DETAILED ACTION
1. This Office Action for U.S. Patent Application No. 18/855,186 is responsive to communications filed on 07/28/2026, in reply to the Non-Final Rejection mailed on 04/28/2026. Currently, claims 41-60 are pending.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . 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 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.
Priority
3. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed.
Information Disclosure Statement
5. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/28/2026 is in accordance with provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
6. Claims 41, 47, 53, 57 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.
Re. Claims 41, 47, 53, 57, the claim recites “a prediction model” is not clear since it can be construed as any other type of prediction model which is not supported in the specification.
Re. Claims 41, 47, 53, 57, the claim recites “a adjustment model” is not clear since it can be construed as any other type of adjustment model which is not supported in the specification.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The rejection of claims 41,47,53,57 under 35 U.S.C. 112 has been upheld. Appropriate corrections are required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
8. Claim(s) 41-42, 47-48, 53-54 and 57-58 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiang Ma [EP 3883245 B1] in view Laroche et al., [US Pub. No.: 2020/0389650 A1].
Re. Claim 41, Xiang Ma [EP 3883245 B1] discloses:
A video decoding device [Fig.3 Decoder 30], comprising: a processor [Processor for execution instructions, implementing block predictions |0056] configured to: obtain a prediction model for predicting a coding block [the prediction information of the target chroma block is determined based on the determined intra prediction model parameter and the luma reconstruction information corresponding to the target chroma block. |0007-0008];
for adjusting the prediction model [Intra prediction model includes a scaling coefficient and offset factor that corresponds with the selection and adjustment model |0007-0008];
adjust the prediction model based on the selected adjustment model [the prediction information of the target chroma block is determined based on determined intra prediction model parameter corresponding to adjusting the prediction model |0007-0008];
and decode the coding block based on the adjusted prediction model [the prediction information of the target chroma block is determined based on the determined intra prediction model parameter corresponding to the decoding of a block |0007-0008].
Xiang Ma does distinctly disclose
select an adjustment model, from a plurality of adjustment models,
In the same field of endeavor Lin et al [CN 112055209 A] discloses:
select an adjustment model [fig. 5, based on a intra prediction mode, the angle mode number may be adaptively adjusted according to the size of the block. To the examiner adaptively adjusting based on a prediction model is equivalent to selecting an adjustment model defined in paragraphs 0115 of applicants specification |Figs 3-5],
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Xiang Ma with Lin to select adjustment model based on prediction model need to improving coding efficiency.
The combination of Xiang Ma and Lin does not distinctly disclose
from a plurality of adjustment models,
In the same field of endeavor Laroche [US Pub. No.: 2020/0389650 A1]
from a plurality of adjustment models [The Linear Model (LM) mode uses a linear model to predict chroma from luma as a chroma intra prediction mode, relying on one or two parameters, slope (α) and offset (β), to be determined. The chroma intra predictor is thus derived from reconstructed luma samples of a current luma block using the linear model with the parameters|0007]
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Xiang Ma and Lin with Laroche to improve coding efficiency improvement with a small complexity because no additional linear model parameters need to be derived.
Re. Claim 42, Xiang Ma discloses:
The device of claim 41, wherein the processor is further configured to: derive a slope and an offset of the prediction model based on reconstructed samples neighboring the coding block [ The offset factor in the intra prediction model parameter corresponding to the target chroma block is determined based on the scaling coefficient, the second chroma value, a target value of the normalized shift parameter, and the minimum luma value.|0025], wherein adjusting the prediction model based on the selected adjustment model comprises adjusting at least one of the slope or the offset of the prediction model based on the selected adjustment model [where the first chroma value and the second chroma value are determined based on the neighboring samples of the target chroma block", corresponding to deriving a slope and offset of the prediction model based on neighboring reconstructed samples, and adjusting slope or offset based on the adjustment model| 0008, 0025].
Re. Claim 47, Xiang Ma discloses:
A method for a video decoder [Fig.3 Decoder 30], method comprising: obtaining a prediction model for predicting a coding block [the prediction information of the target chroma block is determined based on the determined intra prediction model parameter and the luma reconstruction information corresponding to the target chroma block. |0007-0008];
selecting an adjustment model, from a plurality of adjustment models, for adjusting the prediction model [Intra prediction model includes a scaling coefficient and offset factor that corresponds with the selection and adjustment model |0007-0008];
adjusting the prediction model based on the selected adjustment model [the prediction information of the target chroma block is determined based on determined intra prediction model parameter corresponding to adjusting the prediction model |0007-0008];
and decoding the coding block based on the adjusted prediction model [the prediction information of the target chroma block is determined based on the determined intra prediction model parameter corresponding to the decoding of a block |0007-0008].
