DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/28/2025 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 § 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(s) 1-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Koo et al. (US 20210281842 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Koo et al. teaches an image decoding method (abstract), comprising:
deriving transform coefficients of a current block from a bitstream (Paragraphs 153-158);
performing at least one of dequantization or inverse transform on the transform coefficients of the current block to derive residual samples of the current block, wherein the inverse transform is performed based on a length-based transform kernel, and the length-based transform kernel includes at least one of a horizontal transform kernel having a length equal to a width of the current block or a vertical transform kernel having a length equal to a height of the current block (Paragraphs 9-10; Paragraph 12; Paragraphs 89-91; Paragraph 178; Paragraphs 203-205; Paragraphs 211-219; Paragraph 326, clearly teaches that the length of transform kernel is based on the width or height of the block); and
reconstructing the current block based on the residual samples of the current block (Paragraph 207).
Regarding Claim 2, Koo et al. teaches the image decoding method of claim 1, wherein the length-based transform kernel is a non-trigonometric function-based transform kernel (Paragraph 362, teaches that a trigonometric transform may be applied but is not assumed to be the transform in the main disclosure).
Regarding Claim 3, Koo et al. teaches the image decoding method of claim 1, wherein when the width and height of the current block are equal to each other, a horizontal transform kernel applied to a horizontal direction of the current block is a same transform kernel as a vertical transform kernel applied to a vertical direction of the current block (Paragraphs 9-10; Paragraph 12; Paragraphs 89-91; Paragraph 178; Paragraphs 203-205; Paragraphs 211-219; Paragraph 326, clearly teaches that the length of transform kernel is based on the width or height of the block).
Regarding Claim 4, Koo et al. teaches the image decoding method of claim 1, wherein when the width and height of the current block are equal to each other, a horizontal transform kernel applied to a horizontal direction of the current block has a same length as a vertical transform kernel applied to a vertical direction of the current block, but is a transform kernel different from the a vertical transform kernel (Paragraphs 9-10; Paragraph 12; Paragraphs 89-91; Paragraph 162 Paragraph 178; Paragraphs 203-205; Paragraphs 211-219; Paragraph 326, clearly teaches that the length of transform kernel is based on the width or height of the block).
Regarding Claim 5, Koo et al. teaches the image decoding method of claim 1, wherein the length-based transform kernel is assigned to allowable widths or allowable heights for a transform block, respectively (Paragraphs 9-10; Paragraph 12; Paragraphs 89-91; Paragraph 162 Paragraph 178; Paragraphs 203-205; Paragraphs 211-219; Paragraph 326).
Regarding Claim 6, Koo et al. teaches the image decoding method of claim 1, wherein allowable widths or allowable heights for a transform block are divided into a plurality of groups based on at least one threshold, and wherein the length-based transform kernel is assigned to each of the plurality of groups (Paragraphs 9-10; Paragraph 12; Paragraphs 89-91; Paragraph 162 Paragraphs 176-179; Paragraphs 203-205; Paragraphs 211-219; Paragraph 326).
Regarding Claim 7, Koo et al. teaches the image decoding method of claim 1, wherein when the width or height of the current block is equal to a pre-defined length, the horizontal transform kernel or the vertical transform kernel is not applied to the current block, and wherein the pre-defined length is at least one of 4, 8, 16 or 32 (Paragraphs 9-10; Paragraph 12; Paragraphs 89-91; Paragraph 162 Paragraphs 176-179; Paragraphs 203-205; Paragraphs 211-219; Paragraph 326).
Regarding Claim 8, Koo et al. teaches the image decoding method of claim 7, wherein when the width and height of the current block are not equal and the width of the current block is equal to the pre-defined length, a horizontal transform kernel having a length equal to the width of the current block is not applied to the current block, and a vertical transform kernel having a length equal to the height of the current block is applied to the current block (Paragraphs 9-10; Paragraph 12; Paragraphs 89-91; Paragraph 162 Paragraphs 176-179; Paragraphs 203-205; Paragraphs 211-219; Paragraph 326).
Regarding Claim 9, Koo et al. teaches the image decoding method of claim 7, wherein when the width and height of the current block are not equal and the width of the current block is equal to the pre-defined length, the length-based transform kernel is not applied to the current block (Paragraphs 9-10; Paragraph 12; Paragraphs 89-91; Paragraph 162 Paragraphs 176-179; Paragraphs 203-205; Paragraphs 211-219; Paragraph 326).
Image encoding method of claim 10 is drawn to the method of encoding corresponding to the method of decoding rejected in claim 1 above, and recites similar steps merely performed in the inverse and would be rejected for the same reasons as used above. Koo et al, further teaches an image encoding method corresponding to the decoding method (Paragraph 71).
Regarding claim 11, claim 11 claims a product by process claim limitation where the product is the bitstream 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 is the storage medium storing the bitstream (with the structure implied by the method steps). 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). When a claimed “computer-readable medium merely serves as a support for information or data, no functional relationship exists. MPEP §2111.05(III).
The memory storing the claimed bitstream in claim 11 merely services as a support for the storage of the bitstream and provides no functional relationship between the stored bitstream and storage medium. Therefore the bitstream, which scope is implied by the method steps, is non-functional descriptive material and given no patentable weight. MPEP §2111.05(III). Thus, the claim scope is just a storage medium storing data and is anticipated by Wang which recites a storage medium storing a bitstream.
Koo et al. discloses, A bitstream of compressed video data, including a computer readable storage medium storing the compressed non-transitory video data (Paragraph 95).
Regarding Claim 12, Koo et al. teaches a method of transmitting data (Paragraph 610-616), comprising:
obtaining a bitstream for image information, wherein the bitstream is generated by deriving residual samples of a current block, deriving transform coefficients of the current block by performing at least one of transform or quantization on the residual samples of the current block, and encoding the transform coefficients of the current block (Paragraph 610-616); and
transmitting the data including the bitstream, wherein the transform is performed based on a length-based transform kernel, and wherein the length-based transform kernel includes at least one of a horizontal transform kernel having a length equal to a width of the current block or a vertical transform kernel having a length equal to a height of the current block (Paragraphs 9-10; Paragraph 12; Paragraphs 89-91; Paragraph 178; Paragraphs 203-205; Paragraphs 211-219; Paragraph 326, clearly teaches that the length of transform kernel is based on the width or height of the block).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FARHAN MAHMUD whose telephone number is (571)272-7712. The examiner can normally be reached 10-7.
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/FARHAN MAHMUD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2483