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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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 obviousness-type 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); and 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 a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the conflicting application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement.
Effective January 1, 1994, a registered attorney or agent of record may sign a terminal disclaimer. A terminal disclaimer signed by the assignee must fully comply with 37 CFR 3.73(b).
Claims 1, 8, and 15 with dependent claims thereof, are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1 and 15 and any dependent claims thereof of U.S. Patent No. 9754594. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because said claims of the instant application includes all of the features of said claims of U.S. Patent No. 9754594. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to omit the step of split subbands with high/low frequency, for a broader representation, In re Karlson 136 USPQ 184 (1963): "Omission of an element and its function is an obvious expedient if the remaining elements perform the same functions as before"
Present invention Conflicting claims
1. A method, comprising:adjusting, based on an adjustment factor, a quantized energy envelope of a subband of a frame of an audio signal to obtain an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband;performing, based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope, bit allocation for a plurality of subbands of the frame, wherein at least one subband in the plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bit;quantizing, based on the at least one allocated bit, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subband to obtain quantized spectral coefficients; andobtaining a bitstream that includes the quantized spectral coefficients.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:obtaining a signal type of the subband; andobtaining, based at least in part on the signal type, the adjustment factor.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the signal type comprises harmonic or non-harmonic.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the signal type is indicated by a flag.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:obtaining a reference parameter of the subband; and
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the frame.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the reference parameter is a flag.
8. An apparatus, comprising:at least one processor; andone or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to:adjust, based on an adjustment factor, a quantized energy envelope of a subband of a frame of an audio signal to obtain an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband;perform, based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope, bit allocation for a plurality of subbands of the frame, wherein at least one subband in the plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bit;quantize, based on the at least one allocated bit, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subband to obtain quantized spectral coefficients; andobtain a bitstream that includes the quantized spectral coefficients.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to:obtain a signal type of the subband; andobtain, based at least in part on the signal type, the adjustment factor.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the signal type comprises harmonic or non-harmonic.
11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the signal type is indicated by a flag.
12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to:obtain a reference parameter of the subband; and
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the frame.
14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the reference parameter is a flag.
15. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, that when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least processor to:adjust, based on an adjustment factor, a quantized energy envelope of a subband of a frame of an audio signal to obtain an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband;perform, based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope, bit allocation for a plurality of subbands of the frame, wherein at least one subband in the plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bit;quantize, based on the at least one allocated bit, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subband to obtain quantized spectral coefficients; andobtain a bitstream that includes the quantized spectral coefficients.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:obtain a signal type of the subband; andobtain, based at least in part on the signal type, the adjustment factor.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the signal type comprises harmonic or non-harmonic.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the signal type is indicated by a flag.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:obtain a reference parameter of the subband; and
20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the frame, and wherein the reference parameter is a flag.
1. (Currently amended) An encoding method, comprising: obtaining, by an encoder, an audio signal comprising a current data frame; splitting, by the encoder, spectral coefficients of the current data frame into subbands; acquiring, by the encoder, quantized frequency envelope values of the split subbands; modifying, by the encoder, quantized frequency envelope values of subbands of a first quantity in the split subbands, wherein the subbands of the first quantity are consecutive subbands and the consecutive subbands comprise a subband having a lowest frequency of the current data frame or a subband having a highest frequency of the current data frame; allocating, by the encoder, quantization bits to the split subbands according to modified quantized frequency envelope values of the subbands of the first quantity; quantizing, by the encoder, a spectral coefficient of a subband to which a quantization bit is allocated in the split subbands; and writing, by the encoder, the quantized spectral coefficient of the subband to which the quantization bit is allocated into a bitstream.
2. (Original) The encoding method according to claim 1, wherein the quantized frequency envelope values of the subbands of the first quantity in the subbands are modified as follows: acquiring modification factors of the subbands of the first quantity; and modifying the quantized frequency envelope values of the subbands of the first quantity by using the acquired modification factors.
3. (Original) The encoding method according to claim 2, wherein the modification factors of the subbands of the first quantity are acquired as follows: acquiring signal types of the subbands of the first quantity; and determining the modification factors of the subbands of the first quantity according to the acquired signal types.
4. (Original) The encoding method according to claim 3, wherein a modification factor of a first subband in the subbands of the first quantity is greater than 1 when a signal type of the first subband in the subbands of the first quantity is harmonic; or wherein a modification factor of a first subband in the subbands of the first quantity is less than or equal to 1 when a signal type of the first subband in the subbands of the first quantity is non-harmonic.
5. (Original) The encoding method according to claim 3, wherein the method further comprises: acquiring stored reference information of subbands of a second quantity in a previous data frame of the current data frame, wherein the second quantity is less than or equal to the first quantity; and determining the modification factors of the subbands of the first quantity according to the acquired signal types and the acquired reference information.
6. (Original) The encoding method according to claim 5, wherein the method of determining the modification factors of the subbands of the first quantity according to the signal types of the subbands of the first quantity and the reference information of the subbands of the second quantity comprises: determining a first modification factor of the first subband according to the signal type of the first subband in the subbands of the first quantity; determining a second modification factor of the first subband according to reference information of a second subband, corresponding to the first subband, in the subbands of the second quantity; and using a product of the first modification factor and the second modification factor as the modification factor of the first subband.
7. (Original) The encoding method according to claim 6, wherein: a value of the second modification factor is a value of a third modification factor when the reference information of the second subband comprises a quantization bit allocation status of the second subband; or a value of the second modification factor is a value of a fourth modification factor when the reference information of the second subband comprises a signal type of the second subband; or a value of the second modification factor is a product of a value of a third modification factor and a value of a fourth modification factor when the reference information of the second subband comprises a quantization bit allocation status of the second subband and a signal type of the second subband.
8. (Original) The encoding method according to claim 7, wherein: when the quantization bit allocation status of the second subband indicates that no spectral coefficient is encoded, the third modification factor is less than 1, or when the quantization bit allocation status of the second subband indicates that a spectral coefficient is encoded, the third modification factor is greater than 1; or when the signal type of the second subband is harmonic, the fourth modification factor is greater than 1, or when the signal type of the second subband is non-harmonic, the fourth modification factor is less than or equal to 1.
9. (Original) The encoding method according to claim 7, wherein the second modification factor of the first subband is determined according to a ratio of any two values of a frequency envelope value of the second subband, an average frequency envelope value of the subbands of the second quantity, a bandwidth value of the subbands of the second quantity, a maximum value of frequency envelope values of the subbands of the second quantity, and a frequency envelope variance value of the subbands of the second quantity.
10. (Original) The encoding method according to claim 6, wherein the first modification factor of the first subband is determined according to a ratio of any two values of a frequency envelope value of the first subband, an average frequency envelope value of the subbands of the first quantity, a bandwidth value of the subbands of the first quantity, a maximum value of frequency envelope values of the subbands of the first quantity, and a frequency envelope variance value of the subbands of the first quantity.
11. (Original) The encoding method according to claim 2, wherein the acquiring modification factors of the subbands of the first quantity comprises: acquiring stored reference information of subbands of a first quantity in a previous data frame of the current data frame; and determining the modification factors of the subbands of the first quantity in the current data frame according to the reference information of the subbands of the first quantity in the previous data frame.
