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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. 16/076,170, filed on 02/03/2017.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement’s (IDS) were submitted on 01/16/2025, 07/02/2025 & 11/19/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 5-6 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claims 5/6 and/or 11/12 state “wherein the second value of the information data further indicates that the chrominance unit is not split”. However, the information data is defined by the independent claim as a flag. It is unclear how a flag being zero (i.e. chroma/luma non-identical trees) would further indicate that the chrominance unit is not split. The flag being zero would just indicate that chroma/luma utilize different trees. Please clarify.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-16 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-24 of U.S. Patent No. 11,109,045. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the independent claims are broader in scope than the patent listed above.
Claims 1-16 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-10 of U.S. Patent No. 12,262,028. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the independent claims are broader in scope than the patent listed above.
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.
Claims 1-6 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen et al. (herein after will be referred to as Chen) (US 20120230421).
Regarding claim 1, Chen discloses a method comprising:
splitting a luminance channel of an image unit according to a luma coding-tree; and, [See Chen [0027] The RQT applies to both luma/chroma of a CU. RQT is a representation of the partitioning.]
splitting a chrominance unit representative of at least one chrominance channel of the image unit according to a chroma coding-tree, [See Chen [0027] The RQT applies to both luma/chroma of a CU. RQT is a representation of the partitioning.]
wherein splitting the chrominance unit comprises: determining whether the chroma coding-tree and the luma coding-tree are identical; and [See Chen [Fig. 7] Step (200) is a decision if luma/chroma use the same RQT depths or different RQT depths.]
signaling an information data indicating whether the chroma coding-tree and the luma coding-tree are identical; [See Chen [0135] Flag indicating that transforms for chroma/luma are applied at different RQT depths.]
the information data being a flag equal to a first value when the chroma coding-tree and the luma coding-tree are identical and to a second value otherwise. [See Chen [0135] Flag indicating that transforms for chroma/luma are applied at different RQT depths.]
Regarding claim 2, see examiners rejection for claim 1 which is analogous and applicable for the rejection of claim 2.
Regarding claim 3, see examiners rejection for claim 1 which is analogous and applicable for the rejection of claim 3.
Regarding claim 4, see examiners rejection for claim 1 which is analogous and applicable for the rejection of claim 4.
Regarding claim 5, Chen discloses the method of claim 1. Furthermore, Chen discloses
wherein the second value of the information data further indicates that the chrominance unit is not split. [See Chen [0135] Flag indicating that transforms for chroma/luma are applied at different RQT depths. Therefore, when flag indicates that chroma/luma share the same RQT depths, chroma will not be split any further as compared to luma.]
Regarding claim 6, see examiners rejection for claim 5 which is analogous and applicable for the rejection of claim 6.
Regarding claim 11, see examiners rejection for claim 5 which is analogous and applicable for the rejection of claim 11.
Regarding claim 12, see examiners rejection for claim 5 which is analogous and applicable for the rejection of claim 12.
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 7-8 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (US 20120230421) in view of Guo et al. (herein after will be referred to as Guo) (US 20130266074).
Regarding claim 7, Chen discloses the method of claim 1. Furthermore, Chen discloses
wherein responsive to the chroma and luma coding-trees being determined as different, [See Chen [0135] Flag indicating that transforms for chroma/luma are applied at different RQT depths.]
Chen does not explicitly disclose
if a size of at least one leaf of the chroma coding-tree is larger than a maximum size, then the at least one leaf is recursively split until the chroma coding-tree has leaves with a size equal to the maximum size.
However, Guo does disclose
if a size of at least one leaf of the chroma coding-tree is larger than a maximum size, then the at least one leaf is recursively split until the chroma coding-tree has leaves with a size equal to the maximum size. [See Guo [0085] When the size of the CU is larger than the maximum TU size, split the block because the biggest transform size is smaller than the current block size…for signaling chroma.]
It would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to modify the method by Chen to add the teachings of Guo, in order to improve upon video compression by incorporation of maximum TU sizes for chroma.
Regarding claim 8, see examiners rejection for claim 7 which is analogous and applicable for the rejection of claim 8.
Regarding claim 13, see examiners rejection for claim 7 which is analogous and applicable for the rejection of claim 13.
Regarding claim 14, see examiners rejection for claim 7 which is analogous and applicable for the rejection of claim 14.
Claims 9-10 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (US 20120230421) in view of Guo et al. (herein after will be referred to as Guo) (US 20130195199).
Regarding claim 9, Chen discloses the method of claim 1. Furthermore, Chen discloses
wherein responsive to the chroma and luma coding-trees being determined as different, [See Chen [0135] Flag indicating that transforms for chroma/luma are applied at different RQT depths.]
Chen does not explicitly disclose
the chroma and luma coding-trees are identical until a first decomposition level, the splitting of the chrominance unit being stopped for second decomposition levels higher than the first decomposition level.
However, Guo does disclose
the chroma and luma coding-trees are identical until a first decomposition level, the splitting of the chrominance unit being stopped for second decomposition levels higher than the first decomposition level. [See Guo [0075] Series of split flags to define a RQT structure. Also, see 0053, it is desirable to split the Y component block into smaller partitions than the U/V component blocks. Therefore, this shows that chroma is stopped at a higher level as compared to luma. Furthermore, see Fig. 6.]
It would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to modify the method by Chen to add the teachings of Guo, in order to improve upon video compression by partitioning luma at a further level as compared to chroma.
Regarding claim 10, see examiners rejection for claim 8 which is analogous and applicable for the rejection of claim 10.
Regarding claim 15, see examiners rejection for claim 9 which is analogous and applicable for the rejection of claim 15.
Regarding claim 16, see examiners rejection for claim 9 which is analogous and applicable for the rejection of claim 16.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20150304662
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/JAMES T BOYLAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2486