIDEO
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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.
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/Y LEE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2485
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