Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/909,187

ENCODING METHOD, DECODING METHOD, AND DECODING DEVICE

Non-Final OA §103§DP
Filed
Oct 08, 2024
Examiner
CHANG, DANIEL
Art Unit
2487
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
64%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 10m
To Grant
76%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 64% of resolved cases
64%
Career Allow Rate
233 granted / 367 resolved
+5.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +13% lift
Without
With
+13.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
45 currently pending
Career history
412
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.8%
-34.2% vs TC avg
§103
51.4%
+11.4% vs TC avg
§102
11.4%
-28.6% vs TC avg
§112
17.8%
-22.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 367 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §DP
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 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 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 of this title, 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. Claims 1-3 & 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aono et al. (US 2022/0060741 A1(hereinafter Aono) in view of Huo et al. (WO 2020/029202 A1) (hereinafter Huo). Regarding claim 1, Aono discloses a method for decoding [Paragraph [0146], Fig. 20(a), image decoding device], comprising: determining reference information of a current block [Paragraph [0146]-[0171], Fig. 20(a) & 39, decoding device identifies reference pictures in reference picture memory as reference information]; performing a filtering process on at least partial information in the reference information of the current block, to determine target information of the current block [Paragraph [0179]-[0227], Fig. 39, filtered reference image configuration unit 3103 applies reference pixel filter to reference pixels to generate filtered reference image in an effort to generate prediction target blocks]; and determining reconstructed values of second color component samples of the current block according to the prediction block [Paragraph [0159]-[0279] & [0625]-[0634], residual signal added to prediction images to generate decoded image, including chrominance component]. However Aono does not explicitly disclose determining a respective one of weighting coefficients according to each of reference sample values of a first color component in the target information; and determining a prediction block of a second color component of the current block according to the weighting coefficients and reference sample values of a second color component in the target information. Huo teaches of determining a respective one of weighting coefficients according to each of reference sample values of a first color component in the target information [Paragraph [0047]-[0067], Obtaining weight coefficient using weight calculation model (5) based on adjacent reference value of first image component]; and determining a prediction block of a second color component of the current block according to the weighting coefficients and reference sample values of a second color component in the target information [Paragraph [0099]-[0116], Obtain second image component with second image component adjacent reference value and scale factors (based upon weight coefficients), using formulas (6) and (7)]. It would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Aono to effectively improve prediction precision of a second image component prediction value, and make a second image component prediction value closer to a real component value (Huo, Paragraph [0005]). Regarding claim 2, Aono and Huo disclose the method of claim 1, and are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to the claim. Furthermore, Huo teaches wherein the prediction block comprises predicted values of at least a part of the second color component samples in the current block [Paragraph [0099]-[0132], obtaining the second image component prediction value corresponding to the current coding block based on the scale factor]. It would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Aono to effectively improve prediction precision of a second image component prediction value, and make a second image component prediction value closer to a real component value (Huo, Paragraph [0005]). Regarding claim 3, Aono and Huo disclose the method of claim 1, and are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to the claim. Furthermore, Huo teaches wherein determining the reference information of the current block comprises: determining the reference information of the current block according to values of first color component samples in a neighboring area of the current block, values of second color component samples in the neighboring area of the current block, and reconstructed values of first reference color component samples in the current block [Paragraph [0043], The component neighboring reference values, for example, as shown in FIG. 5 above, are calculated using all neighboring first image component neighboring reference values L (n) and all second image component neighboring reference values C (n) to obtain the scale factors α and β. Then, the reconstruction value of the first image component of the current coding block is substituted into the linear model to obtain the predicted value of the second image component of the current coding block.] It would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Aono to effectively improve prediction precision of a second image component prediction value, and make a second image component prediction value closer to a real component value (Huo, Paragraph [0005]). Regarding claim 16, Aono and Huo disclose the method of claim 1, and are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to the claim. Furthermore Huo teaches wherein determining the respective one of the weighting coefficients according to each of the reference sample values of the first color component in the