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 .
Applicant(s) Response to Official Action
The response filed on 07/01/2026 has been entered and made of record
Response to Arguments/Amendments
Presented arguments have been fully considered, but some are rendered moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection necessitated by amendment(s) initiated by the applicant(s).
Claim Interpretation
Independent claims 1, 13 and 18 recite “determining a scanning unit for a current block” and independent claim 22 recites “a scanning unit for the current block is determined”. Cancelled claim 5 (filed on 12/27/2024) recited “the scanning unit is a coefficient group unit determined based on a size of the current block”.
¶0012 of the application as field discloses “In the method for decoding the image, the scanning unit may be determined in any one of a coefficient group unit, an individual coefficient unit, and a combined unit”.
¶0036 of the application as filed discloses “FIGS. 7 to 9 are views for illustrating a scanning unit according to an embodiment of the present invention”.
¶0078 of the application as filed discloses “Transform Unit: means a basic unit when performing encoding/decoding such as transform, inverse-transform, quantization, dequantization, transform coefficient encoding/decoding of a residual signal. A single transform unit may be partitioned into a plurality of transform units having a small size”.
¶0082 of the application as filed discloses “Scan means a method of sequencing coefficients within a block or a matrix. For example, changing a two-dimensional matrix of coefficients into a one-dimensional matrix may be referred to as scanning, and changing a one-dimensional matrix of coefficients into a two-dimensional matrix may be referred to as scanning or inverse scanning”.
¶0156 of the application as filed discloses “Unit refers to an encoding and decoding unit. When encoding and decoding an image, the unit may be a region generated by partitioning a single image. In addition, the unit may mean a subdivided unit when a single image is partitioned into subdivided units during encoding or decoding. When encoding and decoding an image, a predetermined process for each unit may be performed. A single unit may be partitioned into sub-units that have sizes smaller than the size of the unit. Depending on functions, the unit may mean a block, a macroblock, a coding tree unit, a code tree block, a coding unit, a coding block), a prediction unit, a prediction block, a residual unit), a residual block, a transform unit, a transform block, etc. In addition, in order to distinguish a unit from a block, the unit may include a luma component block, a chroma component block associated with the luma component block, and a syntax element of each color component block. The unit may have various sizes and forms, and particularly, the form of the unit may be a two-dimensional geometrical figure such as a rectangular shape, a square shape, a trapezoid shape, a triangular shape, a pentagonal shape, etc.”
¶0160 of the application as filed discloses “Transform coefficients may be scanned in at least one scanning unit. A scanning unit of transform coefficients according to an embodiment of the present invention may be any one of a coefficient group unit, an individual coefficient unit, and a combined unit.”
From the Applicant’s disclosure, it seems that a “scanning unit” = “coefficient group unit” = “transform unit”. Therefore, Examiner will interpret “scanning unit” = “transform coefficients of a current block” = “transform coefficients in a rectangle” = “transform coefficient within one coefficient group”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Applicant has not pointed out where the amended claim 1 is supported, nor does there appear to be a written description of the claim limitation ‘an inverse diagonal scanning order’ in the original disclosure.
When an amendment is filed in reply to an objection or rejection based on 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, a study of the entire application is often necessary to determine whether or not "new matter" is involved. Applicant should therefore specifically point out the support for any amendments made to the disclosure. MPEP 2163.06 I.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 17-18 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Charles Benjamin Dieterich [US 6100940 A].
A bit stream generated by a method, the method comprising… is a product by process claim limitation where the product is the bit stream and the process is the method steps to generate the bitstream. 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 method steps). The structure includes the information and samples manipulated by the 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 the 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 medium storing the claimed bitstream in claims 17-18 and 21 merely serve as a support for the storage of the bitstream and provides no functional relationship between the stored bitstream and storage medium. Therefor the structure 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 Charles which recites a storage medium storing a bitstream (Col 16, line 50-55).
Claims 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 13, 14, 16, 22 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Joel Sole Rojals et al. [US 20120328026 A1].