12. (Original) The encoding method according to claim 11, wherein the method further comprises: acquiring signal types of subbands of a third quantity in the subbands in the current data frame, wherein the third quantity is less than or equal to the first quantity; and determining the modification factors of the subbands of the first quantity in the current data frame according to the reference information of the subbands of the first quantity in the previous data frame and the signal types of the subbands of the third quantity.
13. (Original) The encoding method according to claim 12, wherein the method of determining the modification factors of the subbands of the first quantity in the current data frame according to the reference information of the subbands of the first quantity in the previous data frame and the signal types of the subbands of the third quantity comprises: determining a second modification factor of a first subband in the subbands of the first quantity in the current data frame according to reference information of a second subband in the subbands of the first quantity in the previous data frame; determining a first modification factor of the first subband according to a signal type of the first subband; and using a product of the first modification factor and the second modification factor as a modification factor of the first subband.
14. (Original) The encoding method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: storing reference information of the subbands of the first quantity in the current data frame.
15. (Currently amended) An encoding apparatus, comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to: obtain an audio signal comprising a current data frame; split spectral coefficients of the current data frame into subbands; acquire quantized frequency envelope values of the split subbands; modify the quantized frequency envelope values of subbands of a first quantity in the split subbands, wherein the subbands of the first quantity are consecutive subbands and the consecutive subbands comprise a subband having a lowest frequency of the current data frame or a subband having a highest frequency of the current data frame; allocate quantization bits to the split subbands according to the modified quantized frequency envelope values of the subbands of the first quantity; quantize a spectral coefficient of a subband to which a quantization bit is allocated in the split subbands; and write the quantized spectral coefficient of the subband to which a quantization bit is allocated into a bitstream.
16. (Original) The encoding apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to: acquire modification factors of the subbands of the first quantity; and modify, by using the acquired modification factors of the subbands of the first quantity, the quantized frequency envelope values of the subbands of the first quantity.
17. (Original) The encoding apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to: acquire signal types of the subbands of the first quantity; and determine the modification factors of the subbands of the first quantity according to the acquired signal types of the subbands of the first quantity.
18. (Original) The encoding apparatus according to claim 17, wherein: a modification factor of a first subband is greater than 1 when a signal type of the first subband in the subbands of the first quantity is harmonic; or a modification factor of a first subband is less than or equal to 1 when a signal type of the first subband in the subbands of the first quantity is non-harmonic.
19. (Original) The encoding apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to: acquire stored reference information of subbands of a second quantity in a previous data frame of the current data frame, wherein the second quantity is less than or equal to the first quantity; and determine the modification factors of the subbands of the first quantity according to the acquired signal types of the subbands of the first quantity and the acquired reference information of the subbands of the second quantity.
20. (Original) The encoding apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine a first modification factor of a first subband according to the acquired signal type of the first subband in the subbands of the first quantity; determine a second modification factor of the first subband according to acquired reference information of a second subband, corresponding to the first subband, in the subbands of the second quantity; and use a product of the first modification factor and the second modification factor as the modification factor of the first subband.
21. (Original) The encoding apparatus according to claim 20, wherein: a value of the second modification factor is a value of a third modification factor when the reference information of the second subband comprises a quantization bit allocation status of the second subband; or a value of the second modification factor is a value of a fourth modification factor when the reference information of the second subband comprises a signal type of the second subband,; or a value of the second modification factor is a product of a value of a third modification factor and a value of a fourth modification factor when the reference information of the second subband comprises a quantization bit allocation status of the second subband and a signal type of the second subband.
22. (Original) The encoding apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine that the third modification factor is less than 1 when the quantization bit allocation status of the second subband indicates that no spectral coefficient is encoded, or determine that the third modification factor is greater than 1 when the quantization bit allocation status of the second subband indicates that a spectral coefficient is encoded; or determine that the fourth modification factor is greater than 1 when the signal type of the second subband is harmonic, or determine that the fourth modification factor is less than or equal to 1 when the signal type of the second subband is non-harmonic.
23. (Original) The encoding apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the second modification factor of the first subband is determined according to a ratio of any two values of a frequency envelope value of the second subband, an average frequency envelope value of the subbands of the second quantity, a bandwidth value of the subbands of the second quantity, a maximum value of frequency envelope values of the subbands of the second quantity, and a frequency envelope variance value of the subbands of the second quantity.
24. (Original) The encoding apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the first modification factor of the first subband is determined according to a ratio of any two values of a frequency envelope value of the first subband, an average frequency envelope value of the subbands of the first quantity, a bandwidth value of the subbands of the first quantity, a maximum value of frequency envelope values of the subbands of the first quantity, and a frequency envelope variance value of the subbands of the first quantity.
25. (Original) The encoding apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to: acquire reference information of subbands of a first quantity in a previous data frame of the current data frame; and determine the modification factors of the subbands of the first quantity in the current data frame according to the acquired reference information of the subbands of the first quantity in the previous data frame.
26. (Original) The encoding apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the processor is further configured to: acquire signal types of subbands of a third quantity in the subbands in the current data frame, wherein the third quantity is less than or equal to the first quantity; and determine the modification factors of the subbands of the first quantity in the current data frame according to the acquired reference information of the subbands of the first quantity in the previous data frame and the signal types of the subbands of the third quantity.
27. (Original) The encoding apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine a second modification factor of a first subband in the subbands of the first quantity in the current data frame according to reference information of a second subband in the subbands of the first quantity in the previous data frame; determine a first modification factor of the first subband according to a signal type of the first subband; and use a product of the first modification factor and the second modification factor as a modification factor of the first subband.
28. (Original) The encoding apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to: store reference information of the subbands of the first quantity in the current data frame.
Claims 1, 8, and 15 with dependent claims thereof, are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 11, and 21 and any dependent claims thereof of U.S. Patent No. 10347257. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because said claims of the instant application includes all of the features of said claims of U.S. Patent No. 10347257. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to omit the step of consecutive subbands and high frequency, for a broader representation, In re Karlson 136 USPQ 184 (1963): "Omission of an element and its function is an obvious expedient if the remaining elements perform the same functions as before"
Present invention Conflicting claims
1. A method, comprising:adjusting, based on an adjustment factor, a quantized energy envelope of a subband of a frame of an audio signal to obtain an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband;performing, based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope, bit allocation for a plurality of subbands of the frame, wherein at least one subband in the plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bit;quantizing, based on the at least one allocated bit, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subband to obtain quantized spectral coefficients; andobtaining a bitstream that includes the quantized spectral coefficients.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:obtaining a signal type of the subband; andobtaining, based at least in part on the signal type, the adjustment factor.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the signal type comprises harmonic or non-harmonic.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the signal type is indicated by a flag.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:obtaining a reference parameter of the subband; and
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the frame.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the reference parameter is a flag.
