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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) was/were submitted on 17 December 2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 29 January 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues Park does not disclose two separate syntax elements for “indicating the shortcut mode” as well as “indicate one of the predefined partitions”. Examiner respectfully disagrees and respectfully directs Applicant to Park: ¶ [0229]: When the prediction mode of the current block is not a CIIP mode (S1850-No), the prediction mode of the current block may be determined to be a TPM mode (S1852). In this case, information (e.g., partition_idx) specifying the partition form (partition direction) of the TPM mode may be signaled. In addition, information (e.g., merge_idx0 and merge_jdx1) specifying a merge candidate for each of two partitions may be signaled.
Examiner respectfully submits “partition_idx” (which may contain multiple syntax elements itself) may be considered the first syntax and the “merge_idx0” may be considered the third syntax, as required by the claims
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 3-4, and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (US 2022/0279163 A1) in view of Lee et al. (US 2022/0312003 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 4, Park discloses an apparatus to perform a method of video coding, the method comprising: receiving pixel data associated with a current block at an encoder side or coded data associated with the current block to be decoded at a decoder side [Park: FIG. 1]; partitioning the current block into one or more sub-blocks [Park: ¶ [0229]: When the prediction mode of the current block is not a CIIP mode (S1850-No), the prediction mode of the current block may be determined to be a TPM mode (S1852). In this case, information (e.g., partition_idx) specifying the partition form (partition direction) of the TPM mode may be signaled. In addition, information (e.g., merge_idx0 and merge_jdx1) specifying a merge candidate for each of two partitions may be signaled], in response the current block being split, signalling or parsing a second syntax, wherein the second syntax is indicative of whether to use a shortcut mode to indicate a target partition from predefined partitions directly [Park: ¶ [0230]: partition_idx)]; in response to the second syntax indicating the shortcut mode being applied to the current block, signalling or parsing a third syntax to indicate one of the predefined partitions being applied to the current block [Park: ¶ Park: ¶ [0229]: In addition, information (e.g., merge_idx0 and merge_jdx1) specifying a merge candidate for each of two partitions may be signaled]; and encoding or decoding said one or more sub-blocks [Park: ¶ [0229]: encoding].
Park may not explicitly disclose wherein said partitioning the current block comprises: signalling or parsing a first syntax, wherein the first syntax is indicative of whether to split the current block.
However, Lee discloses wherein said partitioning the current block comprises: signalling or parsing a first syntax, wherein the first syntax is indicative of whether to split the current block [Lee: ¶ [0572]: split_cu_flag].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the syntax denoting split function of Lee with the process based on the split function occurring in order to provide explicit labeling of processes to perform, improving overall control.
Regarding Claims 3 and 6, Park in view of Lee disclose(s) all the limitations of Claims 1 and 4, respectively, and is/are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to those claims.
Furthermore, Park and Lee discloses further comprising, in response to the third syntax indicating said one of the predefined partitions being applied to the current block, signalling or parsing a fourth syntax for each of sub-blocks generated by applying said one of the predefined partitions to the current block to indicate whether said each of sub-blocks is further partitioned [Park: ¶ [0192]: a flag (e.g., cu_sbt_flag) specifying whether to perform transform in subblock units].
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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/JONATHAN R MESSMORE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2482