DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 6/5/2026 has been entered.
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 5-7 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (NPL: “LiDAR Point Cloud Compression by Vertically Placed Objects Based on Global Motion Prediction,” IEEE 2022) in view of Inter-EM (MPEG-N00189, “Inter-prediction Exploration Model (Inter-EM) v3.0,” ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 7, MPEG 3D Graphics coding, N00189, 25 September 2021), MPEG-N00155 (NPL: “Description of Exploration Experiment 13.2 on inter prediction,” ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 7, MPEG 3D Graphics Coding, N00155, 6 August 2021), and G-PCC (MPEG-N0215, “G-PCC codec description,” ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 7 N 0215, 29 December 2021).
Regarding Claim 1, Kim (NPL: “LiDAR Point Cloud Compression by Vertically Placed Objects Based on Global Motion Prediction,” IEEE 2022) discloses reference frame (686th frame, Figure 2 caption) is generated based on a road (road, paragraph under Figure 2) for point cloud data (LiDAR point cloud, Fig. 2 caption);
generating a compensated reference frame (motion compensated point cloud, page 15300, left column above Fig. 2) … based on … road (objects placed horizontally such as road, page 15300, left column; horizontally placed objects, page 15300 right column) and object (vertically placed objects, page 15300 both columns) partitioning (point cloud classification classifies horizontal and vertical objects, page 15300 right column) of points of the reference frame (point cloud t-1, page 15300 right column).
Kim discloses the remaining claim elements because Kim’s disclosure is based on the Inter-EM model, based on the G-PCC reference software (See, “proposed modules were applied to the Inter-EM v2.0 based on the G-PCC reference software v7,” Section IV). Citations to the Inter-EM model and G-PCC indicate that Kim includes the following features:
Inter-EM (MPEG-N00189, “Inter-prediction Exploration Model (Inter-EM) v3.0,” ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 7, MPEG 3D Graphics coding, N00189, 25 September 2021) provides evidence that Kim discloses a method (MPEG 3D Graphics coding, cover page) comprising:
generating first information (--interPredictionEnabled=0|1, page 18) for representing that a reference frame is generated (When inter prediction is enabled, inter predicted frames use the previous frame as reference frame, page 18) based on … point cloud data (point cloud sequence, page 6) in a bitstream (output of the encoder is a binary bitstream, Page 6);
generating second information (--motionParamPreset=0|1|3|6, page 18) for representing whether global motion compensation is applied (global motion is enabled, page 18) to a partition block (frame partitioned according to the partitioning method defined by --partitionMethod=0|2|3|4|5, page 9) in the bitstream (output of the encoder is a binary bitstream, Page 6);
encoding geometry data (geometry tree coding, page 11) of a point cloud frame (number of frames encoded are N, page 19) for the point cloud data (encoder takes as input one or more PLY files describing a point cloud sequence, page 6) based on an occupancy tree (predictive geometry tree, page 11);
and encoding attribute data (attribute coding, page 14) of the point cloud frame (number of frames encoded are N, page 19);
wherein the encoding the geometry data of the point cloud frame includes:
generating a compensated reference frame (Inter-EM, title—see evidentiary citation below) for the point cloud frame (number of frames encoded are N, page 19) based on global motion parameters (global motion parameters, page 19) including a rotation component (3x3 motion matrix, page 19) and a translation component (3 translation parameters, page 19).
MPEG-N00155 (NPL: “Description of Exploration Experiment 13.2 on inter prediction,” ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 7, MPEG 3D Graphics Coding, N00155, 6 August 2021) provides evidence that Kim discloses
wherein the encoding the geometry data of the point cloud frame includes:
generating a compensated reference frame (in Inter-EM, global motion is applied to the previous point cloud to create a compensated previous point cloud, page 3) for the point cloud frame (point cloud, page 3) based on global motion parameters (global motion, page 3).
