Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 04, 2026
Application No. 19/104,191

VIDEO SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS THEREFOR

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Feb 14, 2025
Priority
Aug 17, 2022 — RE 10-2022-0102786 +7 more
Examiner
HABIB, IRFAN
Art Unit
2485
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
5m
Est. Remaining
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allowance Rate
667 granted / 757 resolved
+30.1% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+8.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 1m
Avg Prosecution
12 currently pending
Career history
778
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.5%
-36.5% vs TC avg
§103
75.6%
+35.6% vs TC avg
§102
2.0%
-38.0% vs TC avg
§112
2.5%
-37.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 757 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION 1. This office action is in response to U.S. Patent Application No.: 19/104,191 filed on 2/14/2025 with effective filing date 8/17/2022. Claims 1-20 are pending. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 2. 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. 3. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 4. Claim(s) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koo et al. US 2022/0053189 in view of Zhang et al. US 2022/0038706. Per claims 1, 9 & 17, Koo et al. a video signal decoding apparatus comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configured to: determine a first prediction mode of a current block (para: 61, e.g. the intra predictor 222 may predict the current block by referring to samples in the current picture); generate a prediction block of the current block, based on the first prediction mode (para: 61, e.g. referred samples may be located in the neighbor of or apart from the current block according to the prediction mode). Koo et al. fails to explicitly disclose the remaining claim limitation. Zhang et al. however in the same field of endeavor teaches generate a residual block of the current block, based on a transform matrix set determined based on a second prediction mode (para: 73 & 77, e.g. as shown in FIG. 6, ALWIP takes two averages along each axis of the boundary. The resulting four input samples enter the matrix vector multiplication); and reconstruct the current block, based on the prediction block and the residual block (para: 361, e.g. wherein the multiple blocks are generated by partitioning a video unit using a partition pattern, and wherein the set of neighboring blocks is determined based on the partition pattern; and reconstructing the current block of video data using the bitstream). Therefore, in view of disclosures by Zhang et al., it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to combine Koo et al. and Zhang et al. in order to determine a manner in which information for an MIP coding technique is coded in the bitstream representation for a conversion between the block of a video and the bitstream representation of the video. Per claims 2, 10 & 18, Zhang et al. further teaches the video signal decoding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transform matrix set at least one of a transform matrix set of a Multiple Transform Set (MTS) and/or a transform matrix set of Low Frequency Non-Separable Transform (LFNST) (para: 100, e.g. a Multiple Transform Selection (MTS) scheme is used for residual coding both inter and intra coded blocks. It uses multiple selected transforms from the DCT8/DST7). Per claim 3, 11 & 19, Zhang et al. further teaches the video signal decoding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first prediction mode and the second prediction mode are different from each other (para: 90, e.g. The prediction directions used in QR-BDPCM can be vertical and horizontal prediction modes). Per claims 4 & 12, Zhang et al. further teaches the video signal decoding apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first prediction mode is one of a planar mode based on a horizontal direction or a planar mode based on a vertical direction (para: 90, e.g. The prediction directions used in QR-BDPCM can be vertical and horizontal prediction modes). Per claims 5 & 13, Koo et al. further teaches the video signal decoding apparatus of claim 4, wherein the planar mode based on the horizontal direction is a prediction mode based on a value of a block at position (-1, y) and a value of a block at position (W, -1), the planar mode based on the vertical direction is a prediction mode based on a value of a block at position (x, -1) and a value of a block at position a position of a top left block of the current block is (0, 0), and a position of the prediction block is (x, y) (para: 94, e.g. the horizontal transform may represent a transform for horizontal components of the target block, and the vertical transform may represent a transform for vertical components of the target block. The vertical transform kernel/horizontal transform kernel may be adaptively determined based on a prediction mode and/or a transform index of a target block (CU or sub-block) including a residual block). Per claims 6, 14 & 20, Koo et al. further teaches the video signal decoding apparatus of claim 4, wherein i) the first prediction mode is the planar mode based on the horizontal direction, and the second prediction mode is a vertical direction angular mode, or ii) the first prediction mode is the planar mode based on the vertical direction, and the second prediction mode is a horizontal direction angular mode (para: 94-95, e.g. then a vertical transform kernel and a horizontal transform kernel for a target block may be selected from among the transform kernels, a vertical transform for the target block may be performed based on the vertical transform kernel, and a horizontal transform for the target block may be performed based on the horizontal transform kernel). Per claims 7 & 15, Koo et al. further teaches the video signal decoding apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first prediction mode is a linear prediction mode (para: 64 & 111, e.g. a No. 67 intra prediction mode may be further used, and the No. 67 intra prediction mode may represent a linear model (LM) mode). Per claims 8 & 16, Koo et al. further teaches the video signal decoding apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first prediction mode is indicated by a syntax element included in a bitstream, wherein whether the syntax element is parsed is determined based on a size of the current block (para: 64, e.g. the transform process may be applied to square pixel blocks having the same size or may be applied to blocks having a variable size rather than the square one). Conclusion 5. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Said et al. US 2017/0238013 A1, e.g. performing, by the video decoder, a multi-pass non-separable inverse transformation on the plurality of values to derive residual data that represents pixel differences between the current block of the video data and a predictive block of the video data; and reconstructing, by the video decoder, the current block of the video data based on the residual data and the predictive block of the video data. Cho et al. US 2021/0084290 A1, e.g. a prediction block for a target block is generated by predicting the target block using a prediction network, and a reconstructed block for the target block is generated based on the prediction block and a reconstructed residual block. The prediction network includes an intra-prediction network and an inter-prediction network and uses a spatial reference block and/or a temporal reference block when it performs prediction. 6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to IRFAN HABIB whose telephone number is (571)270-7325. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Th 9AM-7PM. 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 5712722988. 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. /Irfan Habib/Examiner, Art Unit 2485
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Prosecution Timeline

Feb 14, 2025
Application Filed
Aug 25, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

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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
88%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+8.4%)
2y 1m (~5m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 757 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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