Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 30, 2026
Application No. 19/116,321

A METHOD, AN APPARATUS AND A COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR VIDEO ENCODING AND DECODING

Final Rejection §102§103§112
Filed
Mar 27, 2025
Priority
Sep 29, 2022 — FI 20225860 +1 more
Examiner
BOYLAN, JAMES T
Art Unit
2486
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Nokia Corporation
OA Round
2 (Final)
63%
Grant Probability
Moderate
3-4
OA Rounds
1y 4m
Est. Remaining
74%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 63% of resolved cases
63%
Career Allowance Rate
312 granted / 494 resolved
+5.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+11.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
29 currently pending
Career history
544
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.8%
-37.2% vs TC avg
§103
55.5%
+15.5% vs TC avg
§102
11.0%
-29.0% vs TC avg
§112
21.7%
-18.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 494 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103 §112
CTNF 19/116,321 CTNF 92322 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Priority 02-26 AIA Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement 06-52 The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 07/14/2025. 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 07-30-02 AIA 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 19, 25 and 31 recite the limitation in part "between the intra prediction and a motion compensation prediction in a final prediction. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Specifically, independent claim 14 introduces the terms “directional intra prediction,” “intra prediction methods,” and “intra predicted samples,” but does not introduce “the intra prediction.” As a result, it is unclear what “the intra prediction” in the dependent claims refers to. Additionally, claim 14 recites performing motion compensation to predict a current block, but it is unclear whether “a motion compensation prediction” in claims 19, 25, and 31 refers to the same motion compensation step previously recited or to a different or additional prediction. Therefore, claims 19, 25, and 31 lack proper antecedent basis and are indefinite under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b). Applicant is required to amend the claims to provide clear antecedent basis for “the intra prediction” and to clarify whether “a motion compensation prediction” refers to the same or a different prediction than that recited in the independent claim. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim s 14-17, 19-23, 25-29 and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Brandenburg et al. (herein after will be referred to as Brandenburg) (US 20210029353) . Regarding claim 14, Brandenburg discloses An apparatus comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: [See Brandenburg [0125] Hardware apparatus for execution via a microprocessor. Also, see 0127 or 0129, memory for storing the instructions/program.] determine a motion vector and a reference frame for a current block; [See Brandenburg [0009] Temporal inter prediction. Also, see 0060, motion vector points to portions in the plane of a reference picture.] generate an extended reference frame by filling areas outside of the reference frame by one or more of the following: directional intra prediction using boundary samples of the reference frame according to a direction of the motion vector; intra prediction methods using decoded samples inside a current frame; or intra predicted samples of the current block; [See Brandenburg [0060] Padding a reference frame for portions beyond the border which no picture content is available. Also, see 0069, This is done via Multi-mode boundary padding (which uses angular intra prediction modes to extend the reference frame). Also, see 0071-0072, pixels outside the reference frame are predicted using adjacent border pixels of the reference frame. Since the motion vector defines the referenced pixel area for which the intra-prediction mode is selected, the intra prediction is considered to be used according to the motion vector direction.] predict the current block by using motion compensation from the extended reference frame; and [See Brandenburg [Fig. 1] Prediction module (44).] encode the current block into a bitstream. [See Brandenburg [Fig. 1] Encoder which generates an encoded bitstream.] Regarding claim 15, Brandenburg discloses the apparatus of claim 14. Furthermore, Brandenburg discloses wherein the instructions, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to determine the intra prediction methods by using a texture analysis method. [See Brandenburg [0073] Texture analysis method.] Regarding claim 16, Brandenburg discloses the apparatus of claim 15. Furthermore, Brandenburg discloses wherein the texture analysis method is a decoder side intra mode derivation method. [See Brandenburg [0071] The intra-mode is derived in a video decoder.] Regarding claim 17, Brandenburg discloses the apparatus of claim 14. Furthermore, Brandenburg discloses wherein the instructions, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to determine the intra prediction methods by using a template based intra mode derivation method. [See Brandenburg [0072 and Fig. 7] The intra mode used for padding is derived using a template area.] Regarding claim 19, Brandenburg discloses the apparatus of claim 14. Furthermore, Brandenburg discloses wherein the instructions, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to filter border samples