Where Inter-EM v2.0 and v3.0 are different, one of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to replace Inter-EM v2.0 of Kim with Inter-EM v3.0 of MPEG because Inter-EM v3.0 is the updated working model of inter-predictive geometry coding and is expected to provide superior performance, improving the system.
Where G-PCC v7 and v12 are different, one of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to replace G-PCC v7 with G-PCC v12 because G-PCC v12 is the updated codec and is expected to provide superior performance, improving the system.
Regarding Claim 2, Kim (NPL: “LiDAR Point Cloud Compression by Vertically Placed Objects Based on Global Motion Prediction,” IEEE 2022) discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the point cloud data comprises points related to a road (road, Fig. 2) and points related to an object (vehicle, building, tree, Fig. 2), wherein, in a frame containing the points related to the road, the points related to the road are changed by the object related to the road, or are missing (inherent: objects in the path of lidar prevent the lidar from extracting data behind the object).
Regarding Claim 3, Kim (NPL: “LiDAR Point Cloud Compression by Vertically Placed Objects Based on Global Motion Prediction,” IEEE 2022) discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the point cloud data is acquired by LiDAR (LiDAR, Fig. 2).
G-PCC (MPEG-N0215, “G-PCC codec description,” ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 7 N 0215, 29 December 2021) provides evidence that Kim discloses wherein the point cloud data comprises points based on a laser ID of the LiDAR (angle correction based on particular laser L, Section 3.2.5.1, 3.2.5.2; laserindex, Section 3.2.5.5).
Where Inter-EM v2.0 and v3.0 are different, one of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to replace Inter-EM v2.0 of Kim with Inter-EM v3.0 of MPEG because Inter-EM v3.0 is the updated working model of inter-predictive geometry coding and is expected to provide superior performance, improving the system.
Where G-PCC v7 and v12 are different, one of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to replace G-PCC v7 with G-PCC v12 because G-PCC v12 is the updated codec and is expected to provide superior performance, improving the system.
Regarding Claim 4, Kim (NPL: “LiDAR Point Cloud Compression by Vertically Placed Objects Based on Global Motion Prediction,” IEEE 2022) discloses the method of Claim 1.
Inter-EM (MPEG-N00189, “Inter-prediction Exploration Model (Inter-EM) v3.0,” ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 7, MPEG 3D Graphics coding, N00189, 25 September 2021) provides evidence that Kim discloses wherein a point for inter-prediction is updated based on a threshold (upper and lower thresholds for ground/object classification, page 19).
Regarding Claim 10, Kim (NPL: “LiDAR Point Cloud Compression by Vertically Placed Objects Based on Global Motion Prediction,” IEEE 2022) discloses a device comprising:
a memory;
and at least one processor connected to the memory, the at least one processor configured (software, Section IV).
The remainder of claim 10 is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 11, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 12, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 2.
Regarding Claim 13, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 3.
Regarding Claim 14, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 4.
Regarding Claim 15, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 10.
Claim(s) 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (NPL: “LiDAR Point Cloud Compression by Vertically Placed Objects Based on Global Motion Prediction,” IEEE 2022) in view of Inter-EM (MPEG-N00189, “Inter-prediction Exploration Model (Inter-EM) v3.0,” ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 7, MPEG 3D Graphics coding, N00189, 25 September 2021), MPEG-N00155 (NPL: “Description of Exploration Experiment 13.2 on inter prediction,” ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 7, MPEG 3D Graphics Coding, N00155, 6 August 2021), G-PCC (MPEG-N0215, “G-PCC codec description,” ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 7 N 0215, 29 December 2021), Pham Van (US Patent 11,949,909), and Liu (NPL “Extending the Detection Range for Low-Channel Roadside LiDAR by Static Background Construction,” IEEE 2022).
Regarding Claim 5, Kim (NPL: “LiDAR Point Cloud Compression by Vertically Placed Objects Based on Global Motion Prediction,” IEEE 2022) discloses the method of claim 1.