8. An apparatus, comprising:at least one processor; andone or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to:adjust, based on an adjustment factor, a quantized energy envelope of a subband of a frame of an audio signal to obtain an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband;perform, based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope, bit allocation for a plurality of subbands of the frame, wherein at least one subband in the plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bit;quantize, based on the at least one allocated bit, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subband to obtain quantized spectral coefficients; andobtain a bitstream that includes the quantized spectral coefficients.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to:obtain a signal type of the subband; andobtain, based at least in part on the signal type, the adjustment factor.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the signal type comprises harmonic or non-harmonic.
11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the signal type is indicated by a flag.
12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to:obtain a reference parameter of the subband; and
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the frame.
14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the reference parameter is a flag.
15. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, that when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least processor to:adjust, based on an adjustment factor, a quantized energy envelope of a subband of a frame of an audio signal to obtain an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband;perform, based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope, bit allocation for a plurality of subbands of the frame, wherein at least one subband in the plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bit;quantize, based on the at least one allocated bit, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subband to obtain quantized spectral coefficients; andobtain a bitstream that includes the quantized spectral coefficients.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:obtain a signal type of the subband; andobtain, based at least in part on the signal type, the adjustment factor.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the signal type comprises harmonic or non-harmonic.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the signal type is indicated by a flag.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:obtain a reference parameter of the subband; and
20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the frame, and wherein the reference parameter is a flag.
1. (Original) An audio signal encoding method, comprising: splitting, by an encoder, spectral coefficients of a current frame of an audio signal into plurality of subbands; quantizing, by the encoder, energy envelope for each of the plurality of subbands to obtain initial quantized energy envelope for each of the plurality of subbands; adjusting, by the encoder, quantized energy envelopes of some subbands of the plurality of subbands, wherein the some subbands comprises a subband having a highest frequency in the plurality of subbands and a subband consecutive to the subband having the highest frequency; performing, by the encoder, bit allocation based on the adjusted quantized energy envelopes of the some subbands and the initial quantized energy envelope of each subband besides the some subbands in the plurality of subbands; and quantizing, by the encoder, a spectral coefficient of a subband to which at least one bit is allocated after the bit allocation, wherein the quantized spectral coefficient of the subband to which at least one bit is allocated after the bit allocation is used for writing into a bitstream.
2. (Original) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 1, wherein the quantized energy envelope of each of the some subbands is adjusted according to a determined adjustment factor for each of the some subbands respectively.
3. (Original) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 2, wherein the adjustment factor for each of the some subbands is determined according to a flag indicates signal type of each of the some subbands respectively.
4. (Original) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 3, wherein the signal type of each of the some subbands is either harmonic or not harmonic.
5. (Original) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 4, wherein the adjustment factor for a particular subband of the some subbands is no less than 1 when the signal type of the particular subband is harmonic.
6. (Original) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 3, wherein the adjustment factor for each of the some subbands is further determined according to reference information of a previous frame adjacent to the current frame.
7. (Original) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 1, wherein quantity of the some subbands is two.
8. (Original) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 2, wherein the adjustment factor is equal to 1.
9. (Original) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 6, wherein the reference information of the previous frame indicates whether two consecutive subbands in the previous frame are allocated with bits.
10. (Original) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 9, wherein the two consecutive subbands in the previous frame comprises the subband having a highest frequency in the previous frame.
11. (Original) An audio signal encoder, comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to: split spectral coefficients of a current frame of an audio signal into plurality of subbands; quantize energy envelope for each of the plurality of subbands to obtain initial quantized energy envelope for each of the plurality of subbands; adjust quantized energy envelopes of some subbands of the plurality of subbands, wherein the some subbands comprises a subband having a highest frequency in the plurality of subbands and a subband consecutive to the subband having the highest frequency; perform bit allocation based on the adjusted quantized energy envelopes of the some subbands and the initial quantized energy envelope of each subband besides the some subbands in the plurality of subbands; and quantize a spectral coefficient of a subband to which at least one bit is allocated after the bit allocation, wherein the quantized spectral coefficient of the subband to which at least one bit is allocated after the bit allocation is used for writing into a bitstream.
12. (Original) The audio signal encoder according to claim 11, wherein the quantized energy envelope of each of the some subbands is adjusted according to a determined adjustment factor for each of the some subbands respectively.
13. (Original) The audio signal encoder according to claim 12, wherein the adjustment factor for each of the some subbands is determined according to a flag indicates signal type of each of the some subbands respectively.
14. (Original) The audio signal encoder according to claim 13, wherein the signal type of each of the some subbands is either harmonic or not harmonic.
15. (Original) The audio signal encoder according to claim 14, wherein the adjustment factor for a particular subband of the some subbands is no less than 1 when the signal type of the particular subband is harmonic.
16. (Original) The audio signal encoder according to claim 13, wherein the adjustment factor for each of the some subbands is further determined according to reference information of a previous frame adjacent to the current frame.
17. (Original) The audio signal encoder according to claim 11, wherein quantity of the some subbands is two.
18. (Original) The audio signal encoder according to claim 12, wherein the adjustment factor is equal to 1.
19. (Original) The audio signal encoder according to claim 16, wherein the reference information of the previous frame indicates whether two consecutive subbands in the previous frame are allocated with bits.
20. (Original) The audio signal encoder according to claim 19, wherein the two consecutive subbands in the previous frame comprises a subband having a highest frequency in the previous frame.
21. (New) A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, that when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of splitting spectral coefficients of a current frame of an audio signal into plurality of subbands; quantizing energy envelope for each of the plurality of subbands to obtain initial quantized energy envelope for each of the plurality of subbands; adjusting quantized energy envelopes of some subbands of the plurality of subbands, wherein the some subbands comprises a subband having a highest frequency in the plurality of subbands and a subband consecutive to the subband having the highest frequency; performing bit allocation based on the adjusted quantized energy envelopes of the some subbands and the initial quantized energy envelope of each subband besides the some subbands in the plurality of subbands; and quantizing a spectral coefficient of a subband to which at least one bit is allocated after the bit allocation, wherein the quantized spectral coefficient of the subband to which at least one bit is allocated after the bit allocation is used for writing into a bitstream.
22. (New) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 21, wherein the quantized energy envelope of each of the some subbands is adjusted according to a determined adjustment factor for each of the some subbands respectively.
23. (New) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 22, wherein the adjustment factor for each of the some subbands is determined according to a flag indicates signal type of each of the some subbands respectively.
24. (New) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 23, wherein the signal type of each of the some subbands is either harmonic or not harmonic.
25. (New) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 24, wherein the adjustment factor for a particular subband of the some subbands is no less than 1 when the signal type of the particular subband is harmonic.
26. (New) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 23, wherein the adjustment factor for each of the some subbands is further determined according to reference information of a previous frame adjacent to the current frame.
27. (New) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 26, wherein the reference information of the previous frame indicates whether two consecutive subbands in the previous frame are allocated with bits.
28. (New) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 27, wherein the two consecutive subbands in the previous frame comprises the subband having a highest frequency in the previous frame.
