Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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.
The instant application (19/065,308) and the parent patent US Patent 12,267,523 have the following limitations in common:
A video decoding method comprising:
obtaining, from a bitstream, first encoding order information indicating a first encoding order between first lower coding blocks included in a first coding block among coding blocks hierarchically split from an upper block;
decoding the first lower coding blocks according to the first encoding order indicated by the first encoding order information;
obtaining, from the bitstream, second encoding order information indicating a second encoding order between second lower coding blocks included in a second coding block among the coding blocks hierarchically split from the upper block; and
decoding the second lower coding blocks according to the second encoding order indicated by the second encoding order information,
wherein the first encoding order between the first lower coding blocks included in the first coding block is separately determined from the second encoding order between the second lower coding blocks included in the second coding block, and the first coding block and the second coding block are included in the same upper block,
wherein one of the first encoding order and the second encoding order is has one of a forward direction and a reverse direction, the forward direction being a direction from a left block to a right block among the first lower coding blocks or the second lower coding blocks, the
reverse direction being a direction from the right block to the left block among the first lower coding blocks or the second lower coding blocks, and
wherein the decoding of the first lower coding blocks comprises:
obtaining, from the bitstream, information regarding a resolution of a motion vector of a current coding block among the first lower coding blocks;
determining a prediction motion vector of the current coding block using a motion vector of an adjacent block, among adjacent blocks available for inter prediction on the current coding block, based on the information regarding the resolution of the motion vector of the current coding block; and
reconstructing the current coding block by using the prediction motion vector of the current coding block.
The instant application additionally has the following limitations, which are taught by the secondary reference Seregin (US Patent 9,325,991), mapped below in the office action:
obtaining, from the bitstream, …information regarding a motion vector difference of the current coding block;
determining the motion vector difference using the information regarding the motion vector difference of the current coding block and scaling the motion vector difference using the information regarding the resolution of the motion vector of the current coding block; and
reconstructing the current coding block by using… the scaled motion vector difference.
Claims 1-3 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,267,523 in view of Seregin (US Patent 9,325,991). One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to modify the parent patent to signal integer precision motion vectors because Seregin teaches that signaling and storing integer numbers is more efficient than non-integer numbers (Column 14 lines 40-43), and the efficiency is especially suited for small blocks (Column 11 lines 39-46), improving compression efficiency without damaging quality.
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.
Claim 3 is 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. Claim 3 mentions a “method of transmitting” in the preamble, but does not have a positive step of transmitting. It has no positive steps. This makes the scope of Claim 3 unclear.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (US PG Publication 2016/0219278) in view of Tanizawa (US PG Publication 2010/0135389) and Seregin (US Patent 9,325,991).
Regarding Claim 1, Chen (US PG Publication 2016/0219278) discloses a video decoding method (video decoder of Fig. 3) comprising:
obtaining, from a bitstream (encoded video bitstream, Fig. 3), … first (i.e., first current block [0048]) lower coding blocks (leaf-CU [0065], leaf sub-CU [0064]; PU [0044]; sub-PU [0051]) included in a first coding block among coding blocks (coding units [0043]) hierarchically split (quad tree [0043]) from an upper block (largest coding unit in a slice is called a coding tree block or coding tree unit [0043]);
… first encoding order information indicating a first encoding order (raster scan order [0202]) between first lower coding blocks (each of the sub-Pus [0202]);
decoding the first lower coding blocks (generation of motion for sub-PU [0201]) according to the first encoding order indicated by the first encoding order information (in raster-scan order [0202]);
obtaining, from the bitstream, … second (i.e., second current block [0048]) lower coding blocks (leaf-CU [0065], leaf sub-CU [0064]; PU [0044]; sub-PU [0051]) included in a second coding block (coding units [0043]) among the coding blocks hierarchically split (quad tree [0043]) from the upper block (largest coding unit in a slice is called a coding tree block or coding tree unit [0043]);
and decoding the second lower coding blocks (generation of motion for sub-PU [0201]) according to the second encoding order indicated by the second encoding order information (raster scan order [0202]),
… and the first coding block and the second coding block are included in the same upper block (largest coding unit is quad tree split into coding units [0043], which can be split into leaf-CU [0065], leaf sub-CU [0064]; PU [0044]; sub-PU [0051]),
wherein one of the first encoding order and the second encoding order is one of a forward direction and a reverse direction (raster scan order is in the forward direction by definition, it’s left to right), the forward direction being a direction from a left block to a right block among the first lower coding blocks or the second lower coding blocks (raster scan order [0202]), the reverse direction being a direction from the right block to the left block among the first lower coding blocks or the second lower coding blocks (inherent; the reserve left to right is right to left), and wherein the decoding of the first lower coding blocks comprises:
obtaining, from the bitstream, information regarding a resolution of a motion vector (the data defining the motion vector includes a resolution for the motion vector indicating pixel precision ¼ or 1/8 [0069]) of a current coding block (the PU may include data defining one or more motion vectors for the PU [0069]) among the first lower coding blocks (all the Pus [0069]) and information regarding a motion vector difference (motion refinement data to be conveyed on top of the motion predictors [0290]) of the current coding block (PU or CU [0290]);
determining a prediction motion vector (predicted motion vector identified by index into the MV candidate list [0048]) of the current coding block (each PU [0045]) using a motion vector of an adjacent block (candidates derived from spatial and temporal neighboring blocks [0050]), among adjacent blocks available for inter prediction on the current coding block (determine whether the motion candidate is unavailable and thus can be inserted into the candidate list [0051]), based on the information regarding the resolution of the motion vector of the current coding block (the data defining the motion vectors includes resolution for the motion vector [0069]);
determining the motion vector difference using the information regarding the motion vector difference of the current coding block (motion refinement on top of the predictor [0290]) …;
and reconstructing the current coding block (Summer 62 adds the reconstructed residual block to the motion compensated prediction block produced by motion compensation unit 44 to produce a reconstructed video block [0243]) by using the prediction motion vector (predicted motion vector identified by index into the MV candidate list [0048]) of the current coding block and the [] motion vector difference (motion refinement data to be conveyed on top of the motion predictors [0290]).