between the intra prediction and a motion compensation prediction in a final prediction. [See Brandenburg [0004] Superposition of multiple prediction signals, wherein interpolation filters are used.] Regarding claim 20, see examiners rejection for claim 14 which is applicable and analogous for the rejection of claim 20. Regarding claim 21, see examiners rejection for claim 15 which is applicable and analogous for the rejection of claim 21. Regarding claim 22, see examiners rejection for claim 16 which is applicable and analogous for the rejection of claim 22. Regarding claim 23, see examiners rejection for claim 17 which is applicable and analogous for the rejection of claim 23. Regarding claim 25, see examiners rejection for claim 19 which is applicable and analogous for the rejection of claim 25. Regarding claim 26, see examiners rejection for claim 14 which is applicable and analogous for the rejection of claim 26. Regarding claim 27, see examiners rejection for claim 15 which is applicable and analogous for the rejection of claim 27. Regarding claim 28, see examiners rejection for claim 16 which is applicable and analogous for the rejection of claim 28. Regarding claim 29, see examiners rejection for claim 17 which is applicable and analogous for the rejection of claim 29. Regarding claim 31, see examiners rejection for claim 19 which is applicable and analogous for the rejection of claim 31 . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 18, 24 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brandenburg (US 20210029353) in view of Deng et al. (herein after will be referred to as Deng) (US 20220385926) . Regarding claim 18, Brandenburg discloses the apparatus of claim 14. Furthermore, Brandenburg does not explicitly disclose wherein the instructions, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to predict samples for areas outside of a picture by cross-component prediction, wherein samples in the areas outside of the picture in a reference channel are used for predicting samples for the areas outside of the picture in a current channel. However, Deng does disclose wherein the instructions, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to predict samples for areas outside of a picture by cross-component prediction, wherein samples in the areas outside of the picture in a reference channel are used for predicting samples for the areas outside of the picture in a current channel. [See Deng [0247-0248] CCLM. Also, see 0275-0278, neighboring block located outside the current picture are filled by padding.] 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 apparatus by Brandenburg to add the teachings of Deng, in order to utilize reference samples outside a picture boundary for other obvious prediction techniques in the video compression standard such as cross-component prediction . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lin et al. (US 20260012632) - Multi-Directional Boundary padding, which uses the motion vector to locate a reference area in a reference frame and exploits different spatial prediction modes (such as angular intra) to extend the reference frame border [0027], the current block within the picture is an intra mode coded block, the same intra mode can be used (for example, the same intra angular mode) to generate the padded results for the sample outside of picture boundary [0055], Template-based intra mode derivation is performed to derive padded samples [0057], and Decoder side intra mode derivation is performed to derive padded samples [0058]. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES T BOYLAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8242. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7am-3pm. 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, JAMIE ATALA can be reached at 571-272-7384. 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. /JAMES T BOYLAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2486 Application/Control Number: 19/116,321 Page 2 Art Unit: 2486 Application/Control Number: 19/116,321 Page 3 Art Unit: 2486 Application/Control Number: 19/116,321 Page 4 Art Unit: 2486 Application/Control Number: 19/116,321 Page 5 Art Unit: 2486 Application/Control Number: 19/116,321 Page 6 Art Unit: 2486 Application/Control Number: 19/116,321 Page 7 Art Unit: 2486 Application/Control Number: 19/116,321 Page 8 Art Unit: 2486 Application/Control Number: 19/116,321 Page 9 Art Unit: 2486
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 27, 2025
Application Filed
Mar 13, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103, §112
Aug 13, 2026
Response Filed
Aug 26, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12684148
METHODS AND DEVICES FOR HIGH PRECISION INTRA PREDICTION
1y 9m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12676962
IMAGE CODING METHOD BASED ON AFFINE MOTION PREDICTION, AND DEVICE FOR SAME
1y 11m to grant Granted Jul 07, 2026
Patent 12659465
INTRA-PREDICTION MODE CONCEPT FOR BLOCK-WISE PICTURE CODING
2y 6m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Patent 12647555
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING INTERMEDIARY PICTURES OUTPUT IN A NEURAL-NETWORK POST-FILTER GROUP IN SEI MESSAGE FOR CODED BITSTREAM
1y 8m to grant Granted Jun 02, 2026
Patent 12641263
PROCESSING THE IN-BETWEEN POINTS OF A POINT CLOUD
1y 7m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
63%
Grant Probability
74%
With Interview (+11.0%)
2y 9m (~1y 4m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 494 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month