DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
This is in response to application no. 19/212,522 filed on 05/19/2025.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-6 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Coban et al. (US 20250324053 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Coban teaches the claim as follows:
A method of video decoding, comprising: receiving a coded video bitstream comprising coded information of a plurality of pictures (¶0062-0064: video encoder 200 may generate a bitstream including encoded video data, e.g., syntax elements describing partitioning of a picture into blocks…video decoder 300 performs a reciprocal process to that performed by video encoder 200 to decode the encoded video data of the bitstream); determining, based on coded information of a current block in a current picture, that the current block is coded using an intra prediction that generates prediction samples of the current block based on reference samples in the current picture (¶0064, 0131: Video decoder 300 uses a signaled prediction mode (intra- or inter-prediction) and related prediction information … to form a prediction block for the block); determining at least a first transform kernel set based on a histogram of occurrence (HoC) of intra prediction modes in neighboring samples of the current block (¶0054, 0068: In one example DIMD method, gradients over the prediction block are computed using Sobel operator, and a histogram of gradients (HoG) directions is computed. The highest-ranking direction is chosen as the intra mode direction to be used in the derivation of the non-separable transform set). Note that the “highest-ranking direction” is related to the occurrence of the direction; calculating, based on the coded information of the current block, a residual block of the current block according to at least the first transform kernel set (¶0064, 0129: The residual information may be represented by, for example, quantized transform coefficients. Video decoder 300 may inverse quantize and inverse transform the quantized transform coefficients of a block to reproduce a residual block for the block. ¶0067-0068: video encoder 200 may further code a syntax element that indicates which of the plurality of transform kernels in the transform set is to be used by video decoder 300); and reconstructing the current block based on the residual block and the intra prediction of the current block (¶0131-0132: intra-prediction unit 318 may generate the prediction block according to an intra-prediction mode indicated by the prediction information syntax elements. Reconstruction unit 310 may reconstruct the current block using the prediction block and the residual block).
Regarding claim 3, Coban teaches the method of claim 2, wherein the determining at least the first intra prediction mode comprises: determining the first intra prediction mode that has a highest occurrence in the intra prediction modes of the HoC (¶0068, 0074-0075: The highest-ranking direction is chosen as the intra mode direction to be used in the derivation of the non-separable transform set).
Regarding claim 4, Coban teaches the method of claim 2, wherein the determining at least the first intra prediction mode comprises: determining the first intra prediction mode that has a second highest occurrence in the intra prediction modes of the HoC (¶0074-0075: the second highest ranking HoG (histogram of gradients) intra mode from the Sobel based intra prediction direction derivation used in the DIMD process can be used as the intra mode used to derive the second transform set).
Regarding claim 5, Coban teaches the method of claim 2, wherein the determining at least the first intra prediction mode comprises: determining the first intra prediction mode that has an occurrence value higher than an occurrence threshold according to the HoC (¶0068, 0074-0075: The highest-ranking direction is chosen as the intra mode direction to be used in the derivation of the non-separable transform set).
Regarding claim 6, Coban teaches the method of claim 2, wherein the first intra prediction mode is a planar mode that is predefined (¶0054: To perform intra-prediction, video encoder 200 may select an intra-prediction mode to generate the prediction block…including various directional modes, as well as planar mode and DC mode).
Regarding claim 10, Coban teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: decoding a syntax element from the coded information of the current block, the syntax element indicating a selected transform kernel set from at least the first transform kernel set, the selected transform kernel set being used for the calculating of the residual block of the current block (¶0067, 0070: video encoder 200 may further code a syntax element that indicates which of the plurality of transform kernels in the transform set is to be used by video decoder 300. ¶0129: inverse transform processing unit 308 may apply one or more inverse transforms to the transform coefficient block to generate a residual block associated with the current block).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claim(s) 2 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Coban et al. (US 20250324053 A1) in view of Koo et al. (US 20210120252 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Coban teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the determining at least the first transform kernel set comprises: determining at least a first intra prediction mode based on the HoC of the intra prediction modes in the neighboring samples of the current block (¶0068: In one example DIMD method, gradients over the prediction block are computed using Sobel operator, and a histogram of gradients (HoG) directions is computed. The highest-ranking direction is chosen as the intra mode direction to be used in the derivation of the non-separable transform set).
Coban does not explicitly teach determining the first transform kernel set that maps to the first intra prediction mode according to a one-to-one mapping of the intra prediction modes to transform kernel sets.
However, Koo teaches determining the first transform kernel set that maps to the first intra prediction mode according to a one-to-one mapping of the intra prediction modes to transform kernel sets (See Table 2: illustrating a mapping between transform sets and intra mode. ¶0102-0108).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Coban’s image encoding/decoding method by incorporating the teaching of Koo as noted above, in order to obtain a highly efficient image/video compression technique for effectively compressing and transmitting or storing, and reproducing information of high resolution and high quality images/videos having various features (Koo: ¶0005).
