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 Amendment
This action is in response to the remark entered on April 3, 2026.
Claim 1-12 & 14-21 are pending in the instant application.
Claims 1, 3-5, 9-10, 12, 14 & 18-19 are amended.
Claims 20-21 are newly added.
Claim 13 is cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 04/03/2026, page 8-9 with respect to the obviousness double patenting rejection of claims 1-20 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The terminal disclaimed filed 04/03/2026 obviates this rejection. The rejection is withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments filed 04/03/2026, page 9-14 with respect to the rejection of claims 1, 10 & 19 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered, but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant asserts that the combination of Lim, Lainema, and Chen do not teach or suggest the new features of amended claims 1, 10 & 19.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees and deems them moot because Lainema and Chen teach or suggest new features 1 and 2, respectively.
Regarding new feature 1, Paragraphs [0113]-[0117] & [0128], Formula (2) in Lainema discusses of determining the sampling interval between [x,y], or [nH,nS-1], based upon length nS of block size nSxnS, along with 2 or ¾ that the Examiner reads as the preset number of samples. Thus, Lainema teaches new feature 1.
Regarding new feature 2, Chen already teaches wherein the CCLM is used to represent a prediction relationship between a first color component and a corresponding second color component in the current block, and performing CCLM decoding on the current block based on the model parameters, wherein Sec 3.3.1.4, a cross-component linear model (CCLM) prediction mode is used in the VTM3, for which the chroma samples are predicted based on the reconstructed luma samples of the same CU by using a linear model parameters using linear model parameter
α
α
and
β
β
.
Furthermore, the Applicant asserts that, “Lainema inevitably fails to disclose the feature "determining model parameters for a Cross-Component Linear Model (CCLM) based on the determined reference samples, wherein the CCLM is used to represent a prediction relationship between a first color component and a corresponding second color component in the current block, and performing CCLM decoding on the current block based on the model parameters,“ and “Chen does not disclose or suggest determination of a reference point and a sampling interval based on a length of the at least one side and a preset number of samples, let alone specify determination of the reference samples positions based on the reference point and the sampling interval, as claimed in the present invention.” However, these points are moot because the Examiner relies upon Lim and Lainema to teach new feature 1, and Chen to teach new feature 2 as outlined in the rejection below. In response to Applicant's arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986).
Therefore the rejection of claims 1, 10 & 19 under 35 USC 103 is maintained.
Applicant’s remarks filed 04/03/2026, page 14, with respect to the patentability of claims 2, 8-9, 11 & 17-18 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered, but they are not persuasive.
Applicant relies on the patentability of the claims from which these claims depend to traverse the rejection without prejudice to any further basis for patentability of these claims based on the additional elements recited.
Examiner cannot concur with the Applicant because the combination of Lim, Lainema, and Chen teaches independent claims 1 & 10 as outlined below. Thus, claims 2, 8-9, 11 & 17-18 are also rejected for the similar reasons as outlined below.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on April 3, 2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of US 11,297,313 B2, US 11,785,208 B2, US 11,683,478 B2, US 11,677,936 B2, and US 12,225,188 B3 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
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 1-2, 8, 10-11, 17 & 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over in view of Lim et al. (US 2018/0176592 A1) (hereinafter Lim) in view of Lainema et al. (US 2013/0094776 A1) (hereinafter Lainema), and further in view of CHEN J ET AL., "Algorithm description for Versatile Video Coding and Test Model 3 (VTM 3)," 12. JVET MEETING; 10181003 - 20181012; MACAO; (THE JOINT VIDEO EXPLORATION TEAM OF ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 AND ITU-T SG.16 ), no. JVET-L1002 24 December 2018 (2018-12-24), XP030251962 (hereinafter Chen).