Regarding claim 1, Joel teaches:
1. (Currently Amended) An image decoding (i.e. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example video encoding and decoding system that may utilize the techniques of this disclosure- ¶0016) method, comprising:
determining a scanning unit for a current block (i.e. As one example, the context for each significant coefficient flag of the block includes a type of the block (e.g., block size), and a position of a coefficient corresponding to the respective flag within the block according to a scanning order associated with the block- ¶0040); obtaining transform coefficients of the current block (i.e. For further compression, the residual data may be transformed from the pixel domain to a transform domain, resulting in residual transform coefficients, which then may be quantized. The quantized transform coefficients, initially arranged in a two-dimensional array, may be scanned in order to produce a one-dimensional vector of transform coefficients, and entropy coding may be applied to achieve even more compression- ¶0005); and arranging the transform coefficients of the current block by performing scanning on the transform coefficients of the current block based on the scanning unit, wherein the scanning is performed according to a scanning order of the current block (i.e. The video encoder may scan the quantized transform coefficients to convert a two-dimensional matrix of quantized transform coefficients into a one-dimensional vector including the quantized transform coefficients. The process of scanning the coefficients is sometimes referred to as serializing the coefficients- ¶0032… A video decoder may perform generally reciprocal techniques to the encoding techniques performed by the video encoder. Although generally reciprocal, the video decoder may, in some instances, perform techniques similar to those performed by the video encoder- ¶0034),
wherein, according to the scanning order (i.e. reverse diagonal scan pattern- ¶0021), among transform coefficients in a rectangle (i.e. For example, video decoder 30 may map absolute values of transform coefficient levels maps of each square (or rectangular) 8.times.8 block and larger onto an ordered set (e.g., vector) of 4.times.4 sub-blocks by using a forward zig-zag scan. Video decoder 30 may then process the transform coefficient levels inside each 4.times.4 sub-block in a reverse zig-zag scan to produce a vector of transform coefficient levels.- ¶0138), a rightmost lowermost transform coefficient is scanned first, a transform coefficient above the rightmost lowermost transform coefficient is scanned second, a transform coefficient to the left of the rightmost lowermost transform coefficient is scanned third, and a leftmost uppermost transform coefficient among the transform coefficients in the rectangle is scanned last(i.e. FIG. 5B is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example reverse diagonal scan pattern for scanning transform coefficients of a block of video data- ¶0021… FIG. 5B illustrates a reverse diagonal scan pattern 186 for scanning transform coefficients of a block of video data (e.g., transform coefficients associated with a TU). In general, the reverse diagonal scan pattern 186 traverses the block at a 45 degree angle from right to left and from bottom to top. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 5B, a first coefficient 188 is a DC component positioned at the lower right corner of the block, while a last coefficient 190 to be scanned is positioned at the top left corner of the block- ¶0124),
wherein the transform coefficients in the rectangle are transform coefficients within one coefficient group among a plurality of coefficient groups (i.e. into sub-blocks 226A, 226B, 226C, and 226D- ¶0144) of the current block (i.e. In a similar manner as described with respect to FIG. 7A, video decoder 30 may divide block 224 of FIG. 7B into sub-blocks 226A, 226B, 226C, and 226D while decoding block 220. In the example shown in FIG. 7B, first sub-block 226A includes a 4×4 block of transform coefficients positioned in the lower right corner of block 224, a second sub-block 226B includes a 4×4 block of transform coefficients positioned in the upper right corner of block 224, a third sub-block 226C includes a 4×4 block of transform coefficients positioned in the lower left corner of block 224, and a fourth sub-block 226D includes a 4×4 block of transform coefficients positioned in the upper left corner of block 224- ¶0144), and
wherein, according to the scanning order, scanning of a rightmost lowermost coefficient group among the plurality of coefficient groups is performed first, scanning of a coefficient group above the rightmost lowermost coefficient group among the plurality of coefficient groups is performed second, scanning of a coefficient group to the left of the rightmost lowermost coefficient group among the plurality of coefficient groups is performed third, and scanning of a leftmost uppermost coefficient group among the plurality of coefficient groups is performed last (i.e. FIG. 7B is another example conceptual diagram illustrating dividing a block of transform coefficients associated with a block of video data into sub-sets in the form of sub-blocks- ¶0025).
