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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 12 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 12-16, 1-5, 21, 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mammou et al. (US 20210090301 A1) in view of Barnett et al. (Data Structures and Algorithms).
Regarding claim 12. Mammou discloses A method of mesh encoding (abstract, an encoder configured to compress and encode data for a three-dimensional mesh using a video encoding technique), comprising:
generating a seam vertex queue that includes one or more UV vertices of a plurality of UV vertices of a mesh (abstract, the encoder determines boundary stitching information for the sub-meshes; [0008] the relative location of a pixel corresponding to a vertex in a geometry patch that has been generated based on projection of the sub-mesh onto the patch plane, respective X and Y locations signaled as texture or attribute coordinates for a corresponding texture or attribute patch), the one or more UV vertices in the seam vertex queue indicating disconnected positions of the mesh (figure 3A, figure 3B, abstract, determines boundary stitching information for the sub-meshes), each of the one or more UV vertices in the seam vertex queue belonging to a respective UV vertex group of a plurality of seam UV vertex groups ([0538] boundary stitching information may specify how vertices belonging to different patches may be merged to stitch the seams introduced during the patch generation and the texture mapping processes together; [0555] reconstructs the mesh connectivity C(i) by stitching the patches connectivities PC(i,0), PC(i,1), . . . , PC(i,M−1), by exploiting the boundary stitching information), each of the plurality of seam UV vertex groups corresponding to a same three-dimensional (3D) vertex of the mesh in a 3D space ([0016] the boundary stitching information is further used to merge vertices of adjacent sub-meshes that correspond to a same vertex in the reconstructed three-dimensional mesh; [0555] During this process one or multiple vertices are merged together to generate a single vertex; claim 8);
determining an initial UV vertex of the mesh based on whether the seam vertex queue includes an unvisited UV vertex that is in a seam UV vertex group of a top UV vertex of the seam vertex queue, inclusion of the unvisited UV vertex indicating a first unvisited UV vertex in the seam UV vertex group is to be selected as the initial UV vertex of the mesh ([0016] the boundary stitching information is further used to merge vertices of adjacent sub-meshes that correspond to a same vertex in the reconstructed three-dimensional mesh; [0555] During this process one or multiple vertices are merged together to generate a single vertex; claim 8 (inherently, information about UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex are grouped in the boundary stitching information, for each 3D vertex; and at the decoder side, UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex are traversed one by one in order to stitch together the UV vertices, for each 3D vertex)); and
encoding UV coordinates of the mesh based on the initial UV vertex (figure 15; [0563] boundary stitching information compression module 1516 may compress the boundary stitching information; [0545]-[0551]).
However, Mammou doesn’t explicitly disclose traversing and grouping UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex.
Barnett discloses an algorithm for searching a singly linked list (page 10, 2.1.2 Searching, Searching a linked list is straightforward: we simply traverse the list checking the value we are looking for with the value of each node in the linked list).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the invention of Barnett in the invention of Mammou, to search and group UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex together, in order to effectively encode the mesh.
Regarding claim 1. The same analysis has been stated in claim 12 (corresponding decoding method).
Regarding claim 21. The same analysis has been stated in claim 12.
Furthermore, Mammou discloses encoding a bitstream, and transmitting the encoded bitstream (abstract, A decoder receives a bit stream as generated by the encoder).
Regarding claim 9. Mammou discloses The method of claim 1, further comprising:
determining a current UV vertex in a same seam UV vertex group as the initial UV vertex, the current UV vertex being unvisited ([0016] the boundary stitching information is further used to merge vertices of adjacent sub-meshes that correspond to a same vertex in the reconstructed three-dimensional mesh; [0555] During this process one or multiple vertices are merged together to generate a single vertex; claim 8 (inherently, information about UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex are grouped in the boundary stitching information, for each 3D vertex; and at the decoder side, UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex are traversed one by one in order to stitch together the UV vertices, for each 3D vertex)); and
reconstructing UV vertices of a current face that is incident to the current UV vertex (figure 16, [0567] Video decompression module 1604 may video decode two-dimensional image frames comprising packed geometry patches. Also, mesh decompression module 1606 may use a mesh decoding algorithm to decode the compressed patch mesh information to generate patch connectivity and patch texture coordinates. This information may represent mesh information for sub-meshes corresponding to the patches. Also, patch information decompression module 1608 may decompress the patch information, such as information indicating the 2D bounding box, 3D bounding box, and projection plane for the patches).
However, Mammou doesn’t explicitly disclose traversing and grouping UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex.
Barnett discloses an algorithm for searching a singly linked list (page 10, 2.1.2 Searching, Searching a linked list is straightforward: we simply traverse the list checking the value we are looking for with the value of each node in the linked list).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the invention of Barnett in the invention of Mammou, to search and group UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex together, in order to effectively encode the mesh.