MPEG-N00155 (NPL: “Description of Exploration Experiment 13.2 on inter prediction,” ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 7, MPEG 3D Graphics Coding, N00155, 6 August 2021) provides evidence that Kim discloses
wherein the encoding of the geometry data of the point cloud frame further includes:
predicting (local motion is searched, Section 3.2) a road frame (points corresponding to roads, Section 3.2) of the point cloud frame (current point cloud, inferred) based on a reference road frame (previous point cloud, Section 3.2) of the compensated reference frame (previous compensated point cloud, Section 3.2);
Kim does not disclose but Pham Van (US Patent 11,949,909) teaches calculating points (residual values, Column 15 lines 14-25) for each laser ID (laser index, Column 15 lines 14-25) based on a spherical coordinate system (code residual values in the in r, φ, i domain, Column 15 lines 15-30; where I is laserID, Column 26 lines 40-45) with origin coordinate information (the origin of the frame may be the center of LIDAR system, Column 22 lines 43-50; lasers spinning around the Z axis according to an azimuth angle, Column 15 lines 35-40; LIDAR system positioned at point 476, Column 27 lines 62-end) about the reference road frame being changed (apply estimated global motion to the prediction reference frame, Column 17 lines 58 - end);
searching the reference road frame for a [] point (match feature points between the prediction frame (reference) and the current frame, Column 18 lines 1-10) in the road frame (To derive motion set for ground/road, only the points with the label of "ground/road" may be used, Column 20 lines 22-30) based on at least one of the laser ID or an angle (certain lasers identify ground points, Column 30 lines 32-36).
Kim does not disclose, but Liu (NPL “Extending the Detection Range for Low-Channel Roadside LiDAR by Static Background Construction,” IEEE 2022) teaches searching the reference road frame for a missing point (in the set of distances at horizontal angle j and vertical angle i, p.4 right column, select the maximum distance Dij, p.5 left column, equation 5) … and updating the missing point in the road frame (set the point cloud measurement dij to the maximum distance Dij, p.5 left column, equation 5; p. 4 left column).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to predict the point cloud of Kim using the spherical system of Phan Vam because the MPEG team is experimenting with using spherical coordinates to encode LiDAR data for compression efficiency, expecting improvements in the system.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to predict the point cloud of Kim using the background construction algorithm of Liu because Liu teaches that doing so would enable the usage of low channel LiDAR to achieve high accuracy point maps that will become useful for autonomous vehicle applications (p. 3 left column).
Regarding Claim 6, Pham Van (US Patent 11,949,909) teaches rotating the reference road frame (motion parameters are defined as a rotation matrix and translation vector, which will be applied on all the points in a prediction reference frame, Column 17 lines 45-57) with origin coordinate information (Compute the original coordinates (x, y, z), Column 17 lines 1-30) about the reference road frame being changed (applied on all points in the prediction reference frame, Column 18 lines 45 - 56)
The remainder of the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 5.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to predict the point cloud of Kim using the spherical system of Phan Vam because the MPEG team is experimenting with using spherical coordinates to encode LiDAR data for compression efficiency.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to predict the point cloud of Kim using the background construction algorithm of Liu because Liu teaches that doing so would enable the usage of low channel LiDAR to achieve high accuracy point maps that will become useful for autonomous vehicle applications (p. 3 left column).
Regarding Claim 7, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 6.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s remarks filed 6/5/2026 are moot because they do not apply to the combination of references cited in this office action.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20190281274 A1 – two model distribution modes based on amount of change in model
Jin, “An Improved Coarse-to-fine Motion Estimation Scheme for LiDAR Point Cloud Geometry Compression,” IEEE 2021 – segmenting the road point cloud from the object point cloud and inter-predicting the current frame
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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/SHADAN E HAGHANI/ Examiner, Art Unit 2485
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