Regarding claim 2, Joel teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Joel further teaches:
wherein a transform skip is not applied to the current block (i.e. Inverse quantization unit 58 and inverse transform unit 60 apply inverse quantization and inverse transformation, respectively, to reconstruct the residual block in the pixel domain, e.g., for later use as a reference block- ¶0107).
Regarding claim 3, Joel teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Joel further teaches:
wherein the scanning order is an inverse diagonal scanning order (i.e. i.e. reverse diagonal scan pattern- ¶0021).
Regarding claim 5, Joel teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Joel further teaches:
wherein a size of each coefficient group is determined based on a size of the current block (i.e. In addition, while the examples shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate 8.times.8 blocks of transform coefficients with 4.times.4 sub-blocks, it should be understood that the techniques of this disclosure may be applied to blocks of other sizes, as well as sub-blocks of other sizes. For example, a sub-block may include any n.times.n block of transform coefficients of a transform unit (TU), where n.times.n is smaller than the size of the TU. In addition, sub-blocks of equal sizes, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, may provide certain help to achieve hardware efficiency (e.g., hardware may be optimized to work with a static sub-block size). However, in other examples, the techniques of this disclosure may be applied to sub-blocks having different sizes- ¶0147)
Regarding claim 7, Joel teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Joel further teaches:
wherein an inverse-transform is applied to the arranged transform coefficients of the current block (i.e. Inverse quantization unit 58 and inverse transform unit 60 apply inverse quantization and inverse transformation, respectively, to reconstruct the residual block in the pixel domain, e.g., for later use as a reference block- ¶0107).
Regarding claim 13, Joel teaches:
13. (Currently Amended) An image encoding method (i.e. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a video encoder that may implement any or all of the techniques of this disclosure- ¶0017), comprising:
obtaining transform coefficients of the current block (i.e. For further compression, the residual data may be transformed from the pixel domain to a transform domain, resulting in residual transform coefficients, which then may be quantized. The quantized transform coefficients, initially arranged in a two-dimensional array, may be scanned in order to produce a one-dimensional vector of transform coefficients, and entropy coding may be applied to achieve even more compression- ¶0005); determining a scanning unit for a current block (i.e. As one example, the context for each significant coefficient flag of the block includes a type of the block (e.g., block size), and a position of a coefficient corresponding to the respective flag within the block according to a scanning order associated with the block- ¶0040); and arranging the transform coefficients of the current block by performing scanning on the transform coefficients of the current block based on the scanning unit, wherein the scanning is performed according to a scanning order of the current block (i.e. The video encoder may scan the quantized transform coefficients to convert a two-dimensional matrix of quantized transform coefficients into a one-dimensional vector including the quantized transform coefficients. The process of scanning the coefficients is sometimes referred to as serializing the coefficients- ¶0032… A video decoder may perform generally reciprocal techniques to the encoding techniques performed by the video encoder. Although generally reciprocal, the video decoder may, in some instances, perform techniques similar to those performed by the video encoder- ¶0034),
