DETAILED ACTION
1. This Office Action is sent in response to Applicant s communication received on 11/30/2024 for application number 18/964,406. The Office herby acknowledges receipt of the following and placed of record in file: Specification, Drawings, Abstract, Oath/Declaration, and claims.
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 .
Priority
3. Acknowledgment is made of applicant s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/30/2024 & 02/26/2025 is in accordance with provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Preliminary Amendments
5. The preliminary amendments filed 11/30/2024 has been entered and made of record.
Double Patenting
6. The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
7. A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
8. The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
9. Claims 16-23 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-8 of U.S. Patent No. 12,200,272. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other: Table 1 shows comparison between the instant claims and the U.S. Patent 12,200,272 B1 claims.
App:18/964,406
16. A method of decoding an image with a decoding apparatus, comprising: dividing, with the decoding apparatus, a picture into a plurality of coding tree blocks; dividing, with the decoding apparatus, a coding tree block based on a tree-based division to determine a current block, the tree-based division including at least one of a quad division, a binary division, or a triple division; determining, with the decoding apparatus, reference samples for intra prediction of the current block; generating, with the decoding apparatus, a prediction block of the current block based on the reference samples; obtaining, with the decoding apparatus, a residual block of the current block; and reconstructing the current block based on the prediction block and the residual block, wherein dividing the coding tree block comprises: dividing, based on the quad division, the coding tree block into four first coding blocks; and dividing, based on the triple division, one of the four first coding blocks into three second coding blocks, wherein the four first coding blocks have a same size, and wherein one of the three second coding blocks has a size greater than a size of each of the other two of the three second coding blocks.
Patent No.: 12,200,272
1. A method of decoding an image with a decoding apparatus, comprising: dividing, with the decoding apparatus, a picture into a plurality of coding tree blocks; dividing, with the decoding apparatus, a coding tree block based on a tree-based division to determine a current block, the tree-based division including at least one of a quad division, a binary division, or a triple division; determining, with the decoding apparatus, reference samples for intra prediction of the current block; and generating, with the decoding apparatus, a prediction block of the current block based on the reference samples, wherein dividing the coding tree block comprises: dividing, based on the quad division, the coding tree block into four first coding blocks; and dividing, based on the triple division, one of the four first coding blocks into three second coding blocks, wherein the four first coding blocks have a same size, and wherein one of the three second coding blocks has a size greater than a size of each of the other two of the three second coding blocks.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the other two of the three second coding blocks have a same size, and wherein a size of the one of the three second coding blocks is twice a size of each of the other two of the three second coding blocks.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the other two of the three second coding blocks have a same size, and wherein a size of the one of the three second coding blocks is twice a size of each of the other two of the three second coding blocks.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the one of the three second coding blocks is located between the other two of the three second coding blocks.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one of the three second coding blocks is located between the other two of the three second coding blocks.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of the three second coding blocks is further divided, based on the binary division, into two third coding blocks, wherein the binary division is performed using first information and second information signaled from a bitstream, and wherein the first information indicates whether to divide based on the binary division and the second information indicates whether a division direction is a vertical direction or a horizontal direction.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein at least one of the three second coding blocks is further divided, based on the binary division, into two third coding blocks, wherein the binary division is performed using first information and second information signaled from a bitstream, and wherein the first information indicates whether to divide based on the binary division and the second information indicates whether a division direction is a vertical direction or a horizontal direction.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein, with respect to the binary division for the at least one of the three second coding blocks, it is restricted so as not to be divided in a same division direction as a division direction of the triple division for the one of the four first coding blocks.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein, with respect to the binary division for the at least one of the three second coding blocks, it is restricted so as not to be divided in a same division direction as a division direction of the triple division for the one of the four first coding blocks.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein the restriction is applied only to the one of the three second coding blocks located between the other two of the three second coding blocks.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the restriction is applied only to the one of the three second coding blocks located between the other two of the three second coding blocks.
22. A method of encoding an image with an encoding apparatus, comprising: dividing, with the encoding apparatus, a picture into a plurality of coding tree blocks; dividing, with the encoding apparatus, a coding tree block based on a tree-based division to determine a current block, the tree-based division including at least one of a quad division, a binary division, or a triple division; determining, with the encoding apparatus, reference samples for intra prediction of the current block; generating, with the encoding apparatus, a residual block of the current block based on a prediction block of the current block, the prediction block being generated based on the reference samples; and encoding, with the encoding apparatus, the residual block of the current block, wherein dividing the coding tree block comprises: dividing, based on the quad division, the coding tree block into four first coding blocks; and dividing, based on the triple division, one of the four first coding blocks into three second coding blocks, wherein the four first coding blocks have a same size, and wherein one of the three second coding blocks has a size greater than a size of each of the other two of the three second coding blocks.
7. A method of encoding an image with an encoding apparatus, comprising: dividing, with the encoding apparatus, a picture into a plurality of coding tree blocks; dividing, with the encoding apparatus, a coding tree block based on a tree-based division to determine a current block, the tree-based division including at least one of a quad division, a binary division, or a triple division; determining, with the encoding apparatus, reference samples for intra prediction of the current block; and generating, with the encoding apparatus, a residual block of the current block based on a prediction block of the current block, the prediction block being generated based on the reference samples, wherein dividing the coding tree block comprises: dividing, based on the quad division, the coding tree block into four first coding blocks; and dividing, based on the triple division, one of the four first coding blocks into three second coding blocks, wherein the four first coding blocks have a same size, and wherein one of the three second coding blocks has a size greater than a size of each of the other two of the three second coding blocks.
23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for storing compressed data associated with an image signal, the compressed data being generated by an image encoding method, the image encoding method comprising: dividing a picture into a plurality of coding tree blocks; dividing a coding tree block based on a tree-based division to determine a current block, the tree-based division including at least one of a quad division, a binary division, or a triple division; determining reference samples for intra prediction of the current block; generating a residual block of the current block based on a prediction block of the current block, the prediction block being generated based on the reference samples; and encoding the residual block of the current block, wherein dividing the coding tree block comprises: dividing, based on the quad division, the coding tree block into four first coding blocks; and dividing, based on the triple division, one of the four first coding blocks into three second coding blocks, wherein the four first coding blocks have a same size, and wherein one of the three second coding blocks has a size greater than a size of each of the other two of the three second coding blocks.
8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for storing compressed data associated with an image signal, the compressed data being generated by an image encoding method, the image encoding method comprising: dividing a picture into a plurality of coding tree blocks; dividing a coding tree block based on a tree-based division to determine a current block, the tree-based division including at least one of a quad division, a binary division, or a triple division; determining reference samples for intra prediction of the current block; and generating a residual block of the current block based on a prediction block of the current block, the prediction block being generated based on the reference samples, wherein dividing the coding tree block comprises: dividing, based on the quad division, the coding tree block into four first coding blocks; and dividing, based on the triple division, one of the four first coding blocks into three second coding blocks, wherein the four first coding blocks have a same size, and wherein one of the three second coding blocks has a size greater than a size of each of the other two of the three second coding blocks.
Allowable Subject Matter
10. Claims 16-23 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20240015339 A1
US 20180139453 A1
US 20180098097 A1
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HOWARD D BROWN JR whose telephone number is (571)272-4371. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30AM - 5:00PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sathyanarayanan Perungavoor can be reached at 5712727455. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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HOWARD D. BROWN JR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2488
/HOWARD D BROWN JR/Examiner, Art Unit 2488