Regarding claims 13, 2. Mammou discloses The method of claim 12, wherein the determining the initial UV vertex of the mesh further comprises:
when the seam vertex queue has the unvisited UV vertex that is in the seam UV vertex group of the top UV vertex, determining the first unvisited UV vertex of the seam UV vertex group of the top UV vertex as the initial UV vertex ([0016] the boundary stitching information is further used to merge vertices of adjacent sub-meshes that correspond to a same vertex in the reconstructed three-dimensional mesh; [0555] During this process one or multiple vertices are merged together to generate a single vertex; claim 8 (inherently, information about UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex are grouped in the boundary stitching information, for each 3D vertex; and at the decoder side, UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex are traversed one by one in order to stitch together the UV vertices, for each 3D vertex)); and
determining a visited UV vertex immediately before the initial UV vertex in the seam UV vertex group of the top UV vertex as a reference UV vertex of the initial UV vertex ([0016] the boundary stitching information is further used to merge vertices of adjacent sub-meshes that correspond to a same vertex in the reconstructed three-dimensional mesh; [0555] During this process one or multiple vertices are merged together to generate a single vertex; claim 8 (inherently, unvisited vertices are merged with visited vertices)).
However, Mammou doesn’t explicitly disclose traversing and grouping UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex.
Barnett discloses an algorithm for searching a singly linked list (page 10, 2.1.2 Searching, Searching a linked list is straightforward: we simply traverse the list checking the value we are looking for with the value of each node in the linked list).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the invention of Barnett in the invention of Mammou, to search and group UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex together, in order to effectively encode the mesh.
Regarding claims 14, 3. Mammou discloses The method of claim 12, wherein the determining the initial UV vertex of the mesh further comprises:
when the seam vertex queue has no unvisited UV vertices that are in the seam UV vertex group of the top UV vertex, determining whether a UV vertex subsequent to the top UV vertex in the seam vertex queue has one or more unvisited UV vertices that are in the seam UV vertex group of the subsequent UV vertex ([0016] the boundary stitching information is further used to merge vertices of adjacent sub-meshes that correspond to a same vertex in the reconstructed three-dimensional mesh; [0555] During this process one or multiple vertices are merged together to generate a single vertex; claim 8 (inherently, information about UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex are grouped in the boundary stitching information, for each 3D vertex; and at the decoder side, UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex are traversed one by one in order to stitch together the UV vertices, for each 3D vertex)); and
determining a first unvisited UV vertex of the one or more unvisited vertices in the seam UV vertex group of the subsequent vertex as the initial UV vertex when the subsequent UV vertex in the seam vertex queue has the one or more unvisited UV vertices ([0016] the boundary stitching information is further used to merge vertices of adjacent sub-meshes that correspond to a same vertex in the reconstructed three-dimensional mesh; [0555] During this process one or multiple vertices are merged together to generate a single vertex; claim 8 (inherently, information about UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex are grouped in the boundary stitching information, for each 3D vertex; and at the decoder side, UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex are traversed one by one in order to stitch together the UV vertices, for each 3D vertex)).
However, Mammou doesn’t explicitly disclose traversing and grouping UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex.
Barnett discloses an algorithm for searching a singly linked list (page 10, 2.1.2 Searching, Searching a linked list is straightforward: we simply traverse the list checking the value we are looking for with the value of each node in the linked list).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the invention of Barnett in the invention of Mammou, to search and group UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex together, in order to effectively encode the mesh.
Regarding claims 15, 4. Mammou discloses The method of claim 12, wherein the determining the initial UV vertex of the mesh further comprises:
when the seam vertex queue is empty, determining whether another seam vertex queue of the mesh includes one or more unvisited UV vertices ([0016] the boundary stitching information is further used to merge vertices of adjacent sub-meshes that correspond to a same vertex in the reconstructed three-dimensional mesh; [0555] During this process one or multiple vertices are merged together to generate a single vertex; claim 8 (inherently, information about UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex are grouped in the boundary stitching information, for each 3D vertex; and at the decoder side, UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex are traversed one by one in order to stitch together the UV vertices, for each 3D vertex));
when the other seam vertex queue of the mesh includes the one or more unvisited UV vertices, determining one of the one or more unvisited UV vertices in the other seam vertex queue as the initial vertex ([0016] the boundary stitching information is further used to merge vertices of adjacent sub-meshes that correspond to a same vertex in the reconstructed three-dimensional mesh; [0555] During this process one or multiple vertices are merged together to generate a single vertex; claim 8 (inherently, information about UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex are grouped in the boundary stitching information, for each 3D vertex; and at the decoder side, UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex are traversed one by one in order to stitch together the UV vertices, for each 3D vertex)); and
determining a visited UV vertex immediately before the initial UV vertex as a reference UV vertex of the initial UV vertex ([0016] the boundary stitching information is further used to merge vertices of adjacent sub-meshes that correspond to a same vertex in the reconstructed three-dimensional mesh; [0555] During this process one or multiple vertices are merged together to generate a single vertex; claim 8 (inherently, unvisited vertices are merged with visited vertices)).
However, Mammou doesn’t explicitly disclose traversing and grouping UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex.