wherein, according to the scanning order (i.e. reverse diagonal scan pattern- ¶0021), among transform coefficients in a rectangle (i.e. For example, video decoder 30 may map absolute values of transform coefficient levels maps of each square (or rectangular) 8.times.8 block and larger onto an ordered set (e.g., vector) of 4×4 sub-blocks by using a forward zig-zag scan. Video decoder 30 may then process the transform coefficient levels inside each 4×4 sub-block in a reverse zig-zag scan to produce a vector of transform coefficient levels- ¶0138), a rightmost lowermost transform coefficient is scanned first, a transform coefficient above the rightmost lowermost transform coefficient is scanned second, a transform coefficient to the left of the rightmost lowermost transform coefficient is scanned third, and a leftmost uppermost transform coefficient among the transform coefficients in the rectangle is scanned last(i.e. FIG. 5B is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example reverse diagonal scan pattern for scanning transform coefficients of a block of video data- ¶0021… FIG. 5B illustrates a reverse diagonal scan pattern 186 for scanning transform coefficients of a block of video data (e.g., transform coefficients associated with a TU). In general, the reverse diagonal scan pattern 186 traverses the block at a 45 degree angle from right to left and from bottom to top. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 5B, a first coefficient 188 is a DC component positioned at the lower right corner of the block, while a last coefficient 190 to be scanned is positioned at the top left corner of the block- ¶0124),
wherein the transform coefficients in the rectangle are transform coefficients within one coefficient group among a plurality of coefficient groups (i.e. into sub-blocks 226A, 226B, 226C, and 226D- ¶0144) of the current block (i.e. In a similar manner as described with respect to FIG. 7A, video decoder 30 may divide block 224 of FIG. 7B into sub-blocks 226A, 226B, 226C, and 226D while decoding block 220. In the example shown in FIG. 7B, first sub-block 226A includes a 4×4 block of transform coefficients positioned in the lower right corner of block 224, a second sub-block 226B includes a 4×4 block of transform coefficients positioned in the upper right corner of block 224, a third sub-block 226C includes a 4×4 block of transform coefficients positioned in the lower left corner of block 224, and a fourth sub-block 226D includes a 4×4 block of transform coefficients positioned in the upper left corner of block 224- ¶0144), and
wherein, according to the scanning order, scanning of a rightmost lowermost coefficient group among the plurality of coefficient groups is performed first, scanning of a coefficient group above the rightmost lowermost coefficient group among the plurality of coefficient groups is performed second, scanning of a coefficient group to the left of the rightmost lowermost coefficient group among the plurality of coefficient groups is performed third, and scanning of a leftmost uppermost coefficient group among the plurality of coefficient groups is performed last (i.e. FIG. 7B is another example conceptual diagram illustrating dividing a block of transform coefficients associated with a block of video data into sub-sets in the form of sub-blocks- ¶0025).
Regarding claim 14, Joel teaches all the limitations of claim 13 and Joel further teaches
wherein a transform skip is not applied to the current block (i.e. Inverse quantization unit 58 and inverse transform unit 60 apply inverse quantization and inverse transformation, respectively, to reconstruct the residual block in the pixel domain, e.g., for later use as a reference block- ¶0107).
Regarding claim 16, Joel teaches all the limitations of claim 13 and Joel further teaches
wherein a transform is performed on residual samples of the current block according to a transform method indicated by transform method information (i.e. The inverse transform module 78 applies an inverse transform, e.g., an inverse DCT, an inverse integer transform, an inverse KLT, an inverse rotational transform, an inverse directional transform, or another inverse transform. In some examples, the inverse transform module 78 may determine an inverse transform based on signaling from the video encoder 20, or by inferring the transform from one or more coding characteristics such as block size, coding mode, or the like. In some examples, the inverse transform module 78 may determine a transform to apply to the current block based on a signaled transform at the root node of a quadtree for an LCU including the current block. In some examples, the inverse transform module 78 may apply a cascaded inverse transform- ¶0204).
