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 a newly filed 371-application in which claims 1-10 of the instant application are pending and ready for examination.
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.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Since a computer-readable storage medium can be exemplified as a non-statutory signal, carrier waver, etc., the claim as a whole is non-statutory. “A transitory, propagating signal … is not a “process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter.” Those four categories define the explicit scope and reach of subject matter patentable under 35 U.S.C. § 101; thus, such a signal cannot be patentable subject matter.” (In re Nuijten, 84 USPQ2d 1495 (Fed. Cir. 2007)). The examiner suggests amending the claim to include a tangible computer-readable storage media.
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 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nalci (US 2020/0404276).
As to claim 9, Nalci teaches a computer-readable storage medium storing a bitstream generated ([0011], [0031], [0034], [0036]-[0037], [0041], [0043], and [0210]-[0211]) by the image encoding method according to Claim 8 (this portion of the claim is not given patentable weight).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1-8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koo (WO 2021/054796 A1) in view of Garus (“Non-EE2: Non-Separable Primary Transform for Intra Coding”). Garus was cited in applicant’s IDS filed on 05/21/2025.
As to claim 1, Koo teaches an image decoding method, comprising:
obtaining residual information from a bitstream; deriving transform coefficients of a current block based on the residual information; deriving residual samples of the current block by applying an inverse primary transform to at least one of the transform coefficients of the current block; and reconstructing the current block based on the residual samples of the current block (see [102]-[127] and [134]-[144]; also see FIGs. 2 and 3).
Koo does not teach deriving residual samples of the current block by applying a backward non-separable primary transform (NSPT) to at least one of the transform coefficients of the current block based on a NSPT set; wherein the backward NSPT is applied based on a size of the current block belonging to a group of one or more block sizes to which the NSPT is applicable.
However, Garus teaches applying a non-separable primary transform (NSPT) to transform coefficients and/or residual data of a current block based on a NSPT set; wherein the NSPT is applied based on a size of the current block belonging to a group of one or more block sizes to which the NSPT is applicable. In other words, Garus discloses replacing DCT-II+LFNST by NSPT for block sizes 4x4, 4x8, 8x4, and 8x8 (see Abstract and Section 1, Page 1; also see Section 2 and Figure 1, Pages 1-2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Koo’s system with Garus’s system to show deriving residual samples of the current block by applying a backward non-separable primary transform (NSPT) to at least one of the transform coefficients of the current block based on a NSPT set; wherein the backward NSPT is applied based on a size of the current block belonging to a group of one or more block sizes to which the NSPT is applicable in order to provide improved and more flexible video coding techniques.
As to claim 8, Koo teaches an image encoding method, comprising:
deriving residual samples of a current block; deriving transform coefficients of the current block by applying a primary transform to the residual samples of the current block; and encoding the transform coefficients of the current block (see [102]-[127] and [134]-[144]; also see FIGs. 2 and 3).
Koo does not teach deriving transform coefficients of the current block by applying a non-separable primary transform (NSPT) to the residual samples of the current block based on a NSPT set; wherein the NSPT is applied based on a size of the current block belonging to a group of one or more block sizes to which the NSPT is applicable, and wherein the group includes at least one of 4x4, 4x8, 8x4, or 8x8.
However, Garus teaches applying a non-separable primary transform (NSPT) to transform coefficients and/or residual data of a current block based on a NSPT set; wherein the NSPT is applied based on a size of the current block belonging to a group of one or more block sizes to which the NSPT is applicable, and wherein the group includes at least one of 4x4, 4x8, 8x4, or 8x8. In other words, Garus discloses replacing DCT-II+LFNST by NSPT for block sizes 4x4, 4x8, 8x4, and 8x8 (see Abstract and Section 1, Page 1; also see Section 2 and Figure 1, Pages 1-2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Koo’s system with Garus’s system to show deriving transform coefficients of the current block by applying a non-separable primary transform (NSPT) to the residual samples of the current block based on a NSPT set; wherein the NSPT is applied based on a size of the current block belonging to a group of one or more block sizes to which the NSPT is applicable, and wherein the group includes at least one of 4x4, 4x8, 8x4, or 8x8 in order to provide improved and more flexible video coding techniques.
As to claim 10, the aforementioned claim is rejected similarly as claim 8.
As to claim 2, the combination of Koo and Garus teaches wherein the NSPT set for the backward NSPT is any one of 35 pre-defined NSPT sets (Garus; see Abstract and Section 1, Page 1; also see Section 2 and Figure 1, Pages 1-2).
As to claim 3, the combination of Koo and Garus teaches wherein each of the 35 NSPT sets includes three NSPT kernel candidates (Garus; see Abstract and Section 1, Page 1; also see Section 2 and Figure 1, Pages 1-2).
As to claim 4, the combination of Koo and Garus teaches wherein the group includes at least one of 4x4, 4x8, 8x4, or 8x8 (Garus; see Abstract and Section 1, Page 1; also see Section 2 and Figure 1, Pages 1-2).
As to claim 5, the combination of Koo and Garus teaches wherein based on the size of the current block being 4x4, a number of transform coefficients to which the backward NSPT is applied is 16 (Koo; see [102]-[127] and [134]-[144]; Garus; see Section 2 and Figure 1, Pages 1-2).
As to claim 6, the combination of Koo and Garus teaches wherein based on the size of the current block being 4x8 or 8x4, a number of transform coefficients to which the backward NSPT is applied is 20 (Koo; see [102]-[127] and [134]-[144]; Garus; see Section 2 and Figure 1, Pages 1-2).
As to claim 7, the combination of Koo and Garus teaches wherein based on the size of the current block being 8x8, a number of transform coefficients to which the backward NSPT is applied is 32 (Koo; see [102]-[127] and [134]-[144]; Garus; see Section 2 and Figure 1, Pages 1-2).
Conclusion
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.
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.
/ZHIHAN ZHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2482
Prosecution Insights