Claims 1, 8, and 15 (and 6, 7, 13, and 14) with dependent claims thereof, are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 8 and 16 and any dependent claims thereof of U.S. Patent No. 11289102. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because said claims of the instant application includes all of the features of said claims of U.S. Patent No. 11289102. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to omit the step of previous frame consideration and flags, for a broader representation, In re Karlson 136 USPQ 184 (1963): "Omission of an element and its function is an obvious expedient if the remaining elements perform the same functions as before"
Present invention Conflicting claims
1. A method, comprising:adjusting, based on an adjustment factor, a quantized energy envelope of a subband of a frame of an audio signal to obtain an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband;performing, based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope, bit allocation for a plurality of subbands of the frame, wherein at least one subband in the plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bit;quantizing, based on the at least one allocated bit, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subband to obtain quantized spectral coefficients; andobtaining a bitstream that includes the quantized spectral coefficients.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:obtaining a signal type of the subband; andobtaining, based at least in part on the signal type, the adjustment factor.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the signal type comprises harmonic or non-harmonic.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the signal type is indicated by a flag.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:obtaining a reference parameter of the subband; and
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the frame.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the reference parameter is a flag.
8. An apparatus, comprising:at least one processor; andone or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to:adjust, based on an adjustment factor, a quantized energy envelope of a subband of a frame of an audio signal to obtain an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband;perform, based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope, bit allocation for a plurality of subbands of the frame, wherein at least one subband in the plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bit;quantize, based on the at least one allocated bit, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subband to obtain quantized spectral coefficients; andobtain a bitstream that includes the quantized spectral coefficients.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to:obtain a signal type of the subband; andobtain, based at least in part on the signal type, the adjustment factor.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the signal type comprises harmonic or non-harmonic.
11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the signal type is indicated by a flag.
12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to:obtain a reference parameter of the subband; and
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the frame.
14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the reference parameter is a flag.
15. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, that when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least processor to:adjust, based on an adjustment factor, a quantized energy envelope of a subband of a frame of an audio signal to obtain an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband;perform, based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope, bit allocation for a plurality of subbands of the frame, wherein at least one subband in the plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bit;quantize, based on the at least one allocated bit, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subband to obtain quantized spectral coefficients; andobtain a bitstream that includes the quantized spectral coefficients.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:obtain a signal type of the subband; andobtain, based at least in part on the signal type, the adjustment factor.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the signal type comprises harmonic or non-harmonic.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the signal type is indicated by a flag.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:obtain a reference parameter of the subband; and
20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the frame, and wherein the reference parameter is a flag.
8. (Currently Amended) An audio signal encoding method, comprising: obtaining, by a communication terminal, an analog audio signal, converting, by the communication terminal, the analog audio signal into a digital audio signal; obtaining, by the communication terminal, initial quantized energy envelope for each of a plurality of subbands of a current frame of the digital audio signal, wherein each of the subbands includes a plurality of spectral coefficients; adjusting, by the communication terminal, quantized energy envelopes of some subbands of the plurality of subbands; allocating, based on the adjusted quantized energy envelopes of the some subbands and the initial quantized energy envelope of each subband besides the some subbands in the plurality of subbands, by the communication terminal, bits to at least one subbands of the plurality of subbands; quantizing, based on the allocated bits, by the communication terminal, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subbands; and obtaining, by the communication terminal, a bitstream includes the quantized spectral coefficients, wherein the some subbands includes a first subband, wherein the quantized energy envelope of the first subband is adjusted according to an adjustment factor for the first subband, wherein the adjustment factor for the first subband is determined according to a flag indicates signal type of the first subband, wherein the adjustment factor for the first subband is further determined according to reference information of a previous frame adjacent to the current frame, and The audio signal encoding method according to claim 6, wherein the reference information of the previous frame indicates whether two consecutive subbands in the previous frame are allocated with bits.
1-3. (Cancelled)
4. (Currently Amended) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 3 according to claim 8, wherein the signal type of the first subband is either harmonic or not harmonic.
5. (Original) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 4, wherein the adjustment factor the first subband is no less than 1, when the signal type of the first subband is harmonic.
6. (Cancelled)
7. (Currently Amended) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 1 according to claim 8, wherein quantity of the some subbands is two.
9-11. (Cancelled)
12. (Currently Amended) The audio signal encoder according to claim 11 according to claim 16, wherein the signal type of the first subband is either harmonic or not harmonic.
13. (Original) The audio signal encoder according to claim 12, wherein the adjustment factor the first subband is no less than 1, when the signal type of the first subband is harmonic.
14. (Cancelled)
15. (Currently Amended) The audio signal encoder according to claim 9 according to claim 16, wherein quantity of the some subbands is two.
16. (Currently Amended) A communication terminal, comprising: at least one microphone, configured to obtain an analog audio signal; an analog-digital convertor coupled to the at least one microphone, configured to convert the analog audio signal into a digital audio signal, and an encoder coupled to the analog-digital convertor, configured to: obtain initial quantized energy envelope for each of a plurality of subbands of a current frame of the digital audio signal, wherein each of the subbands includes a plurality of spectral coefficients; adiust quantized energy envelopes of some subbands of the plurality of subbands; allocate, based on the adjusted quantized energy envelopes of the some subbands and the initial quantized energy envelope of each subband besides the some subbands in the plurality of subbands, bits to at least one subbands of the plurality of subbands; quantize, based on the allocated bits, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subbands; and obtain a bitstream includes the quantized spectral coefficients, wherein the some subbands includes a first subband, wherein the quantized energy envelope of the first subband is adjusted according to an adjustment factor for the first subband, wherein the adjustment factor for the first subband is determined according to a flag indicates signal type of the first subband, wherein the adjustment factor for the first subband is further determined according to reference information of a previous frame adjacent to the current frame, and The audio signal encoder according to claim 14, wherein the reference information of the previous frame indicates whether two consecutive subbands in the previous frame are allocated with bits.
Claims 1, 8, and 15 with dependent claims thereof, are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 8, and 15 and any dependent claims thereof of U.S. Patent No. 12198703. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because said claims of the instant application includes all of the features of said claims of U.S. Patent No. 12198703. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to omit the step of using a second adjustment factor, for a broader representation, In re Karlson 136 USPQ 184 (1963): "Omission of an element and its function is an obvious expedient if the remaining elements perform the same functions as before"
Present invention Conflicting claims
1. A method, comprising:adjusting, based on an adjustment factor, a quantized energy envelope of a subband of a frame of an audio signal to obtain an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband;performing, based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope, bit allocation for a plurality of subbands of the frame, wherein at least one subband in the plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bit;quantizing, based on the at least one allocated bit, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subband to obtain quantized spectral coefficients; andobtaining a bitstream that includes the quantized spectral coefficients.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:obtaining a signal type of the subband; andobtaining, based at least in part on the signal type, the adjustment factor.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the signal type comprises harmonic or non-harmonic.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the signal type is indicated by a flag.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:obtaining a reference parameter of the subband; and
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the frame.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the reference parameter is a flag.
8. An apparatus, comprising:at least one processor; andone or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to:adjust, based on an adjustment factor, a quantized energy envelope of a subband of a frame of an audio signal to obtain an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband;perform, based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope, bit allocation for a plurality of subbands of the frame, wherein at least one subband in the plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bit;quantize, based on the at least one allocated bit, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subband to obtain quantized spectral coefficients; andobtain a bitstream that includes the quantized spectral coefficients.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to:obtain a signal type of the subband; andobtain, based at least in part on the signal type, the adjustment factor.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the signal type comprises harmonic or non-harmonic.
