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 Interpretation
Nonfunctional Descriptive Material
Claim 16 recites “A non-transitory computer readable medium storing bitstream generated by a method”. There is no recitation of instruction stored on the CRM and when the instructions are executed by processor perform the method—merely data content (bitstream of video data generated by a recited method). Under MPEP 2111.05/(III), these claims are merely machine- readable media. The Examiner finds that there is no disclosed or claimed functional relationship between the stored data and medium. Instead, the medium is merely a support or carrier for the data being stored. Therefore, the data stored and the way such data is generated should not be given patentable weight. See MPEP 2111.05 applying n re Lowry, 32 F.3d 1579, 1583-84, 32 USPQ2d 1031, 1035 (Fed. Cir. 1994) and In re Ngai, 367 F.3d 1336, 70 USPQ2d 1862 (Fed. Cir. 2004). As such, claim 16 is subject to a prior art rejection based on any non- transitory computer readable medium known before the earliest effective filing date of the present application.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Huo et al (US 20250039413).
As to claim 16, a bitstream generated by a method, the method comprising … is a product by process claim limitation where the product is the bitstream and the process is the method steps to generate the bitstream. MPEP §2113 recites "Product-by-Process claims are not limited to the manipulations of the recited steps, only the structure implied by the steps". Thus, the scope of the claim is the storage medium storing the bitstream (with the structure implied by the method steps). The structure includes the information and samples manipulated by the steps. "To be given patentable weight, the printed matter and associated product must be in a functional relationship. A functional relationship can be found where the printed matter performs some function with respect to the product to which it is associated". MPEP §2111.05(I)(A). When a claimed "computer-readable medium merely serves as a support for information or data, no functional relationship exists. MPEP §2111.05(III). The storage medium storing the claimed bitstream in claim 16 merely services as a support for the storage of the bitstream and provides no fictional relationship between the stored bitstream and storage medium. Therefor the structure bitstream, which scope is implied by the method steps, is non-functional descriptive material and given no patentable weight. MPEP §2111.05(III). Thus, the claim scope is just a storage medium storing data and is anticipated by Huo which recites a storage medium storing a bitstream (see [0626]).
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) 1-8 and 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huo et al (US 20250039413) in view of Paluri et al (US 20230100733).
As to claim 1, Huo discloses a method performed by a video decoding device for predicting a current chroma block (FIG. 4B; FIG. 10, current chroma block), the method comprising:
generating, for the current chroma block, chroma (FIG. 10, left reference samples of a left chroma block, and top reference samples of a top chroma block);
deriving weights of the current chroma block by using a first luma prediction block, a second luma prediction block, and a final luma reconstruction block of a luma block corresponding to the current chroma block (FIG. 10 and [0276], a weight-based chroma prediction framework including left reference samples of a left luma block, top reference samples of a top luma block, downsampled reconstructed luma block, and weight vector), the weights including a first chroma weight and a second chroma weight (see [0183], N weighting coefficients w.sub.k, which include a first weight and a second weight); and
generating a final chroma prediction block of the current chroma block by applying the weights to the chroma (FIG. 10, predicted chroma value; see [0385], calculating the predicted chroma value Cpred[i][j] by using cWeight[i][j][k]; see [0398], results of multiplication are accumulated to obtain the predicted chroma value Cpred[i][j] of the to-be-predicted pixel, that is, weighted prediction of the chroma component is achieved)).
Huo fails to explicitly disclose generating, for the current chroma block, chroma bi-prediction blocks.
However, Paluri teaches generating, for the current chroma block, chroma bi-prediction blocks (see [0122], When bi-prediction is applied, prediction samples derived through the weighted sum or weighted average of prediction samples derived based on L0 prediction (i.e., prediction using a reference picture in reference picture list L0 and MVL0) and prediction samples derived based on L1 prediction (i.e., prediction using a reference picture in reference picture list L1 and MVL1) (according to phase) may be used as the prediction samples for the current block; see [0030], One unit may include one luma block and two chroma (ex. Cb, cr) blocks).
At the time before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to modify Huo using Paluri’s teachings to generate, for the current chroma block, chroma bi-prediction blocks in order to enhance efficiency in image/video coding (Paluri; [0006]).
As to claim 2, the combination of Huo and Paluri further discloses further comprising: decoding a flag indicating whether the weights of the current chroma block are to be derived; and checking the flag, wherein, when a value of the flag is true, the method further comprises, deriving the weights (Paluri; see [0124], [0146]).
As to claim 3, the combination of Huo and Paluri further discloses further comprising: generating, for the luma block, the first luma prediction block, the second luma prediction block, and the final luma reconstruction block (Huo; FIG. 10 and [0276]).
