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
This office action is in response to an amendment filed on 08/03/2026 and a supplemental amendment filed on 09/10/2026.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 08/03/2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of the full statutory term of U.S. Patent Nos. 11,582,457 and 12,284,355 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
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 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen (US 2018/0063527).
As to claim 15, Chen teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a bitstream ([0010], [0028]-[0029], [0033], [0035], [0038], [0043], [0055], [0057], [0112], [0116]-[0117], and [0146]-[0147]) generated by the apparatus for image encoding of claim 2 (this portion of the claim is not given patentable weight).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-14 are allowable.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Applicant’s amendments and arguments presented 08/03/2026 and 09/10/2026 constitute the basis for the reasons of allowance as the current prior art of record, considered individually or in combination, fails to teach or reasonably suggest all the claimed features of claims 1, 2, and 3, structurally and functionally interconnected with other limitations in the manner as cited in the claims and dependent claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 08/03/2026 and 09/10/2026 have been fully considered. However, newly added claim 15 (as of the amendment filed on 08/03/2026 and subsequently amended on 09/10/2026) is rejected for the reasons stated above.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZHIHAN ZHOU whose telephone number is (571)270-7284. The examiner can normally be reached Mondays-Fridays 8:30am-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, Christopher Kelley can be reached at 571-272-7331. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZHIHAN ZHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2482
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