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 .
DETAIL ACTION
Priority
This application claims priority to U.S provisional Patent Application No. 63541737, filed on 9/29/2023 and is hereby incorporated by references.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 10/7/2024 and 2/11/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I species I, Figure 4, in the reply filed on 1/26/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 8-16 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected group, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 1/26/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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) 1-7 and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MEARDI et al (US 20220272342 A1) in view of LELEANNEC et al (US 20200045313 A1).
Regarding claim 1, MEARDI discloses a method of video decoding [e.g. FIG. 3 and 4; decoding process], comprising: receiving a bitstream [e.g. encoded stream] that comprises coded information of a current block [e.g. quantization parameters for coding blocks in encoded stream], the coded information of the current block comprising coded bits of quantized transform coefficients in a transform domain of the current block [e.g. FIG. 11-13; quantized transform coefficients of the coding block based at least in part of the at least one dequantization parameter in bitstream], the coded information being indicative of at least a scaling factor to be used during a dequantization of the quantized transform coefficients [e.g. FIG. 11; The scaling factor can then be used to generate a scaled quantization parameter to be used in dequantized the quantized data]; determining one or more quantization shifting offsets for a reconstruction of transform coefficients in the transform domain based on at least the scaling factor [e.g. FIG. 8 and 11-13; a quantization offset may be subtracted from a residual or coefficient value before quantization]; reconstructing the transform coefficients from the quantized transform coefficients based on the one or more quantization shifting offsets [e.g. 8; [010-0164]]; calculating residuals in a pixel domain of the current block based on the transform coefficients in the transform domain [e.g. FIG. 3-4, 8 and 13; [0007, 0125 and 0198]; residual data; pixel elements; domain of transformed coefficients; computing and comparing an original image signal with a reconstructed image signal by subtracting calculation]; and reconstructing the current block according to the residuals [e.g. FIG. 2, 4 and 13; combining residuals to generate reconstructed signal]
It is noted that MEARDI differs to the present invention in that MEARDI fails to explicitly disclose the residuals in spatial domain.
However, LELEANNEC teaches the well-known concept of calculating residuals in a spatial domain of the current block based on the transform coefficients in the transform domain [e.g. FIG. 3-4 and 7-8; residual block is in the spatial domain and the transform domain; Residuals are calculated by subtracting a block of prediction samples from the original image block], and reconstructing the current block according to the residuals in the spatial domain [e.g. FIG. 3 and 7; an image block is reconstructed by combining the decoded residuals and the block of prediction samples].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the video signal decoding system disclosed by MEARDI to exploit the well-known video decoding technique taught by LELEANNEC as above, in order to ensure that the scaling factor that the norm of a corresponding residual block is preserved between the spatial domain and the transform domain [See LELEANNEC; [0099 and 0147]].
Regarding claim 2, MEARDI and LELEANNEC further disclose determining a single quantization shifting offset value for the transform coefficients [e.g. MEARDI: FIG. 3-4 and 8; [0160-0165]].
Regarding claim 3, MEARDI and LELEANNEC further disclose at least the scaling factor include a single scaling factor value for the transform coefficients associated with positions in the transform domain of the current block [e.g. MEARDI: FIG. 8 and 11-13; [0160-0162 and 0175-0177]], the determining the single quantization shifting offset value further comprises at least one of: determining the single quantization shifting offset value according to a linear function of the single scaling factor value [e.g. MEARDI: FIG. 8 and 11-13; [0058; 0160-0162 and 0175-0177]; linear function], parameters of the linear function being predefined constants; and/or determining the single quantization shifting offset value according to a predefined function of the single scaling factor value [e.g. MEARDI: FIG. 8 and 11-13; [0160-0162 and 0175-0177]].
Regarding claim 4, MEARDI and LELEANNEC further disclose at least the scaling factor include scaling factor values respectively for the transform coefficients at respective positions in the transform domain of the current block [e.g. MEARDI: FIG. 8 and 11-13; [0160-0162 and 0175-0177]], the determining the single quantization shifting offset value further comprises at least one of: determining the single quantization shifting offset value according to a linear function of a combination of the scaling factor values, parameters of the linear function being predefined constants [e.g. MEARDI: FIG. 8 and 11-13; [0160-0162 and 0175-0177]]; and/or determining the single quantization shifting offset value according to a predefined function of a combination of the scaling factor values.
Regarding claim 5, MEARDI and LELEANNEC further disclose determining respective quantization shifting offset values for the transform coefficients at respective positions in the transform domain of the current block [e.g. MEARDI: FIG. 8 and 11-13; [0160-0162 and 0175-0177]].
Regarding claim 6, MEARDI and LELEANNEC further disclose at least the scaling factor include a single scaling factor value for the transform coefficients associated with positions in the transform domain of the current block [e.g. MEARDI: FIG. 8 and 11-13; [0160-0162 and 0175-0177]], and the determining the respective quantization shifting offset values further comprises: determining a first quantization shifting offset value for a first transform coefficient at a first position in the transform domain of the current block according to a linear function of a combination of the single scaling factor value and the first position [e.g. MEARDI: FIG. 8 and 11-13; [0160-0162 and 0175-0177]], parameters of the linear function being predefined constants; and/or determining the first quantization shifting offset value according to a first predefined function of the single scaling factor value, the first predefined function being associated with the first position [e.g. MEARDI: FIG. 8 and 11-13; [0160-0162 and 0175-0177]].
Regarding claim 7, MEARDI and LELEANNEC further disclose at least the scaling factor include respective scaling factor values for the transform coefficients at respective positions in the transform domain of the current block [e.g. MEARDI: FIG. 8 and 11-13; [0160-0162 and 0175-0177]], the determining the quantization shifting offset values further comprises at least one of: determining a first quantization shifting offset value for a first transform coefficient at a first position in the transform domain of the current block according to a linear function of a first scaling factor at the first position, parameters of the linear function being predefined constants [e.g. MEARDI: FIG. 8 and 11-13; [0160-0162 and 0175-0177]]; and/or determining the first quantization shifting offset value for the first transform coefficient at the first position in the transform domain of the current block according to a predefined function of the first scaling factor at the first position [e.g. MEARDI: FIG. 8 and 11-13; [0160-0162 and 0175-0177]].
Regarding claim 17-20, this is an encoding method that includes same limitation as in claim 1 and 3-5 above respectively, the rejection of which are incorporated herein.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
ALSHINA et al (US 20170064316 A1).
ZHANG et al (US 20250379981 A1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZHUBING REN whose telephone number is (571)272-2788. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Ustaris can be reached at 571-2727383. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ZHUBING REN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2483
Prosecution Insights