11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the signal type is indicated by a flag.
12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to:obtain a reference parameter of the subband; and
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the frame.
14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the reference parameter is a flag.
15. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, that when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least processor to:adjust, based on an adjustment factor, a quantized energy envelope of a subband of a frame of an audio signal to obtain an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband;perform, based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope, bit allocation for a plurality of subbands of the frame, wherein at least one subband in the plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bit;quantize, based on the at least one allocated bit, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subband to obtain quantized spectral coefficients; andobtain a bitstream that includes the quantized spectral coefficients.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:obtain a signal type of the subband; andobtain, based at least in part on the signal type, the adjustment factor.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the signal type comprises harmonic or non-harmonic.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the signal type is indicated by a flag.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:obtain a reference parameter of the subband; and
20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the frame, and wherein the reference parameter is a flag.
1. (Original) An audio signal encoding method, comprising:obtaining an initial quantized energy envelope of a subband of a current frame of an audio signal, wherein the subband is one of a plurality of subbands of the current frame; obtaining a signal type of the subband, wherein the signal type of the subband is either harmonic or non-harmonic; obtaining a first adjustment factor of the subband based on the signal type of the subband; obtaining a reference parameter of the subband; obtaining a second adjustment factor of the subband by updating the first adjustment factor based on the reference parameter; obtaining an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband by adjusting the quantized energy envelope of the subband based on the second adjustment factor; performing bit allocation for the plurality of subbands of the current frame at least based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband, wherein at least one subbands of the plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bits; quantizing, based on the at least one allocated bits, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subbands; and obtaining a bitstream that includes the quantized spectral coefficients.
2. (Original) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 1, wherein the signal type is indicated by a flag.
3. (Original) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 1, wherein each of the first adjustment factor and the second adjustment factor is not less than 1 when the signal type is harmonic.
4. (Original) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 1, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the current frame.
5. (Original) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 4, wherein the reference parameter is a flag.
6. (Original) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 4, wherein an index of the subband ofthe previous frame is the highest among indexes of a plurality of subbands ofthe previous frame.
7. (Currently Amended) The audio signal encoding method according to claim 1, wherein an index ofthe subband of the current frame is the highest among amone indexes of the plurality of subbands.
8. (Original) A device, comprising:at least one processor; and one or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to cause the device to: obtain an initial quantized energy envelope of a subband of a current frame of an audio signal, wherein the subband is one of a plurality of subbands of the current frame; obtain a signal type of the subband, wherein the signal type of the subband is either harmonic or non-harmonic; obtain a first adjustment factor of the subband based on the signal type of the subband; obtain a reference parameter of the subband; obtain a second adjustment factor of the subband by updating the first adjustment factor based on the reference parameter; obtain an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband by adjusting the quantized energy envelope of the subband based on the second adjustment factor; perform bit allocation for the plurality of subbands of the current frame at least based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband, wherein at least one subbands of the plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bits; quantize, based on the at least one allocated bits, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subbands; and obtain a bitstream includes the quantized spectral coefficients.
9. (Original) The device according to claim 8, wherein the signal type is indicated by a flag.
10. (Original) The device according to claim 8, wherein each of the first adjustment factor and the second adjustment factor is not less than 1 when the signal type is harmonic.
11. (Original) The device according to claim 8, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the current frame.
12. (Original) The device according to claim 11, wherein the reference parameter is a flag.
13. (Original) The device according to claim 11, wherein an index of the subband of the previous frame is the highest among indexes of a plurality of subbands of the previous frame.
14. (Original) The device according to claim 8, wherein an index of the subband ofthe current frame is the highest among indexes of the plurality of subbands.
15. (Original) A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, that when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:obtaining an initial quantized energy envelope of a subband of a current frame of an audio signal, wherein the subband is one of a plurality of subbands of the current frame; obtaining a signal type of the subband, wherein the signal type of the subband is either harmonic or non-harmonic; obtaining a first adjustment factor of the subband based on the signal type of the subband; obtaining a reference parameter of the subband; obtaining a second adjustment factor of the subband by updating the first adjustment factor based on the reference parameter; obtaining an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband by adjusting the quantized energy envelope of the subband based on the second adjustment factor; performing bit allocation for the plurality of subbands of the current frame at least based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope ofthe subband, wherein at least one subbands ofthe plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bits; quantizing, based on the at least one allocated bits, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subbands; and obtaining a bitstream includes the quantized spectral coefficients.
16. (Original) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the signal type is indicated by a flag.
17. (Original) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein each ofthe first adjustment factor and the second adjustment factor is not less than 1 when the signal type is harmonic.
18. (Original) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the current frame.
19. (Original) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 18, wherein the reference parameter is a flag. 20. (Original) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 18, wherein an index ofthe subband ofthe previous frame is the highest among indexes of a plurality of subbands of the previous frame.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception such as a natural phenomenon, abstract idea, or law of nature, without significantly more and/or a practical application per se, specifically with one or more of:
1) Not integrating a judicial exception into a practical application (see explanation below), and
2) Not reciting elements that would amount to significantly more than the judicial exception (see explanation below).
Accordingly, claims 1, 8, and 15 are directed towards patent ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101.
The independent claims:
When taking the current claim limitations of the present invention, we see that they are directed to mathematical steps of signal alteration without the actual use of a raw signal necessary such as using convolution or signal processing functions.
Regarding the claim limitations of claim(s) 1, 8, and 15 as recited:
adjusting, based on an adjustment factor, a quantized energy envelope of a subband of a frame of an audio signal to obtain an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband; performing, based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope, bit allocation for a plurality of subbands of the frame, wherein at least one subband in the plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bit; quantizing, based on the at least one allocated bit, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subband to obtain quantized spectral coefficients; and obtaining a bitstream that includes the quantized spectral coefficients.
Step 1: IS THE CLAIM DIRECTED TO A PROCESS, MACHINE, MANUFACTURE OR COMPOSITION OF MATTER?
Yes
Step 2A.1: IS THE CLAIM DIRECTED TO A LAW OF NATURE, A NATURAL PHENOMENON (PRODUCT OF NATURE) OR AN ABSTRACT IDEA?
YES
Step 2A.2: DOES THE CLAIM RECITE ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS THAT INTEGRATE THE JUDICIAL EXCEPTION INTO A PRACTICAL APPLICATION?
Regarding the independent claims. No, analogous to Solutran, Inc. v. Elavon, Inc., 931 F.3d 1161, 2019 USPQ2d 281076 (Fed. Cir. 2019), the claims are directed to mathematical steps of signal alteration without the actual use of a raw signal necessary such as using convolution or signal processing functions, such as lacking a clear improvement of function/technology in signal processing.
