CTNF 19/188,929 CTNF 90012 DETAILED ACTION 1. This Office Action is sent in response to Applicant’s communication received on DATE for application number XXXXXXX. The Office herby acknowledges receipt of the following and placed of record in file: Specification, Drawings, Abstract, Oath/Declaration, and claims. Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. Priority 2. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed. Information Disclosure Statement 3. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/07/2023,08/13/2025,08/18/202501/15/2026,05/14/2026 is in accordance with provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Preliminary Amendments 4. The preliminary amendments filed 04/29/2025 has been entered and made of record. Double Patenting 08-33 AIA 5. The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg , 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman , 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi , 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum , 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel , 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington , 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969). 6. A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b). 7. The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA/25, or PTO/AIA/26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp. 8. Claims 1-12 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,088,820. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other: Table 1 shows comparison between the instant claims and the U.S. Patent 12,088,820 B1 claims. Application: 19/188,929 1, 5, 9, A method of encoding for an encoding device, the method comprising: obtaining an indication value for a slice height of a slice when a difference value between a quantity of tiles in a tile column of a current picture and a value of a vertical coordinate of the slice is not equal to a threshold, wherein the value of the vertical coordinate of the slice indicates a vertical address in tile index, and the value of the vertical coordinate of the slice is obtained according to a value of an address of the slice and a quantity of tiles in a tile row of the current picture; and encoding the indication value for the slice height of the slice into a bitstream. Patent No.: 12,088,820 12. An encoder, comprising: one or more processors; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the one or more processors and storing programming instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the encoder to perform operations, the operations comprising: obtaining a quantity of tiles in a tile row of a current picture; obtaining a value of an address of a slice of the current picture; obtaining a value of a horizontal coordinate according to the value of the address of the slice, wherein the value of the horizontal coordinate indicates a horizontal address in tile index; and coding an indication value for a slice width for the current picture to obtain a bitstream, when a difference value between the quantity of tiles in the tile row of the current picture and the value of the horizontal coordinate is not equal to a first threshold. 2, 6, 10, The method of claim 1, wherein the value of the vertical coordinate of the slice is obtained according to an integer division operation between the value of the address of the slice and the quantity of tiles in the tile row of the current picture. 8. The decoder of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: obtaining a quantity of tiles in a tile column of the current picture; obtaining a value of a vertical coordinate according to the value of the address of the slice, wherein the value of the vertical coordinate indicates a vertical address in tile index; and parsing an indication value for a slice height from the bitstream for the current picture, when a difference value between the quantity of tiles in the tile column of the current picture and the value of the vertical coordinate is not equal to a second threshold. 3, 7, 11, The method of claim 1, wherein the threshold is 1. The first threshold is an integer value, the first threshold may be 0, 1, 2 . . . [Col 2 Lines 8-9] 4, 8, 12 The method of claim 1, wherein the address of the slice is an index of a leftmost tile of a topmost tile row of the slice. 6. The decoder of claim 1, wherein the address of the slice is an index of leftmost tile of a topmost tile row of the slice, wherein the tiles comprised in the current picture are indexed according to a raster scan order. Allowable Subject Matter 07-43-03 AIA 9. Claims 1-12 contain allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HOWARD D BROWN JR whose telephone number is (571)272-4371. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30AM - 5:00PM EST. 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, Sathyanarayanan Perungavoor can be reached at 5712727455. 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. HOWARD D. BROWN JR Primary Examiner Art Unit 2488 /HOWARD D BROWN JR/Examiner, Art Unit 2488 Application/Control Number: 19/188,929 Page 2 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 19/188,929 Page 3 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 19/188,929 Page 4 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 19/188,929 Page 5 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 19/188,929 Page 6 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 19/188,929 Page 7 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 19/188,929 Page 8 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 19/188,929 Page 9 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 19/188,929 Page 10 Art Unit: 2488 Application/Control Number: 19/188,929 Page 11 Art Unit: 2488
Prosecution Insights