target information comprises: determining a respective value corresponding to each of the reference sample values of the first color component under a preset mapping relationship; and setting the respective one of the weighting coefficients to be equal to the respective value [Paragraph [0047]-[0067], Obtaining weight coefficient using weight calculation model (5) as preset mapping relationship, based on adjacent reference value of first image component and setting to scaling factor]. It would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Aono to effectively improve prediction precision of a second image component prediction value, and make a second image component prediction value closer to a real component value (Huo, Paragraph [0005]). Regarding claim 17, Aono and Huo disclose the method of claim 1, and are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to the claim. Furthermore, Huo teaches wherein determining the prediction block of the second color component of the current block according to the weighting coefficients and the reference sample values of the second color component in the target information comprises: determining a respective weighted value between each of the reference sample values of the second color component and a weighting coefficient corresponding to the reference sample value; and setting a predicted value of a respective one of second color component samples in the prediction block to be equal to a sum of N weighted values, wherein N indicates a number of the reference sample values of the second color component, and N is a positive integer [Paragraph [0111]-[0115], Obtaining weight coefficient using formulas (6) and (7) with sum of N weighted values w(n)]. It would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Aono to effectively improve prediction precision of a second image component prediction value, and make a second image component prediction value closer to a real component value (Huo, Paragraph [0005]). Regarding claim 18, Aono and Huo disclose the method of claim 1, and are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to the claim. Furthermore, Huo teaches wherein determining the reconstructed values of the second color component samples of the current block according to the prediction block comprises: for each of the second color component samples of the current block, determining a predicted difference value of the second color component sample; determining a predicted value of the second color component sample according to the prediction block; and determining a reconstructed value of the second color component sample according to the predicted difference value of the second color component sample and the predicted value of the second color component sample [Paragraph [0086]-[0096] & [0152], Obtaining difference values between first and second image components]. It would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method disclosed by Aono to effectively improve prediction precision of a second image component prediction value, and make a second image component prediction value closer to a real component value (Huo, Paragraph [0005]). Regarding claim 19, claim 19 is drawn to a method for encoding having limitations similar to the method of decoding of using the same as claimed in claim 1 treated in the above rejection. Therefore, method claim 19 correspond to method claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used above. Regarding claim 20, claim 20 is drawn to a device for decoding having limitations similar to the method of decoding of using the same as claimed in claim 1 treated in the above rejections. Therefore, device claim 20 corresponds to method claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used above. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 4-15 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, and overcoming the nonstatutory double patenting rejections outlined above. Claims 4-15 contain allowable subject matter. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The various claimed limitations mentioned in the claims are not taught or suggested by the prior art taken either singly or in combination, with emphasize that it is each claim, taken as a whole, including the interrelationships and interconnections between various claimed elements make them allowable over the prior art of record. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL CHANG whose telephone number is (571)272-5707. The examiner can normally be reached M-Sa, 12PM - 10 PM. 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, David Czekaj can be reached at 571-272-7327. 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. /DANIEL CHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2487
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 08, 2024
Application Filed
Dec 27, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103, §DP (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12593069
LOW MEMORY DESIGN FOR MULTIPLE REFERENCE LINE SELECTION SCHEME
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12587672
DECOUPLED MODE INFERENCE AND PREDICTION
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12574541
IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD AND ASSOCIATED IMAGE PROCESSING CIRCUIT
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12570145
AUTOSTEREOSCOPIC CAMPFIRE DISPLAY
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12574513
METHOD AND DEVICE FOR ENCODING/DECODING VIDEO SIGNAL BY USING OPTIMIZED CONVERSION BASED ON MULTIPLE GRAPH-BASED MODEL
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

AI Strategy Recommendation

Get an AI-powered prosecution strategy using examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Powered by AI — typically takes 5-10 seconds

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
64%
Grant Probability
76%
With Interview (+13.0%)
2y 10m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 367 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month