Further as demonstrated in Solutran, Inc. v. Elavon, Inc., 931 F.3d 1161, 2019 USPQ2d 281076 (Fed. Cir. 2019), the claims were to methods for electronically processing paper checks, all of which contained limitations setting forth receiving merchant transaction data from a merchant, crediting a merchant’s account, and receiving and scanning paper checks after the merchant’s account is credited. In part one of the Alice/Mayo test, the Federal Circuit determined that the claims were directed to the abstract idea of crediting the merchant’s account before the paper check is scanned. The court first determined that the recited limitations of “crediting a merchant’s account as early as possible while electronically processing a check” is a “long-standing commercial practice” like in Alice and Bilski. 931 F.3d at 1167, 2019 USPQ2d 281076, at *5 (Fed. Cir. 2019). The Federal Circuit then continued with its analysis under part one of the Alice/Mayo test finding that the claims are not directed to an improvement in the functioning of a computer or an improvement to another technology. In particular, the court determined that the claims “did not improve the technical capture of information from a check to create a digital file or the technical step of electronically crediting a bank account” nor did the claims “improve how a check is scanned.” Id.
Regarding the December 5th 2025 Memo in light of September 26, 2025 Appeals Review Panel Decision in Ex parte Desjardins, Appeal 2024-000567 for Application 16/319,040, in deciding if a recited abstract idea does or does not direct the entire claim to an abstract idea, when a claim is considered as a whole.
The claim which demonstrated improvements to technology and/or function recites: "adjust the first values of the plurality of parameters to optimize performance of the machine learning model on the second machine learning task while protecting performance of the machine learning model on the first machine learning task.".
The decision recites that “We are persuaded that constitutes an improvement to how the machine learning model itself operates, and not, for example, the identified mathematical calculation.”
When considering the limitation decided upon, there are clear improvements to machine learning that are not rudimentary or a long-standing practice, for instance adjusting for optimization and protection of performance, as claimed, are improvements to a machine learning models operations, not simply a general mathematical or generic recitation, but rather an improvement to function.
Specifically, Ex Parte Desjardins explained the following:
Enfish ranks among the Federal Circuit's leading cases on the eligibility of technological improvements. In particular, Enfish recognized that “[m]uch of the advancement made in computer technology consists of improvements to software that, by their very nature, may not be defined by particular physical features but rather by logical structures and processes.” 822 F.3d at 1339. Moreover, because “[s]oftware can make non-abstract improvements to computer technology, just as hardware improvements can,” the Federal Circuit held that the eligibility determinations should turn on whether “the claims are directed to an improvement to computer functionality versus being directed to an abstract idea.” Id. at 1336. (Desjardins, page 8).
Further, specifically:
“Paragraph 21 of the Specification, which the Appellant cites, identifies improvements in training the machine learning model itself. Of course, such an assertion in the Specification alone is insufficient to support a patent eligibility determination, absent a subsequent determination that the claim itself reflects the disclosed improvement. See MPEP § 2106.05(a) (citing Intellectual Ventures I LLC v. Symantec Corp., 838 F.3d 1307, 1316 (Fed. Cir. 2016)). Here, however, we are persuaded that the claims reflect such an improvement. For example, one improvement identified in the 8 Appeal2024-000567 Application 16/319,040 Specification is to "effectively learn new tasks in succession whilst protecting knowledge about previous tasks." Spec. ,r 21. The Specification also recites that the claimed improvement allows artificial intelligence (AI) systems to "us[e] less of their storage capacity" and enables "reduced system complexity." Id. When evaluating the claim as a whole, we discern at least the following limitation of independent claim 1 that reflects the improvement: "adjust the first values of the plurality of parameters to optimize performance of the machine learning model on the second machine learning task while protecting performance of the machine learning model on the first machine learning task." We are persuaded that constitutes an improvement to how the machine learning model itself operates, and not, for example, the identified mathematical calculation. Under a charitable view, the overbroad reasoning of the original panel below is perhaps understandable given the confusing nature of existing § 101 jurisprudence, but troubling, because this case highlights what is at stake. Categorically excluding AI innovations from patent protection in the United States jeopardizes America's leadership in this critical emerging technology. Yet, under the panel's reasoning, many AI innovations are potentially unpatentable-even if they are adequately described and nonobvious-because the panel essentially equated any machine learning with an unpatentable "algorithm" and the remaining additional elements as "generic computer components," without adequate explanation. Dec. 24. Examiners and panels should not evaluate claims at such a high level of generality.”
Further in Ex Parte Desjardins, Appeal No. 2024-000567 (PTAB September 26, 2025, Appeals Review Panel Decision) (precedential), the claimed invention was a method of training a machine learning model on a series of tasks. The Appeals Review Panel (ARP) overall credited benefits including reduced storage, reduced system complexity and streamlining, and preservation of performance attributes associated with earlier tasks during subsequent computational tasks as technological improvements that were disclosed in the patent application specification. Specifically, the ARP upheld the Step 2A Prong One finding that the claims recited an abstract idea (i.e., mathematical concept). In Step 2A Prong Two, the ARP then determined that the specification identified improvements as to how the machine learning model itself operates, including training a machine learning model to learn new tasks while protecting knowledge about previous tasks to overcome the problem of “catastrophic forgetting” encountered in continual learning systems. Importantly, the ARP evaluated the claims as a whole in discerning at least the limitation “adjust the first values of the plurality of parameters to optimize performance of the machine learning model on the second machine learning task while protecting performance of the machine learning model on the first machine learning task” reflected the improvement disclosed in the specification. Accordingly, the claims as a whole integrated what would otherwise be a judicial exception instead into a practical application at Step 2A Prong Two, and therefore the claims were
The claim itself does not need to explicitly recite the improvement described in the specification (e.g., “thereby increasing the bandwidth of the channel”). See, e.g., Ex Parte Desjardins, Appeal No. 2024-000567 (PTAB September 26, 2025, Appeals Review Panel Decision) (precedential), in which the specification identified the improvement to machine learning technology by explaining how the machine learning model is trained to learn new tasks while protecting knowledge about previous tasks to overcome the problem of “catastrophic forgetting,” and that the claims reflected the improvement identified in the specification. Indeed, enumerated improvements identified in the Desjardins specification included disclosures of the effective learning of new tasks in succession in connection with specifically protecting knowledge concerning previously accomplished tasks; allowing the system to reduce use of storage capacity; and the enablement of reduced complexity in the system. Such improvements were tantamount to how the machine learning model itself would function in operation and therefore not subsumed in the identified mathematical calculation.
The second paragraph of MPEP § 2106.05(a), subsection I, is revised to add new examples xiii and xiv to the list of examples that may show an improvement in computer functionality:
xiii. An improved way of training a machine learning model that protected the model’s knowledge about previous tasks while allowing it to effectively learn new tasks; Ex Parte Desjardins, Appeal No. 2024-000567 (PTAB September 26, 2025, Appeals Review Panel Decision) (precedential); and
xiv. Improvements to computer component or system performance based upon adjustments to parameters of a machine learning model associated with tasks or workstreams; Ex Parte Desjardins, Appeal No. 2024-000567 (PTAB September 26, 2025, Appeals Review Panel Decision) (precedential).
Step 2B: DOES THE CLAIM RECITE ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS THAT AMOUNT TO SIGNIFICANTLY MORE THAN THE JUDICIAL EXCEPTION?
No, the claims amount to mathematical steps of signal alteration without the actual use of a raw signal necessary such as using convolution or signal processing functions. While not mental per se, nothing appears to preclude the claims from showing a signal processing use using hardware that is NOT extra solution activity.