Regarding claim 8, Coban teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the determining at least the first transform kernel set comprises: determining at least a first intra prediction mode and a second intra prediction mode based on the HoC of the intra prediction modes in the neighboring samples of the current block (¶0146: video encoder 200 and video decoder 300 may derive the first intra prediction mode from a highest ranking intra prediction mode…video encoder 200 and video decoder 300 may derive the second intra prediction mode from a second highest ranking intra prediction mode derived using the DIMD process).
Coban does not explicitly teach determining the first transform kernel set and a second transform kernel that respectively map to the first intra prediction mode and the second intra prediction mode according to a one-to- one mapping of the intra prediction modes to transform kernel sets.
However, Koo teaches determining the first transform kernel set and a second transform kernel that respectively map to the first intra prediction mode and the second intra prediction mode according to a one-to- one mapping of the intra prediction modes to transform kernel sets. (See Table 2: illustrating a mapping between transform sets and intra mode. ¶0102-0108).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Coban’s image encoding/decoding method by incorporating the teaching of Koo as noted above, in order to obtain a highly efficient image/video compression technique for effectively compressing and transmitting or storing, and reproducing information of high resolution and high quality images/videos having various features (Koo: ¶0005).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Coban et al. (US 20250324053 A1) in view of Koo et al. (US 20210120252 A1) as applied to claim 2, and further in view of Jun et al. (US 12088785 B2).
Regarding claim 7, Coban teaches the method of claim 2, wherein the determining at least the first intra prediction mode comprises: determining a highest occurrence mode that has a highest occurrence in the intra prediction modes of the HoC (¶0068, 0074-0075: The highest-ranking direction is chosen as the intra mode direction to be used in the derivation of the non-separable transform set).
Coban in view of Koo does not teach determining the first intra prediction mode by applying an offset to the highest occurrence mode.
However, Jun teaches determining the first intra prediction mode by applying an offset to the highest occurrence mode (col. 23, lines 43-56: the intra-prediction mode of the block with the highest occurrence frequency among the neighboring intra-prediction blocks based on a size of the current block may be obtained…When the intra-prediction modes obtained from the left part and the upper part based on the current block are different, the MPM candidates may be constructed up M (M<T, M is a positive integer greater than 0) candidates).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Coban’s image encoding/decoding method by incorporating the teaching of Jun as noted above, in order to efficiently encode/decode the image (Jun: col. 2, lines 1-3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 9, none of the cited prior arts teach the feature of “wherein the determining at least the first transform kernel set comprises: constructing a most probable transform kernel candidate list that includes a plurality of transform kernel sets based on the HoC of the intra prediction modes in the neighboring samples of the current block,” as recited in claim 9.
Claims 11-20 are allowed.
Regarding claim 11, Coban teaches the following claim limitations:
A method of video decoding, comprising: receiving a coded video bitstream comprising coded information of a plurality of pictures (¶0062-0064: video encoder 200 may generate a bitstream including encoded video data, e.g., syntax elements describing partitioning of a picture into blocks…video decoder 300 performs a reciprocal process to that performed by video encoder 200 to decode the encoded video data of the bitstream)…the current block being partitioned into at least a first partition and a second partition (¶0066, 0068, 0082: video encoder 200 and video decoder 300 may be configured to derive one or more transform sets using intra prediction modes derived for CIIP (combined intra inter prediction) mode and/or geometric partitioning (GEO) mode)…determining an intra prediction mode from a plurality of candidate intra prediction modes for the current block based on the coded information of the current block (¶0064: Video decoder 300 uses a signaled prediction mode (intra- or inter-prediction) and related prediction information (e.g., motion information for inter-prediction) to form a prediction block for the block); determining a transform kernel set based on the intra prediction mode (¶0066-0067: Video encoder 200 and video decoder 300 may be configured to determine transform sets based on intra prediction modes…video encoder 200 may further code a syntax element that indicates which of the plurality of transform kernels in the transform set is to be used by video decoder 300); calculating a residual block of the current block according to the transform kernel set and the coded information of the current block (¶0064, 0129: The residual information may be represented by, for example, quantized transform coefficients. Video decoder 300 may inverse quantize and inverse transform the quantized transform coefficients of a block to reproduce a residual block for the block. ¶0067-0068: video encoder 200 may further code a syntax element that indicates which of the plurality of transform kernels in the transform set is to be used by video decoder 300).
However, none of the cited prior arts teach the feature of “determining, based on coded information of a current block in a current picture, that the current block is coded in an adaptive transform kernel derivation mode with intra and inter partitions, the current block being partitioned into at least a first partition and a second partition, the first partition being predicted based on a vector that points to a reference block and the second partition being predicted by an intra prediction… calculating a residual block of the current block according to the transform kernel set and the coded information of the current block; and reconstructing the current block based on the residual block, the reference block of the first partition and the intra prediction of the second partition,” as recited in claim 11.
Dependent claims 12-20 are allowed based on their dependency from the allowed claim 11.
The following are the prior art made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Choi et al. (US 20250203113 A1) describes non-separable primary transform-based image encoding/decoding method.
Coban et al. (US 20250330645 A1) describes a transform set selection signaling for video coding.
Conclusion
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/NATHNAEL AYNALEM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2488
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