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 .
Double Patenting
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).
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 § 2146 et seq. 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).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1-9 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-4, 6-9 and 11 of U.S. Patent No. 12,219,176 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims in the instant application are covered by the scope of the claims in U.S. Patent No. 12,219,176.
Instant Application No. 18/969,789
U.S. Patent No. 12,219,176
1. A video decoding method, the method performed by an apparatus and comprising: obtaining flag information indicating whether index information indicating horizontal transform kernel and a vertical transform kernel is signaled for an intra prediction block in a bitstream; obtaining prediction mode information indicating whether a current block is the intra predicted block; obtaining a plurality of transform coefficients for residual samples of the current block, wherein the plurality of transform coefficients are two-dimensionally arranged; based on the flag information indicating that the index information is not signaled for the intra predicted block in the bitstream and the prediction mode information indicating that the current block is the intra predicted block: determining, based on length information of a first side of the current block, the horizontal transform kernel for horizontal transformation of the plurality of transform coefficients, regardless of a length of a second side of the current block, wherein the second side is orthogonal to the first side, and determining, based on length information of the second side of the current block, the vertical transform kernel for vertical transformation of the plurality of transform coefficients, regardless of a length of the first side of a length of the first side of the current block; obtaining the residual samples of the current block by performing, based on the plurality of transform coefficients, inverse transformation using the horizontal transform kernel and the vertical transform kernel; and reconstructing the current block based on the obtained residual samples, wherein, based on the length of the first side having a value outside a preconfigured range and the length information of the second side having a value within the preconfigured range, the horizontal transform kernel is determined to be a first kernel and the vertical transform kernel is determined to be a second transform kernel, and wherein the first transform kernel is a discrete cosine transform type 2 (DCT-2)-based transform kernel, and the second transform kernel is not the DCT-2 based transform kernel.
1. A video decoding method, the method performed by an apparatus and comprising: obtaining flag information indicating whether index information indicating a horizontal transform kernel and a vertical transform kernel is signaled for an intra predicted block in a bitstream; obtaining prediction mode information indicating whether a current block is the intra predicted block; obtaining a plurality of transform coefficients for residual samples of the current block, wherein the plurality of transform coefficients are two-dimensionally arranged; based on the flag information indicating that the index information is not signaled for the intra predicted block in the bitstream and the prediction mode information indicating that the current block is the intra predicted block: determining, based on length information of a first side of the current block, the horizontal transform kernel for horizontal transformation of the plurality of transform coefficients, regardless of a length of a second side of the current block, wherein the second side is orthogonal to the first side, and determining, based on length information of the second side of the current block, the vertical transform kernel for vertical transformation of the plurality of transform coefficients, regardless of a length of the first side of the current block; obtaining the residual samples of the current block by performing, based on the plurality of transform coefficients, inverse transformation using the horizontal transform kernel and the vertical transform kernel; and reconstructing the current block based on the obtained residual samples, and reconstructing the current block based on the obtained residual samples, wherein, based on the length information of the second side having a value outside a preconfigured range and the length information of the first side having a value within the preconfigured range, the vertical transform kernel is determined to be a first transform kernel and the horizontal transform kernel is determined to be a second transform kernel, and wherein the first transform kernel is a discrete cosine transform type 2 (DCT-2)-based transform kernel, and the second transform kernel is not the DCT-2-based transform kernel.
Claim 2 of the instant application corresponds to claim 2 of U.S. Patent No. 12,192,525 B2.
Claim 3 of the instant application corresponds to claim 3 of U.S. Patent No. 12,192,525 B2.
Claim 4 of the instant application corresponds to claim 4 of U.S. Patent No. 12,192,525 B2.
Claim 5 of the instant application corresponds to claim 6 of U.S. Patent No. 12,192,525 B2.
Claim 6 of the instant application corresponds to claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 12,192,525 B2.
Claim 7 of the instant application corresponds to claim 8 of U.S. Patent No. 12,192,525 B2.
Claim 8 of the instant application corresponds to claim 9 of U.S. Patent No. 12,192,525 B2.
Claim 9 of the instant application corresponds to claim 11 of U.S. Patent No. 12,192,525 B2.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Lim et al., (U.S. Patent No. 11,102,494 B2).
Regarding claim 9, the recitation of “a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a bitstream …” is a product by process claim limitation where the product is the bitstream and the process is the decoding method. MPEP 2113 recites “Product-by Process claims are not limited to the manipulations of the recited steps, only the structure implied by the steps”. Thus, the scope of the claim is the storage medium storing the bitstream (with the structure implied by the decoding steps). The structure includes the data manipulated by the decoding steps. “To be given patentable weight, the printed matter and associated product must be in a functional relationship. A functional relationship can be found where he printed matter performs some function with respect to the product to which it is associated”. MPEP 2111.05(I)(A). When a claimed “computer-readable medium merely serves as a support for information or data, no functional relationship exists. MPEP 2111.05 (III). The storage non-transitory computer-readable medium storing the bitstream in claim 9 merely serves as a support for the storage of the bitstream and provides no functional relationship between the stored bitstream and the storage medium. Therefore, the bitstream, which scope is implied by the method steps, is non-functional descriptive material and given no patentable weight. MPEP 2111.05(III). Thus, the claim scope is just a storage medium storing data and is anticipated by Lim et al., (U.S. Patent No. 11,102,494 B2) which recites a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a bitstream which is received by an image decoding apparatus, see claim 10.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Choi et al., (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0203990 A1) Video Decoding Method and Apparatus by Chroma-Multi-Transform, And Video Encoding Method and Apparatus by Chroma-Multi-Transform”
Salehifar et al., (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0211727 A1) Image Coding Method Based On Multiple Transform Selection And Device Therefor
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA PRINCE whose telephone number is (571)270-1821. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-3:30 P.M..
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JESSICA PRINCE
Examiner
Art Unit 2486
/JESSICA M PRINCE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2486