• Collecting and comparing known information (Classen)
• Collecting information, analyzing it, and displaying certain results of the collection and analysis (Electric Power Group; West View†)
• Comparing data to determine a risk level (Perkin‐Elmer)†
• Comparing information regarding a sample or test subject to a control or target data (Ambry/Myriad CAFC)
• Comparing new and stored information and using rules to identify options (Smartgene)†
Assistance for Applicant in amending to overcome 101:
Limitations that the courts have found to qualify as “significantly more” when recited in a claim with a judicial exception include:
i. Improvements to the functioning of a computer, e.g., a modification of conventional Internet hyperlink protocol to dynamically produce a dual-source hybrid webpage, as discussed in DDR Holdings, LLC v. Hotels.com, L.P., 773 F.3d 1245, 1258-59, 113 USPQ2d 1097, 1106-07 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (see MPEP § 2106.05(a));
ii. Improvements to any other technology or technical field, e.g., a modification of conventional rubber-molding processes to utilize a thermocouple inside the mold to constantly monitor the temperature and thus reduce under- and over-curing problems common in the art, as discussed in Diamond v. Diehr, 450 U.S. 175, 191-92, 209 USPQ 1, 10 (1981) (see MPEP § 2106.05(a));
iii. Applying the judicial exception with, or by use of, a particular machine, e.g., a Fourdrinier machine (which is understood in the art to have a specific structure comprising a headbox, a paper-making wire, and a series of rolls) that is arranged in a particular way to optimize the speed of the machine while maintaining quality of the formed paper web, as discussed in Eibel Process Co. v. Minn. & Ont. Paper Co., 261 U.S. 45, 64-65 (1923) (see MPEP § 2106.05(b));
iv. Effecting a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing, e.g., a process that transforms raw, uncured synthetic rubber into precision-molded synthetic rubber products, as discussed in Diehr, 450 U.S. at 184, 209 USPQ at 21 (see MPEP § 2106.05(c));
v. Adding a specific limitation other than what is well-understood, routine, conventional activity in the field, or adding unconventional steps that confine the claim to a particular useful application, e.g., a non-conventional and non-generic arrangement of various computer components for filtering Internet content, as discussed in BASCOM Global Internet v. AT&T Mobility LLC, 827 F.3d 1341, 1350-51, 119 USPQ2d 1236, 1243 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (see MPEP § 2106.05(d)); or
vi. Other meaningful limitations beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, e.g., an immunization step that integrates an abstract idea of data comparison into a specific process of immunizing that lowers the risk that immunized patients will later develop chronic immune-mediated diseases, as discussed in Classen Immunotherapies Inc. v. Biogen IDEC, 659 F.3d 1057, 1066-68, 100 USPQ2d 1492, 1499-1502 (Fed. Cir. 2011) (see MPEP § 2106.05(e)).
To help in amending the claims and for analysis purposes, example claims 3 and 4 are listed below from the courts, however such example amendment potentials are not limited to the provided examples and alternative amendments are possible using i-vi from the courts. The example below show differences between eligible claims (court claim 4) and ineligible claims (court claim 3), which thus illustrates significantly more which is tied to hardware that is not generally recited in the art. In this case general changing of font size in claim 3 versus a significant step of conditionally changing font size tied to hardware in claim 4.
See below examples based on MPEP and not on the current claim set, to help amend to overcome 101 rejections:
Regarding independent claim examples:
For instance in the example claims, for example claims 3 and 4 below:
Ineligible
3. A computer‐implemented method of resizing textual information within a window displayed in a graphical user interface, the method comprising:
(not significant) generating first data for describing the area of a first graphical element;
(not significant) generating second data for describing the area of a second graphical element containing textual information;
(not significant) calculating, by the computer, a scaling factor for the textual information which is proportional to the difference between the first data and second data.
The claim recites that the step of calculating a scaling factor is performed by “the computer” (referencing the computer recited in the preamble). Such a limitation gives “life, meaning and vitality” to the preamble and, therefore, the preamble is construed to further limit the claim. (See MPEP 2111.02.)
However, the mere recitation of “computer‐implemented” is akin to adding the words “apply it” in conjunction with the abstract idea. Such a limitation is not enough to qualify as significantly more. With regards to the graphical user interface limitation, the courts have found that simply limiting the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment is not significantly more. (See, e.g., Flook.)
Whereas in similar claim 4:
Eligible
4. A computer‐implemented method for dynamically relocating textual information within an underlying window displayed in a graphical user interface, the method comprising:
displaying a first window containing textual information in a first format within a graphical user interface on a computer screen;
displaying a second window within the graphical user interface;
constantly monitoring the boundaries of the first window and the second window to detect an overlap condition where the second window overlaps the first window such that the textual information in the first window is obscured from a user’s view;
determining the textual information would not be completely viewable if relocated to an unobstructed portion of the first window;
calculating a first measure of the area of the first window and a second measure of the area of the unobstructed portion of the first window;
calculating a scaling factor which is proportional to the difference between the first measure and the second measure;
scaling the textual information based upon the scaling factor;
(significant step) automatically relocating the scaled textual information, by a processor, to the unobscured portion of the first window in a second format during an overlap condition so that the entire scaled textual information is viewable on the computer screen by the user;
(significant step) automatically returning the relocated scaled textual information, by the processor, to the first format within the first window when the overlap condition no longer exists.
These limitations are not merely attempting to limit the mathematical algorithm to a particular technological environment. Instead, these claim limitations recite a specific application of the mathematical algorithm that improves the functioning of the basic display function of the computer itself. As discussed above, the scaling and relocating the textual information in overlapping windows improves the ability of the computer to display information and interact with the user.
The dependent claims are rejected as follows, for the same reasoning as being directed towards patent ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101, and not adding eligible subject matter to the respective parent claim.
Claims 2-7, 9-14, and 16-20 do not contribute any further, and are still in the scope of mathematical steps of signal alteration without the actual use of a raw signal necessary such as using convolution or signal processing functions including DSP mathematical functions e.g. transfer functions.
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 –
(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.
Claims 1, 2, 5-9, 12-16, 19, and 20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 20130289981 A1 Ragot; Stephane et al. (hereinafter Ragot).
