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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities: it appears that “using” of the added limitations “deriving linear model parameters of a first linear model using” in line 10 is a typo. Appropriate correction is required.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: Image Encoding/Decoding Method and Device, and Recording Medium Having Bitstream Stored Therein Involving Linear Model Intra Prediction.
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) 1-9, 11 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 2020/234512 A2 (“Ghaznavi Youvalari”) (Note: Ghaznavi Youvalari was previously attached in the PTO-892).
Regarding claim 1, Ghaznavi Youvalari discloses an image decoding method comprising: constructing a reference sample for linear model intra prediction based on neighboring reconstructed samples of a current block (e.g. see at least prediction model, e.g. linear, can be derived that relates sample or pixel value P of a block 300 to its (x, y) location, neighboring sample values and neighboring samples’ locations as illustrated in Fig. 3, page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32); deriving linear model parameters based on the reference sample (e.g. see at least parameters (e.g. a, b, c) derived using neighboring information, page 12, l. 34 – page 13, l. 27); and generating a prediction sample of the current block based on the linear model parameters (e.g. see at least deriving prediction model, e.g. linear, such as equations (2)-(7) and generally by (8) and/or using (9)-(10), to perform intra prediction as illustrated in Fig. 3, page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32), wherein the deriving of the linear model parameters includes: deriving linear model parameters of a first linear model (e.g. see at least equation (9), page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32, and see parameters derived using neighboring information, page 12, l. 34 – page 13, l. 27); and deriving linear model parameters of a second linear model (e.g. see at least equation (9), page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32; and see parameters derived using neighboring information, page 12, l. 34 – page 13, l. 27).
Regarding claim 2, Ghaznavi Youvalari further discloses wherein the reference sample includes at least one of reference samples included in a left sample line adjacent to the current block, reference samples included in an upper sample line adjacent to the current block, or an upper-left reference sample adjacent to the current block (e.g. see at least neighboring samples 310 shown in Fig. 3, page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32; page 13, ll. 29-36).
Regarding claim 3, Ghaznavi Youvalari further teaches wherein, based on the current block being NxN, the reference sample includes (N+ 1) reference samples that are consecutively adjacent to the bottom of the upper-left reference sample within the left sample line and (N+ 1) reference samples that are consecutively adjacent to a right of the upper-left reference sample within the upper sample line (e.g. see at least neighboring samples 310 shown in Fig. 3, page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32; page 13, ll. 29-36).
Regarding claim 4, Ghaznavi Youvalari further discloses wherein the constructing of the reference sample includes checking whether the neighboring reconstructed samples of the current block are available (e.g. see at least available and non-available samples, page 15, l. 30 – page 16, l. 24).
Regarding claim 5, Ghaznavi Youvalari further discloses wherein the linear model parameters include at least one of a horizontal component parameter or a vertical component parameter (e.g. see at least a or b, page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32).
Regarding claim 6, Ghaznavi Youvalari further discloses wherein the deriving of the linear model parameters includes setting the horizontal component parameter or the vertical component parameter to 0 among the linear model parameters derived based on the reference sample (e.g. see at least equations (6) or (7) or (9), page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32).
Regarding claim 7, Ghaznavi Youvalari further discloses wherein the generating of the prediction sample includes: generating a first prediction sample using the linear model parameters derived based on the reference sample (e.g. see at least deriving prediction model, e.g. linear, such as equations (2)-(7) and generally by (8) and/or using (9)-(10), to perform intra prediction as illustrated in Fig. 3, page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32; also see page 16, ll. 4-12, and page 17, ll. 14-30); generating a second prediction sample using the linear model parameters in which the horizontal component parameter or the vertical component parameter is set 0 (e.g. see at least equations (6) or (7) or (9), page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32); and generating a final prediction sample by weighted-summing the first prediction sample and the second prediction sample (e.g. see at least final predicted sample using weights, page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32; also see final prediction by weighting, page 16, ll. 4-12, and page 17, ll. 14-30).
Regarding claim 8, Ghaznavi Youvalari further discloses wherein the deriving of the linear model parameters includes: deriving the linear model parameters of the first linear model using only a left reference sample of the current block (e.g. see at least equation (9), page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32, and see parameters derived using neighboring information, page 12, l. 34 – page 13, l. 27); and deriving the linear model parameters of the second linear model using only an upper reference sample of the current block (e.g. see at least in equation (9), page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32; and see parameters derived using neighboring information, page 12, l. 34 – page 13, l. 27).
Regarding claim 9, Ghaznavi Youvalari further discloses wherein the prediction sample of the current block is generated by weighted-summing a third prediction sample generated using the linear model parameters of the first linear model and a fourth prediction sample generated using the linear model parameters of the second linear model (e.g. see at least final predicted sample using weights, page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32; also see final prediction by weighting, page 16, ll. 4-12, and page 17, ll. 14-30).
