DETAILED ACTION
1. This communication is being filed in response to the submission dated on 11/13/2024 in which a three (3) month Shortened Statutory Period for Response has been set.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Acknowledgements
3. Upon initial entry, claims (1 -21) appear pending on this Application, of which (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 18, 21) are the eleven (11) independent claims on record.
NOTE: Claim 21 appears as independent (A non-transitory recording medium for recording a bit stream), mapped as dependent of Claim 18. Proper clarification and or rework is required moving forward.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) that was/were submitted on 11/13/2024 and 12/09/2025, is/are PARTIALLY in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS has/have been considered by the examiner.
4.1. Multiple entries from the IDS have been discarded, for failure to cite the relevant pages in the publication. Each one of the submitted publications must comply with the 37 CFR 1.98 provisions, in order evaluate the corresponded information listed, to be considered by the Office. See also MPEP [37 CFR 1.98(b); - Each publication must be identified by publisher, author (if any), title, relevant pages of the publication, and date and place of the publication.]
Specification
5. The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine
the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting
any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Drawings
6. The submitted Drawings on date 11/13/2024, has been accepted and considered under the 37 CFR 1.121 (d).
Interview
7. Examiner provided this Interview dated on (01/15/2026), in accordance with MPEP § 713.04, to request an oral election to the restriction requirement, but did not result in an election being made. See attached Interview Summary for more details.
7.1. The Examiner undersigned thanks Atty. M. Wallerson (R.N.: 59,043) for the courtesy extended during Interview.
7.2. As per no agreement reached in the Interview, an official Election/Restriction request appears below as following:
Restriction
8. Restriction to one of the following inventions is required under 35 U.S.C. 121:
The MPEP §803 sets forth the criteria for restriction between patentably distinct inventions as following;
_ (A) the inventions must be independent (see MPEP §802.01, §806.04, §808.01) or distinct as claimed (see MPEP §806.05-806.05 (i));
_ (B) there must be a serious burden on Examiner if restriction is not required (see MPEP §803.02, §806.04(a), §806.04(i), §808.01(a) and §808.02).
8.1. Independent Claims (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 18, 21) recite a set of independent generic type embodiments/species, as illustrated in Fig. 1 [0068], Fig. 2 [specs; 0070], Fig. 6 [specs; 0105], Fig. 8 [specs; 0114]; divided as following:
GROUP I - (Claims 1, 2-3, 4-5, 6, 12); generate a prediction block by performing intra prediction on a current block for a DC mode;
GROUP II - (Claims 7, 8 -11, 14-17; 18-21); generate a prediction block by performing prediction on a prediction target pixel in a current block based on prediction mode of the current block;
GROUP III - (Claims 12, 13); different specie/embodiment - mapped into apparatus (100, 200), and specifically using a predictor module (120, 240), adder (175, 255);
8.2. The inventions are distinct, each from the other because of the presented “species Examples” as filed: they do not overlap in scope, they are not obvious variants, they are also considered as separately usable.
8.3. Because of the reasons given above, and the because a search required for each one of the Examples/Embodiments, also acquired a separate status in the art and different classifications, a restriction is indicated is proper, for examination purpose.
CONCLUSIONS
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUIS PEREZ-FUENTES (luis.perez-fuentes@uspto.gov) whose telephone number is (571) 270 -1168. The examiner can be normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8am-5pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, WILLIAM VAUGHN can be reached on (571) 272-3922. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 272 -3922. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published Applic. may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call (800) 786 -9199 (USA OR CANADA) or (571) 272 -1000.
/LUIS PEREZ-FUENTES/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2481.