Regarding claim 1, Lim discloses a prediction method for decoding [Abstract and Paragraph [0022], block prediction method for a decoder], comprising:
acquiring reference samples adjacent to at least one side of a current block [Paragraph [0102]-[0118], Figs. 4-5, Neighboring samples used as reference samples for current block, as decoding block];
determining a reference point; determining reference sample positions corresponding to the at least one side according to the reference point and the preset number of samples [Paragraph [0102]-[0115], Fig. 5b, Determining specific reference point (e.g., an nth & mth sample), as reference point, and then determining some of the left neighboring samples of the block to be predicted from top down to nth sample, and some of the upper neighboring samples from the leftmost side to mth sample, wherein the preset number equal to (0 to n) + (0 to m), or 8 accordingly to Fig. 5b, wherein the position of the left upper neighboring sample may include (−1,−1), the positions of the left neighboring samples may include (−1,0), . . . , (−1,nCH−1), and the positions of the upper neighboring samples may include (0,−1), . . . , (nCW−1,−1)];
determining reference samples corresponding to the reference sample positions from the reference samples adjacent to the at least one side of the current block [Paragraph [0102]-[0115], Fig. 5b, determining some of the left neighboring samples of the block to be predicted from top down to nth sample, and some of the upper neighboring samples from the leftmost side to mth sample, to derive reference IC parameters].
However, Lim does not explicitly disclose calculating a first sampling interval based on a length of the at least one side; and determining reference sample positions corresponding to the at least one side according to the first sampling interval.
Lainema teaches calculating a first sampling interval based on a length of the at least one side and a preset number of samples; and determining reference sample positions corresponding to the at least one side according to the first sampling interval [Paragraph [0113]-[0117] & [0128], Formula (2), sampling interval between [x,y], or [nH,nS-1], based upon length nS of block size nSxnS, with 2 or ¾ as preset number of samples].
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 Lim to add the teachings of Lainema as above, for the provision of improving the prediction accuracy and hence possibly reducing information to be transmitted in video coding systems (Lainema, Paragraph [0088]).
Lastly, Lim and Lainema do not explicitly disclose determining model parameters for Cross-Component Linear Model Prediction (CCLM) based on the determined reference samples, wherein the CCLM is used to represent a prediction relationship between a first color component and a corresponding second color component in the current block, and performing CCLM decoding on the current block based on the model parameters.
Chen teaches of determining model parameters for Cross-Component Linear Model Prediction (CCLM) based on the determined reference samples, wherein the CCLM is used to represent a prediction relationship between a first color component and a corresponding second color component in the current block, and performing CCLM decoding on the current block based on the model parameters [Sec 3.3.1.4, a cross-component linear model (CCLM) prediction mode is used in the VTM3, for which the chroma samples are predicted based on the reconstructed luma samples of the same CU by using a linear model parameters Linear model parameter
α
α
and
β
β
].
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 Lim to add the teachings of Chen as above, for Chroma DM mode, the intra prediction mode of the corresponding luma block covering the center position of the current chroma block is directly inherited, thus reducing bandwidth and increasing coding efficiency (Chen, Sec 3.3.1.4).
Regarding claim 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one side comprises at least one of a left side or an upper side of the current block [Paragraph [0102]-[0118], Figs. 4-5, Neighboring samples along left and upper sides used as reference samples for current block, as decoding block].
Regarding claim 8, Lim, Lainema, and Chen disclose the method of claim 1, and are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to the claim.
Furthermore, Lim discloses wherein the current block comprises a square block or a non-square block [Paragraph [0102]-[0118], Figs. 4-5, Showing current block as a square block of size 8x8].
Regarding claims (10-11 & 17), claims (10-11 & 17) are drawn to a prediction method for encoding having reciprocal limitations similar to the prediction method for decoding of using the same as claimed in claims (1-2 & 8) treated in the above rejection. Therefore, claims (10-11 & 17) corresponds to method claims (1-2 & 8) and are rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used above.
Furthermore, Lim discloses of a prediction method for encoding [Paragraph [0021], picture encoding method].