Regarding claim 13, Ghaznavi Youvalari further discloses a method of transmitting data for image information, comprising: constructing a reference sample for linear model intra prediction based on neighboring reconstructed samples of a current block (e.g. see at least prediction model, e.g. linear, can be derived that relates sample or pixel value P of a block 300 to its (x, y) location, neighboring sample values and neighboring samples’ locations as illustrated in Fig. 3, page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32); deriving linear model parameters based on the reference sample (e.g. see at least parameters (e.g. a, b, c) derived using neighboring information, page 12, l. 34 – page 13, l. 27); generating a prediction sample of the current block based on the linear model parameters (e.g. see at least deriving prediction model, e.g. linear, such as equations (2)-(7) and generally by (8) and/or using (9)-(10), to perform intra prediction as illustrated in Fig. 3, page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32); generating a bitstream by encoding the current block based on the prediction sample (e.g. see output bitstream of encoder as illustrated in Fig. 1); and transmitting data including the bitstream (e.g. see data received by decoder as shown in Fig. 2 from the output bitstream of encoder as illustrated in Fig. 1), wherein the deriving of the linear model parameters includes: deriving linear model parameters of a first linear model using (e.g. see at least equation (9), page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32, and see parameters derived using neighboring information, page 12, l. 34 – page 13, l. 27); and deriving linear model parameters of a second linear model (e.g. see at least equation (9), page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32; and see parameters derived using neighboring information, page 12, l. 34 – page 13, l. 27).
Regarding claim 11, the claim recites analogous limitations to the claims above and is therefore rejected on the same premise.
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) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ghaznavi Youvalari in view of US 2018/0332284 A1 (“Liu”) (Note: Liu was previously attached in the PTO-892).
Regarding claim 10, although Ghaznavi Youvalari discloses the reference sample, it is noted Ghaznavi Youvalari differs from the present invention in that it fails to particularly disclose further comprising obtaining a reference line index indicating one of multi-reference sample lines of the current block, wherein the reference sample is constructed using reference samples included in a reference sample line indicated by the reference line index. Liu however, teaches further comprising obtaining a reference line index indicating one of multi-reference sample lines of the current block, wherein the reference sample is constructed using reference samples included in a reference sample line indicated by the reference line index (e.g. see at least index of selected reference line, paragraphs [0096]-[0097] and Fig. 8).
Therefore, given the teachings as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the references of Ghaznavi Youvalari and Liu before him/her, to modify the Method, an apparatus and a computer program product for video encoding and video decoding of Ghaznavi Youvalari with the teachings of Liu in order to improve coding efficiency, e.g. by at least improving the matching between prediction and actual values.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/16/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant asserts on pages 8-10 of the Remarks that the prior art fails to disclose newly added limitations “deriving linear model parameters of a first linear model; and deriving linear model parameters of a second linear model” because “Youvalari does not disclose two individual or separate linear models”.
However, the examiner respectfully disagrees. In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., Equation 8) are not recited in the rejected claim(s) (not to mention that the claims also don’t recite that the first linear model and the second linear model are two individual distinct or separate linear models). 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).
Ghaznavi Youvalari, on page 11, l. 24 – page 12, l. 32, discloses at least equation (9) with parameters derived using neighboring information disclosed on page 12, l. 34 – page 13, l. 27.
Px = ax + c0 in equation (9) is a linear model where parameters a and c0 are derived and Py = by + c1 in equation (9) is another linear model where parameters b and c1 are derived. Px = ax + c0 is a linear model because Px = ax + c0 is linear and it models how to predict Px from the x coordinate;
Py = by + c1 is another linear model (that is distinct and separate from Px = ax + c0) because Py = by + c1 is linear and it models how to predict Py (i.e. not Px) from the y coordinate (not to mention that the parameters are derived distinctly and separately for instance as in parameter a using (11) and parameter b using (12)). For at least this reason, the arguments are not persuasive and the claims remain anticipated by Ghaznavi Youvalari in the broadest reasonable sense.
Regarding the title, the Remarks on page 6 requests to withdraw the objection in view of the amendment.
However, the examiner respectfully disagrees. New title “IMAGE ENCODING/DECODING METHOD AND METHOD OF TRANSMITTING FOR IMAGE INFORMATION” remains objected to because it is not descriptive and does not clearly indicate the invention to which the claims are directed. That is, this title is not specific enough of the claimed invention since it describes virtually all the documents in the Video Compression area and even the ones that are not directed to prediction using linear model parameters such as transformation, quantization, etc.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Linear Model-Based Intra Prediction in VVC Test Model, Ghaznavi-Youvalari (previously attached in the PTO-892)
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 FRANCIS G GEROLEO whose telephone number is (571)270-7206. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00 am - 3:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anna M Momper can be reached on (571) 270-5788. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Francis Geroleo/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619