Re. Claim 48, Xiang Ma discloses:
The method of claim 47, wherein the method further comprises: deriving a slope and an offset of the prediction model based on reconstructed samples neighboring the coding block [ The offset factor in the intra prediction model parameter corresponding to the target chroma block is determined based on the scaling coefficient, the second chroma value, a target value of the normalized shift parameter, and the minimum luma value.|0025], wherein adjusting the prediction model based on the selected adjustment model comprises adjusting at least one of the slope or the offset of the prediction model based on the selected adjustment model [where the first chroma value and the second chroma value are determined based on the neighboring samples of the target chroma block", corresponding to deriving a slope and offset of the prediction model based on neighboring reconstructed samples, and adjusting slope or offset based on the adjustment model| 0008, 0025].
Re. Claim 53, Xiang Ma discloses:
A video encoding [Fig. 2 encoder 20] device, comprising: a processor [Processor for execution instructions, implementing block predictions |0056] configured to: obtain a prediction model for predicting a coding block [the prediction information of the target chroma block is determined based on the determined intra prediction model parameter and the luma reconstruction information corresponding to the target chroma block. |0007-0008];
select an adjustment model, from a plurality of adjustment models, for adjusting the prediction model [Intra prediction model includes a scaling coefficient and offset factor that corresponds with the selection and adjustment model |0007-0008];
adjust the prediction model based on the selected adjustment model [the prediction information of the target chroma block is determined based on determined intra prediction model parameter corresponding to adjusting the prediction model |0007-0008];
and encode the coding block based on the adjusted prediction model [the prediction information of the target chroma block is determined based on the determined intra prediction model parameter corresponding to the encoding of a block |0007-0008].
Re. Claim 54, Xiang Ma discloses:
The device of claim 53, wherein the processor is further configured to: obtain the plurality of adjustment models configured to adjust the prediction model [Intra prediction model includes a scaling coefficient and offset factor that corresponds with the selection and adjustment model |0007-0008];
for a first adjustment model of the plurality of adjustment models [ |0244], compute a first difference between sample values of the coding block and predicted sample values that are predicted based on the first adjustment model [a difference between the maximum luma value
and the minimum luma value, namely, the first difference, may be determined |0198];
and for a second adjustment model of the plurality of adjustment models, compute a second difference between the sample values of the coding block and predicted sample values that are predicted based on the second adjustment model ["where a is the scaling coefficient,
diff is the second difference, max C is the first chroma value, mine is 11, the second chroma value, |0244], wherein the adjustment model is selected based at least on comparing the first difference and the second difference [computing a [first/second] difference between sample values of the coding block and predicted sample values that are predicted based on the [first/second] adjustment model|0198, 0244].
Re. Claim 57, Xiang Ma discloses:
A method for a video encoder [Fig. 2 encoder 20], the method comprising: obtaining a prediction model for predicting a coding block [the prediction information of the target chroma block is determined based on the determined intra prediction model parameter and the luma reconstruction information corresponding to the target chroma block. |0007-0008];
selecting an adjustment model, from a plurality of adjustment models, for adjusting the prediction model [Intra prediction model includes a scaling coefficient and offset factor that corresponds with the selection and adjustment model |0007-0008];
adjusting the prediction model based on the selected adjustment model [the prediction information of the target chroma block is determined based on determined intra prediction model parameter corresponding to adjusting the prediction model |0007-0008];
and encoding the coding block based on the adjusted prediction model [the prediction information of the target chroma block is determined based on determined intra prediction model parameter corresponding to adjusting the prediction model |0007-0008].
Re. Claim 58, Xiang Ma discloses:
The method of claim 57, wherein the processor is further configured to: obtain the plurality of adjustment models configured to adjust the prediction model [Intra prediction model includes a scaling coefficient and offset factor that corresponds with the selection and adjustment model |0007-0008];
for a first adjustment model of the plurality of adjustment models [ |0244], compute a first difference between sample values of the coding block and predicted sample values that are predicted based on the first adjustment model [a difference between the maximum luma value
and the minimum luma value, namely, the first difference, may be determined |0198];
and for a second adjustment model of the plurality of adjustment models, compute a second difference between the sample values of the coding block and predicted sample values that are predicted based on the second adjustment model ["where a is the scaling coefficient,
diff is the second difference, max C is the first chroma value, mine is 11, the second chroma value, |0244], wherein the adjustment model is selected based at least on comparing the first difference and the second difference [computing a [first/second] difference between sample values of the coding block and predicted sample values that are predicted based on the [first/second] adjustment model|0198, 0244].
Allowable Subject Matter
8. Claims 43-46, 49-52, 55-56 and 59-60 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HOWARD D BROWN JR whose telephone number is (571)272-4371. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30AM - 5:00PM EST.
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HOWARD D. BROWN JR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2488
/HOWARD D BROWN JR/Examiner, Art Unit 2488
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