Barnett discloses an algorithm for searching a singly linked list (page 10, 2.1.2 Searching, Searching a linked list is straightforward: we simply traverse the list checking the value we are looking for with the value of each node in the linked list).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the invention of Barnett in the invention of Mammou, to search and group UV vertices that correspond to a same 3D vertex together, in order to effectively encode the mesh.
Regarding claims 16, 5. Mammou discloses The method of claim 13, wherein the encoding further comprises:
encoding UV coordinates of the initial UV vertex based on UV coordinates of the reference UV vertex of the initial UV vertex ([0016] the boundary stitching information is further used to merge vertices of adjacent sub-meshes that correspond to a same vertex in the reconstructed three-dimensional mesh; [0555] During this process one or multiple vertices are merged together to generate a single vertex; claim 8 (inherently, unvisited vertices are merged with visited vertices)).
Claims 18 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mammou et al. (US 20210090301 A1) in view of Barnett et al. (Data Structures and Algorithms) as applied above in claims 12 and 13, and further in view of ZAKHARCHENKO et al. (US 20240289997 A1).
Regarding claims 18, 7. Mammou discloses The method of claim 13, wherein the encoding further comprises:
determining an initial face based on the initial UV vertex, the initial face being incident to the initial UV vertex and including a subset of the plurality of UV vertices of the mesh (figure 15, [0561] the patch generation module 1502 receives texture coordinates T(i) indicating locations of the vertices of the sub-meshes that correspond to texture or attribute images and texture connectivity TC(i) indicating how the vertices of the sub-meshes are to be connected together);
ZAKHARCHENKO discloses
determining a reference face that is incident to the reference UV vertex (figure 1A, [0036]; figure 1B, [0038]; [0039] Attributes, such as coordinates and normals of a vertex, can be predicted from adjacent faces using various predictive algorithms, such as parallelogram prediction); and
encoding UV coordinates of a second UV vertex of the initial face based on UV coordinates of a UV vertex in the reference face that is prior to the reference UV vertex (figure 1A, [0036]; figure 1B, [0038]; [0039] Attributes, such as coordinates and normals of a vertex, can be predicted from adjacent faces using various predictive algorithms, such as parallelogram prediction).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the inventions of Mammou, Barnett and ZAKHARCHENKO, to encode UV coordinates based on UV coordinates of a UV vertex in the reference face, in order to efficiently compress 3D content (ZAKHARCHENKO [0039]).
Claims 17, 19 and 6, 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mammou et al. (US 20210090301 A1) in view of Barnett et al. (Data Structures and Algorithms) as applied above in claim 12, and further in view of MARVIE et al. (WO 2024208852 A1).
Regarding claims 17, 6. Mammou discloses The method of claim 12, wherein the encoding further comprises:
determining an initial face based on the initial UV vertex, the initial face being incident to the initial UV vertex and including a subset of the plurality of UV vertices of the mesh (figure 15, [0561] the patch generation module 1502 receives texture coordinates T(i) indicating locations of the vertices of the sub-meshes that correspond to texture or attribute images and texture connectivity TC(i) indicating how the vertices of the sub-meshes are to be connected together); and
MARVIE discloses
encoding UV coordinates of a second UV vertex of the initial face based on UV coordinates of the initial UV vertex (figure 43B, [0059] min stretch prediction of corner c UV coordinates).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the inventions of Mammou, Barnett and MARVIE, to encode UV coordinates of a second UV vertex of the initial face based on UV coordinates of the initial UV vertex within the initial face, in order to efficiently code mesh data (MARVIE abstract).
Regarding claim 19. Mammou discloses The method of claim 12, wherein the encoding further comprises:
determining an initial face based on the initial UV vertex, the initial face being incident to the initial UV vertex and including a subset of the plurality of UV vertices of the mesh (figure 15, [0561] the patch generation module 1502 receives texture coordinates T(i) indicating locations of the vertices of the sub-meshes that correspond to texture or attribute images and texture connectivity TC(i) indicating how the vertices of the sub-meshes are to be connected together);
MARVIE discloses
encoding UV coordinates of a third UV vertex of the initial face based on a stretch prediction (figure 43B, [0059] min stretch prediction of corner c UV coordinates); and
encoding UV coordinates of a UV vertex of the initial face that is different from the initial UV vertex, a second UV vertex, and the third UV vertex based on a within-parallelogram prediction (figure 43A, [0058] multi parallelogram prediction of corner c positions; [0199] A parallelogram to predict corner c from a sibling corner altC is valid for prediction only if the vertices of altC. o, altC. n, and altC. p were already processed by the connectivity recursion (which invokes the prediction)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the inventions of Mammou, Barnett and MARVIE, to encode UV coordinates based on stretch predictions and parallelogram predictions, in order to efficiently code mesh data (MARVIE abstract).
Regarding claim 8. The same analysis has been stated in claim 19.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-11 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
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XIAOLAN XU whose telephone number is (571)270-7580. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. to Fri. 9am-5pm.
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/XIAOLAN XU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2488
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