Regarding claim 22, Joel teaches:
22. (New) A method of transmitting a bitstream, the method (i.e. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a video decoder, which decodes an encoded video sequence- ¶0018) comprising:
transmitting the bitstream (i.e. Entropy encoding unit 56 also may construct header information with appropriate syntax elements for transmission in the encoded video bitstream- ¶0106), wherein the bitstream includes information on transform coefficients of a current block (i.e. The video encoder may then apply an entropy coding process to entropy encode the scanned coefficients- ¶0333), wherein a scanning unit for the current block is determined (i.e. As one example, the context for each significant coefficient flag of the block includes a type of the block (e.g., block size), and a position of a coefficient corresponding to the respective flag within the block according to a scanning order associated with the block- ¶0040), wherein transform coefficients of the current block are arranged by performing scanning on the transform coefficients of the current block based on the scanning unit, wherein the scanning is performed according to a scanning order of the current block(i.e. The video encoder may scan the quantized transform coefficients to convert a two-dimensional matrix of quantized transform coefficients into a one-dimensional vector including the quantized transform coefficients. The process of scanning the coefficients is sometimes referred to as serializing the coefficients- ¶0032… A video decoder may perform generally reciprocal techniques to the encoding techniques performed by the video encoder. Although generally reciprocal, the video decoder may, in some instances, perform techniques similar to those performed by the video encoder- ¶0034),
wherein, according to the scanning order (i.e. reverse diagonal scan pattern- ¶0021), among transform coefficients in a rectangle (i.e. For example, video decoder 30 may map absolute values of transform coefficient levels maps of each square (or rectangular) 8.times.8 block and larger onto an ordered set (e.g., vector) of 4×4 sub-blocks by using a forward zig-zag scan. Video decoder 30 may then process the transform coefficient levels inside each 4×4 sub-block in a reverse zig-zag scan to produce a vector of transform coefficient levels- ¶0138, a rightmost lowermost transform coefficient is scanned first, a transform coefficient above the rightmost lowermost transform coefficient is scanned second, a transform coefficient to the left of the rightmost lowermost transform coefficient is scanned third, and a leftmost uppermost transform coefficient among the transform coefficients in the rectangle is scanned last (i.e. FIG. 5B is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example reverse diagonal scan pattern for scanning transform coefficients of a block of video data- ¶0021… FIG. 5B illustrates a reverse diagonal scan pattern 186 for scanning transform coefficients of a block of video data (e.g., transform coefficients associated with a TU). In general, the reverse diagonal scan pattern 186 traverses the block at a 45 degree angle from right to left and from bottom to top. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 5B, a first coefficient 188 is a DC component positioned at the lower right corner of the block, while a last coefficient 190 to be scanned is positioned at the top left corner of the block- ¶0124),
wherein the transform coefficients in the rectangle are transform coefficients within one coefficient group among a plurality of coefficient groups (i.e. into sub-blocks 226A, 226B, 226C, and 226D- ¶0144) of the current block (i.e. In a similar manner as described with respect to FIG. 7A, video decoder 30 may divide block 224 of FIG. 7B into sub-blocks 226A, 226B, 226C, and 226D while decoding block 220. In the example shown in FIG. 7B, first sub-block 226A includes a 4×4 block of transform coefficients positioned in the lower right corner of block 224, a second sub-block 226B includes a 4×4 block of transform coefficients positioned in the upper right corner of block 224, a third sub-block 226C includes a 4×4 block of transform coefficients positioned in the lower left corner of block 224, and a fourth sub-block 226D includes a 4×4 block of transform coefficients positioned in the upper left corner of block 224- ¶0144),, and
wherein, according to the scanning order, scanning of a rightmost lowermost coefficient group among the plurality of coefficient groups is performed first, scanning of a coefficient group above the rightmost lowermost coefficient group among the plurality of coefficient groups is performed second, scanning of a coefficient group to the left of the rightmost lowermost coefficient group among the plurality of coefficient groups is performed third, and scanning of a leftmost uppermost coefficient group among the plurality of coefficient groups is performed last (i.e. FIG. 7B is another example conceptual diagram illustrating dividing a block of transform coefficients associated with a block of video data into sub-sets in the form of sub-blocks- ¶0025).
Regarding claim 23, Joel teaches all the limitations of claim 22 and Joel further teaches:
wherein a transform skip is not applied to the current block (i.e. Inverse quantization unit 58 and inverse transform unit 60 apply inverse quantization and inverse transformation, respectively, to reconstruct the residual block in the pixel domain, e.g., for later use as a reference block- ¶0107).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 CLIFFORD HILAIRE whose telephone number is (571)272-8397. The examiner can normally be reached 5:30-1400.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SATH V PERUNGAVOOR can be reached at (571)272-7455. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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CLIFFORD HILAIRE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2488
/CLIFFORD HILAIRE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2488
Prosecution Insights