As to claim 4, the combination of Huo and Paluri further discloses wherein deriving the weights comprises:
generating a first differential block by calculating an absolute value of a difference between the final luma reconstruction block and the first luma prediction block; and generating a second differential block by calculating an absolute value of a difference between the final luma reconstruction block and the second luma prediction block (Huo; see [0276]).
As to claim 5, the combination of Huo and Paluri further discloses wherein deriving the weights comprises: generating a first weighted block and a second weighted block by normalizing the first differential block and the second differential block based on a sum of the first differential block and the second differential block (Huo; FIG. 10 and [0276], a normalized weight vector cWeight[i][j] is derived).
As to claim 6, the combination of Huo and Paluri further discloses wherein generating the final chroma prediction block comprises: applying the first weighted block and the second weighted block on a pixel-by-pixel basis to the first chroma prediction block and the second chroma prediction block (Huo; see [0181]).
As to claim 7, the combination of Huo and Paluri further discloses further comprising: when the luma block is larger than the current chroma block, downsampling the first luma prediction block, the second luma prediction block, and the final luma reconstruction block before generating the first differential block and the generating of the second differential block (Huo; FIG. 10, downsampled luma block).
As to claim 8, the combination of Huo and Paluri further discloses wherein deriving the weights comprises: generating the first chroma weight and the second chroma weight by calculating a first mean that is an average of elements of the first differential block and a second mean that is an average of elements of the second differential block and by normalizing the first mean and the second mean (Huo; see [0183]-[0185], [0391]).
As to claim 12, Huo discloses a method performed by a video encoding device for predicting a current chroma block (FIG. 4A; FIG. 10, current chroma block), the method comprising:
generating, for the current chroma block, chroma (FIG. 10, left reference samples of a left chroma block, and top reference samples of a top chroma block);
deriving weights of the current chroma block by using a first luma prediction block, a second luma prediction block, and a final luma reconstruction block of a luma block corresponding to the current chroma block (FIG. 10 and [0276], a weight-based chroma prediction framework including left reference samples of a left luma block, top reference samples of a top luma block, downsampled reconstructed luma block, and weight vector), the weights including a first chroma weight and a second chroma weight (see [0183], N weighting coefficients w.sub.k, which include a first weight and a second weight); and
generating a first final chroma prediction block of the current chroma block by applying the weights to the chroma (FIG. 10, predicted chroma value; see [0385], calculating the predicted chroma value Cpred[i][j] by using cWeight[i][j][k]; see [0398], results of multiplication are accumulated to obtain the predicted chroma value Cpred[i][j] of the to-be-predicted pixel, that is, weighted prediction of the chroma component is achieved)).
Huo fails to explicitly disclose generating, for the current chroma block, chroma bi-prediction blocks.
However, Paluri teaches generating, for the current chroma block, chroma bi-prediction blocks (see [0122], When bi-prediction is applied, prediction samples derived through the weighted sum or weighted average of prediction samples derived based on L0 prediction (i.e., prediction using a reference picture in reference picture list L0 and MVL0) and prediction samples derived based on L1 prediction (i.e., prediction using a reference picture in reference picture list L1 and MVL1) (according to phase) may be used as the prediction samples for the current block; see [0030], One unit may include one luma block and two chroma (ex. Cb, cr) blocks).
At the time before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to modify Huo using Paluri’s teachings to generate, for the current chroma block, chroma bi-prediction blocks in order to enhance efficiency in image/video coding (Paluri; [0006]).
As to claim 13, modified Huo further discloses generating a second final chroma prediction block of the current chroma block by applying preset weights to the chroma bi-prediction blocks (Huo; see [0385], calculating the predicted chroma value Cpred[i][j] by using cWeight[i][j][k]; see [0398], results of multiplication are accumulated to obtain the predicted chroma value Cpred[i][j] of the to-be-predicted pixel, that is, weighted prediction of the chroma component is achieved)).
Modified Huo fails to explicitly disclose selecting an optimal chroma prediction block between the first final chroma prediction block and the second final chroma prediction block.
However, Paluri teaches selecting an optimal chroma prediction block between the first final chroma prediction block and the second final chroma prediction block (see [0104]).
At the time before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to further modify Huo using Paluri’s teachings to g select an optimal chroma prediction block between the first final chroma prediction block and the second final chroma prediction block in order to enhance efficiency in image/video coding (Paluri; [0006]).
As to claim 14, the combination of Huo and Paluri further discloses further comprising: determining a flag indicating whether the weights are to be derived based on whether the optimal chroma prediction block is the first final chroma prediction block or the second final chroma prediction block; and encoding the flag (Paluri; see [0124], [0146]).
As to claim 15, the combination of Huo and Paluri further discloses further comprising: generating, for the luma block, the first luma prediction block, the second luma prediction block, and the final luma reconstruction block (Huo; FIG. 10 and [0276]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-11 are 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
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/BOUBACAR ABDOU TCHOUSSOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2482