Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 19/077,385

CODING METHOD AND APPARATUS, DECODING METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND CODER, DECODER AND STORAGE MEDIUM

Non-Final OA §101§102
Filed
Mar 12, 2025
Priority
Sep 13, 2022 — continuation of PCTCN2022118455
Examiner
HUANG, FRANK F
Art Unit
2485
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
76%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 1m
Est. Remaining
91%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 76% — above average
76%
Career Allowance Rate
541 granted / 716 resolved
+17.6% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+15.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
18 currently pending
Career history
735
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.9%
-35.1% vs TC avg
§103
76.0%
+36.0% vs TC avg
§102
4.9%
-35.1% vs TC avg
§112
6.9%
-33.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 716 resolved cases

Office Action

§101 §102
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 . 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. The claimed invention of claim 20 is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) 20 does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because bitstream without more with index parameter is data per se without any recited technological implementation, and therefore does not fall within a statutory category or is directed to an abstract idea without significant more. 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. Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by H.266, H.266 : Versatile video coding, https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-H.266-202008-S/en, (2020) “VCC”, Regarding claim 20, VCC discloses a bitstream, wherein the bitstream comprises an index parameter of a first transition width parameter (VCC, pg. 19). A bit stream … is a product by process claim limitation where the product is the bit stream and the process is the method steps to generate the bitstream. MPEP §2113 recites “Product-by-Process claims are not limited to the manipulations of the recited steps, only the structure implied by the steps”. Thus, the scope of the claim the bitstream as information content. The structure includes the information and samples manipulated by the steps. “To be given patentable weight, the printed matter and associated product must be in a functional relationship. A functional relationship can be found where the printed matter performs some function with respect to the product to which it is associated”. MPEP §2111.05(I)(A). The claimed index of a bitstream in claim 20 merely serves as a data for the bitstream and provides no functional relationship between the bitstream and the data. Therefore, the index parameter is data after retrieval, so no patentable weight. Thus, the claim scope is just a bitstream and is anticipated by REFERENCE which recites a bitstream (Paragraph XYZ). The syntax was always part of the bitstream and once again is only being claimed as the content of the bitstream and should be given no patentable weight as being non-functional descriptive information. Allowable Subject Matter The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: VVC discloses using motion-compensated DCT video coding. While HEVC supports integer discrete cosine transform (DCT) square block sizes between 4×4 and 32×32, VVC adds support for non-square DCT rectangular block sizes. VVC also introduces several intra-frame prediction modes based on these rectangular DCT blocks to provide improved motion compensation prediction. CN114342373B (IDS) discloses a method of decoding video data includes determining that a geometric partitioning mode is enabled for a current block of video data, and determining a partitioning line that partitions the current block into a first partition and a second partition, wherein determining the partitioning line includes selecting an angle of the partitioning line from a plurality of angles, each angle of the plurality of angles corresponding to an N to M ratio of samples of the current block, wherein N and M are integers. The split line is not at a corner of the current block. The method further includes determining geometric mode weights for the current block using angles of the partition lines, generating a first predicted block using the motion information of the first partition, and generating a second predicted block using the motion information of the second partition. None of the cited prior art discloses “obtaining, for a current block, a prediction parameter of a geometric partitioning mode; determining, based on the prediction parameter, a plurality of candidate transition width parameters of a weight matrix of the current block; determining, based on template matching, a first transition width parameter from the plurality of candidate transition width parameters; obtaining a weight value for a sample of the current block according to the first transition width parameter; and performing weighting on a first predicted value and a second predicted value of the current block according to the weight value for the sample of the current block, to obtain a predicted value of the current block.” Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.” Claims 1-19 are allowed. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: US 20250379973 A1 ADAPTIVE FILTER FOR DECODER-SIDE INTRA MODE DERIVATION US 20240244182 A1 MULTI-TEMPLATE BASED INTRA-FRAME TEMPLATE MATCHING PREDICTION US 20240223748 A1 MULTIPLE MODES AND MULTIPLE TEMPLATES FOR TEMPLATE MATCHING RELATED VIDEO CODING TOOLS US 20230135378 A1 INDEX REORDERING OF BI-PREDICTION WITH CU-LEVEL WEIGHT (BCW) BY USING TEMPLATE-MATCHING US 20230005242 A1 PATTERN IMAGE DETECTION METHOD Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FRANK F HUANG whose telephone number is (571)272-0701. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30 am - 6:00 pm (Eastern Time), Federal Alternative First Friday Off. 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. /FRANK F HUANG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2485
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 12, 2025
Application Filed
May 12, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §101, §102 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
76%
Grant Probability
91%
With Interview (+15.5%)
2y 7m (~1y 1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 716 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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