Regarding claim 19, video coding system claim 19 is drawn to the video coding system using/performing the same method as claimed in claim 10. Therefore video coding system claim 19 corresponds to method claim 10, and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used above.
Regarding claim 20, Lim, Lainema, and Chen disclose the method of claim 1, and are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to the claim.
Furthermore, Lainema teaches wherein determining the reference point and calculating the first sampling interval based on the length of the at least one side and the preset number of samples comprises: determining a first value of the first sampling interval and a second value of the reference point based on a number of reference samples of the at least one side and the preset number of samples, wherein the second value is half of the first value [Paragraph [0113]-[0117] & [0128], Formula (2), sampling interval between [x,y], or [nH,nS-1], based upon length nS of block size nSxnS, with 2 or ¾ as preset number of samples, wherein first value of the sampling value is 2, and with nH = nS/2, second value is 1].
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 Lim to add the teachings of Lainema as above, for the provision of improving the prediction accuracy and hence possibly reducing information to be transmitted in video coding systems (Lainema, Paragraph [0088]).
Regarding claim 21, claim 21 is drawn to a prediction method for encoding having reciprocal limitations similar to the prediction method for decoding of using the same as claimed in claim 20 treated in the above rejection. Therefore, claim 21 corresponds to method claim 20 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used above.
Claims 9 & 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over in view of Lim et al. (US 2018/0176592 A1) (hereinafter Lim), Lainema et al. (US 2013/0094776 A1) (hereinafter Lainema), and CHEN J ET AL., "Algorithm description for Versatile Video Coding and Test Model 3 (VTM 3)," 12. JVET MEETING; 10181003 - 20181012; MACAO; (THE JOINT VIDEO EXPLORATION TEAM OF ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 AND ITU-T SG.16 ), no. JVET-L1002 24 December 2018 (2018-12-24), XP030251962 (hereinafter Chen) in view of Laroche et al., “CE3-5.1: On cross-component linear model simplification,” 12. JVET MEETING; 20181003 - 20181012; MACAO; (THE JOINT VIDEO EXPLORATION TEAM OF ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 AND ITU-T SG.16 ), no. JVET-L0191, 07 October 2018 (2018-10-07) (hereinafter Laroche).
Regarding claim 9, Lim, Lainema, and Chen disclose the method of claim 1, and are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to the claim.
However, Lim, Lainema, and Chen do not disclose the particulars of claim 9.
Laroche teaches wherein determining the model parameters for the CCLM based on the determined reference samples comprises: determining, from the determined reference samples, a maximum Lmax and minimum Lmin of first colour component neighbouring reference values and second colour component neighbouring reference values Cmax and Cmin corresponding to reference samples at positions corresponding to Lmax and Lmin; and calculating the model parameters according to Lmax, Lmin, Cmax and Cmin [2 Proposed Method, Fig. 1, The 2 points (couple of Luma and Chroma) (A, B) are the minimum and maximum values inside the set of neighboring Luma samples, Where the linear model parameters
α
and
β
are obtained according to the following equation:
PNG
media_image1.png
246
264
media_image1.png
Greyscale
β
=
∑
C
n
-
α
·
∑
L
n
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 Lim to add the teachings of Laroche as above, for Chroma DM mode, for the least means square algorithm is replaced by a straight line equation between the maximum and minimum reference samples in order to reduce the worst case decoding and complexity. (Laroche, 5 Conclusion).
Regarding claim 18, claim 18 is drawn to a prediction method for encoding having reciprocal limitations similar to the prediction method for decoding of using the same as claimed in claim 9 treated in the above rejection. Therefore, method claim 18 corresponds to method claim 9 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used above.
Furthermore, Lim discloses of a prediction method for encoding [Paragraph [0021], picture encoding method].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7, 12, 14-16 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 3-7, 12, 14-16 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
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 DANIEL CHANG whose telephone number is (571)272-5707. The examiner can normally be reached M-Sa, 12PM - 10 PM.
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.
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/DANIEL CHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2487
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