Chen does not disclose, but Tanizawa (US PG Publication 2010/0135389) teaches obtaining, from a bitstream (syntax elements, Fig. 4, [0069]) first encoding order information (prediction_order_type in the macroblock_layer syntax of a current macroblock, Fig. 4, [0069], image is divided according to each macroblock [0060], [0063]) indicating a first encoding order (indicating either raster order or inverse raster order [0069], Figs. 21A-B, [0150]-[0151], of the first/current macroblock [0060], [0063], [0069]) between first lower coding blocks (4x4 block, 8x8 block, Figs. 5A-5B, 21A-21B, [0150]-[0151]; prediction order concerning subblocks in a macro block [0147]) included in a first coding block (macroblock is divided into 4x4 or 8x8 [0151]; i.e., first macro block, image is divided in accordance with each macroblock [0060]);
obtaining, from the bitstream (syntax elements, Fig. 4, [0069]), second encoding order information (prediction_order_type in the macroblock_layer syntax of a second macroblock, Fig. 4, [0069]) indicating a second encoding order (indicating either raster order or inverse raster order of the second macro block [0069], [0112]-[0113] [0150]-[0151]) between second lower coding blocks (4x4 block, 8x8 block, Figs. 5A-5B, 21A-21B, [0150]-[0151]; prediction order concerning subblocks in a macro block [0147]) included in a second coding block (macroblock is divided into 4x4 or 8x8 [0151]; i.e., second macroblock, image is divided in accordance with each macroblock [0060]);
wherein the first encoding order between the first lower coding blocks included in the first coding block (prediction_order_type in the macroblock_layer syntax of a current macroblock, Fig. 4, [0069]) is separately determined from (because the prediction_order_type is sent in the macroblock layer and the macroblock is the “coding block,” each macroblock has a separate prediction_order_type) the second encoding order between the second lower coding blocks included in the second coding block (prediction_order_type in the macroblock_layer syntax of a current macroblock, Fig. 4, [0069]).
Chen does not disclose, but Seregin (US Patent 9,325,991) teaches scaling the motion vector difference (force the MVD to integer pixel accuracy, Column 24 lines 23-30) using the information regarding the resolution of the motion vector of the current coding block (where quarter pixel accuracy is supported, the integer supported is 4 times the actual MV value, Column 15 lines 40-60);
and reconstructing the current coding block (determine the MV of the current PU by adding MVP + MVD, Column 22 lines 40-50) by using … the scaled motion vector difference (the rounded MVD, Column 24 lines 23-30).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to adapt the processing order of the PUs of Chen according to the prediction_order of Tanizawa because Tanizawa teaches that when the prediction order varies, the reference pixels are changed and a direction of prediction is changed [0182]; one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to determine the prediction order based on the contents of the image so that better reference pixels from better directions can be used to predict the current block, improving compression efficiency.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the application was filed would have been motivated to modify Chen to signal integer precision motion vectors because Seregin teaches that signaling and storing integer numbers is more efficient than non-integer numbers (Column 14 lines 40-43), and the efficiency is especially suited for small blocks (Column 11 lines 39-46), improving compression efficiency without damaging quality.
Regarding Claim 2, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 3, the claim is rejected on the grounds provided in Claim 1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20120243614 A1 – block coding order by image region
US 20180316934 A1 – sub-block arbitrary coding order
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHADAN E HAGHANI whose telephone number is (571)270-5631. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM - 5PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jay Patel can be reached at 571-272-2988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SHADAN E HAGHANI/Examiner, Art Unit 2485