Re claim 1, Ragot teaches
1. A method, comprising: (fig. 2, 4e, and 5)
adjusting, based on an adjustment factor, a quantized energy envelope of a subband of a frame of an audio signal to obtain an adjusted quantized energy envelope of the subband; (for audio input frames, quantization takes place on the spectral envelope in sub-bands 0133, adjacent frames are taken into consideration using windowing 0027, spectral coefficients quantized 0098, fig. 2, 4e, and 5)
performing, based on the adjusted quantized energy envelope, bit allocation for a plurality of subbands of the frame, wherein at least one subband in the plurality of subbands has at least one allocated bit; (bit allocation in varying amounts per rate 0118 0142 0181, for audio input frames, quantization takes place on the spectral envelope in sub-bands 0133, adjacent frames are taken into consideration using windowing 0027, spectral coefficients quantized 0098, fig. 2, 4e, and 5)
quantizing, based on the at least one allocated bit, at least a part of spectral coefficients included in the at least one subband to obtain quantized spectral coefficients; and (further in 0117-0118 and fig. 2 at least elements 221 using bits for quantization and coefficients e.g. S(k), bit allocation in varying amounts per rate 0118 0142 0181, for audio input frames, quantization takes place on the spectral envelope in sub-bands 0133, adjacent frames are taken into consideration using windowing 0027, spectral coefficients quantized 0098, fig. 2, 4e, and 5)
obtaining a bitstream that includes the quantized spectral coefficients. (multiplex output bitstream using 0117-0118 and fig. 2 at least elements 221 using bits for quantization and coefficients e.g. S(k), bit allocation in varying amounts per rate 0118 0142 0181, for audio input frames, quantization takes place on the spectral envelope in sub-bands 0133, adjacent frames are taken into consideration using windowing 0027, spectral coefficients quantized 0098, fig. 2, 4e, and 5)
Re claim 8, this claim has been rejected for teaching a broader, or narrower claim based on general inclusion of hardware alone (e.g. processor, memory, instructions), representation of claim 1 omitting/including hardware for instance, otherwise amounting to a virtually identical scope
For instance, see fig. 2, 4e, and 5
Re claim 15, this claim has been rejected for teaching a broader, or narrower claim based on general inclusion of hardware alone (e.g. processor, memory, instructions), representation of claim 1 omitting/including hardware for instance, otherwise amounting to a virtually identical scope
For instance, see fig. 2, 4e, and 5
Re claims 2, 9, and 16, Ragot teaches
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
obtaining a signal type of the subband; and (type of coding used 0193 0200 0202, multiplex output bitstream using 0117-0118 and fig. 2 at least elements 221 using bits for quantization and coefficients e.g. S(k), bit allocation in varying amounts per rate 0118 0142 0181, for audio input frames, quantization takes place on the spectral envelope in sub-bands 0133, adjacent frames are taken into consideration using windowing 0027, spectral coefficients quantized 0098, fig. 2, 4e, and 5)
obtaining, based at least in part on the signal type, the adjustment factor. (type of coding used 0193 0200 0202, multiplex output bitstream using 0117-0118 and fig. 2 at least elements 221 using bits for quantization and coefficients e.g. S(k), bit allocation in varying amounts per rate 0118 0142 0181, for audio input frames, quantization takes place on the spectral envelope in sub-bands 0133, adjacent frames are taken into consideration using windowing 0027, spectral coefficients quantized 0098, fig. 2, 4e, and 5)
Re claims 5, 12, and 19, Ragot teaches
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
obtaining a reference parameter of the subband; and (adjacent frames, including a previous frame, are taken into consideration using windowing 0027 with fig. 4e using bits e.g. 0 and 1 for reference, spectral coefficients quantized 0098... for subband processing using type of coding used 0193 0200 0202, multiplex output bitstream using 0117-0118 and fig. 2 at least elements 221 using bits for quantization and coefficients e.g. S(k), bit allocation in varying amounts per rate 0118 0142 0181, for audio input frames, quantization takes place on the spectral envelope in sub-bands 0133, fig. 2, 4e, and 5)
obtaining, based at least in part on the reference parameter, the adjustment factor. (adjacent frames, including a previous frame, are taken into consideration using windowing 0027 with fig. 4e using bits e.g. 0 and 1 for reference, spectral coefficients quantized 0098... for subband processing using type of coding used 0193 0200 0202, multiplex output bitstream using 0117-0118 and fig. 2 at least elements 221 using bits for quantization and coefficients e.g. S(k), bit allocation in varying amounts per rate 0118 0142 0181, for audio input frames, quantization takes place on the spectral envelope in sub-bands 0133, fig. 2, 4e, and 5)
Re claims 6 and 13, Ragot teaches
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the frame. (adjacent frames, including a previous frame, are taken into consideration using windowing 0027 with fig. 4e using bits e.g. 0 and 1 for reference, spectral coefficients quantized 0098... for subband processing using type of coding used 0193 0200 0202, multiplex output bitstream using 0117-0118 and fig. 2 at least elements 221 using bits for quantization and coefficients e.g. S(k), bit allocation in varying amounts per rate 0118 0142 0181, for audio input frames, quantization takes place on the spectral envelope in sub-bands 0133, fig. 2, 4e, and 5)
Re claims 7 and 14, Ragot teaches
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the reference parameter is a flag. (adjacent frames, including a previous frame, are taken into consideration using windowing 0027 with fig. 4e using bits e.g. 0 and 1 for reference, spectral coefficients quantized 0098... for subband processing using type of coding used 0193 0200 0202, multiplex output bitstream using 0117-0118 and fig. 2 at least elements 221 using bits for quantization and coefficients e.g. S(k), bit allocation in varying amounts per rate 0118 0142 0181, for audio input frames, quantization takes place on the spectral envelope in sub-bands 0133, fig. 2, 4e, and 5)
Re claim 20, Ragot teaches
20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the reference parameter indicates a bit allocation state of a subband of a previous frame adjacent to the frame, and wherein the reference parameter is a flag. (adjacent frames, including a previous frame, are taken into consideration using windowing 0027 with fig. 4e using bits e.g. 0 and 1 for reference, spectral coefficients quantized 0098... for subband processing using type of coding used 0193 0200 0202, multiplex output bitstream using 0117-0118 and fig. 2 at least elements 221 using bits for quantization and coefficients e.g. S(k), bit allocation in varying amounts per rate 0118 0142 0181, for audio input frames, quantization takes place on the spectral envelope in sub-bands 0133, fig. 2, 4e, and 5)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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, 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 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20130289981 A1 Ragot; Stephane et al. (hereinafter Ragot) in view of US 6377915 B1 Sasaki; Seishi (hereinafter Sasaki).
Re claims 3, 10, and 17, while Ragot teaches signal type for coding, it fails to teach:
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the signal type comprises harmonic or non-harmonic. (Sasaki harmonic detection, with flags per se col 8 line 44 to col 9 line 67)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ragot to incorporate the above claim limitations as taught by Sasaki to allow for combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results such as using harmonic detection which informs the encoder whether to use speech-specific algorithms (e.g., Harmonic Vector Excitation Coding) or Advanced Audio Coding techniques, which produces highly efficient bit allocation and optimal perceptual quality, wherein when flagging this detection, encoders can dynamically switch compression strategies, reserving more bits for complex harmonic tones while using for example psychoacoustic masking for the remainders.
Re claims 4, 11, and 18, while Ragot teaches signal type for coding and bits for signal elements identification, it fails to teach:
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the signal type is indicated by a flag. (Sasaki harmonic detection, with flags per se col 8 line 44 to col 9 line 67)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ragot to incorporate the above claim limitations as taught by Sasaki to allow for combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results such as using harmonic detection which informs the encoder whether to use speech-specific algorithms (e.g., Harmonic Vector Excitation Coding) or Advanced Audio Coding techniques, which produces highly efficient bit allocation and optimal perceptual quality, wherein when flagging this detection, encoders can dynamically switch compression strategies, reserving more bits for complex harmonic tones while using for example psychoacoustic masking for the remainders.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20030036901 A1 Chen, Juin-Hwey
Spectral envelope quantization
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