DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is a response to an application filed on 05/29/2025, in which claims 1-20 are pending and ready for examination.
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 statements (IDS) submitted on 07/07/2025 and 02/05/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in this application and a copy has been placed of record in the file.
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.
Claims 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because a “computer program product” does not fall within one of the four categories (process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter) of invention and as a result it is not a statutory process. Therefore, the claims are rejected as ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lai (US 2025/0386007 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Lai discloses: A method, comprising:
obtaining a lookup table of a current block in a current video frame (see paragraph 58), wherein the lookup table comprises at least one candidate location (see paragraph 41 and 49), and wherein the at least one candidate location is within the current video frame (see paragraph 41) and is relative to a sample at an upper left corner of the current video frame (see paragraph 15 and 49);
obtaining, based on the lookup table, first motion information for the current block (see paragraph 49); and
coding, based on the first motion information, the current block (see Fig. 2 and Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 2, Lai discloses: The method of claim 1, wherein the current video frame comprises text content (see paragraph 61).
Regarding claim 3, Lai discloses: The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one candidate location comprises a location of a repeatedly appearing block in the current video frame (see Lai, paragraph 41, top-left position of the CUs).
Regarding claim 4, Lai discloses: The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one candidate location comprises at least one of a first location of a coded block in the current video frame or a second location of a reference block of the coded block (see Lai, paragraph 41, top-left position of the CUs).
Regarding claim 5, Lai discloses: The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one candidate location comprises a location at which a repeatedly appearing block in the current video frame first appears (see Lai, paragraph 41, top-left position of the CUs).
Regarding claim 6, Lai discloses: The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the lookup table comprises:
selecting, based on motion information regarding at least one coded block in the current video frame, a candidate location that is to be added to the lookup table (see Lai, paragraph 15 and Fig. 3A), wherein the candidate location comprises a location of the at least one coded block or a location of a reference block of the at least one coded block (see Lai, paragraph 15); and
updating, based on the candidate location, the lookup table to obtain an updated lookup table (see Lai, paragraph 15 and Fig. 3A).
Regarding claim 7, Lai discloses: The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the a lookup table comprises:
obtaining a global lookup table of at least one region in the current video frame, wherein the at least one region comprises a first region, wherein the first region comprises the current block, wherein the global lookup table comprises at least one first location, wherein the at least one first location comprises the at least one candidate location, and wherein the at least one first location is within the first region and is relative to the sample (see Lai, paragraph 41-42); and
obtaining, based on the global lookup table, the lookup table (see Lai, paragraph 41-42).
Regarding claim 8, Lai discloses: The method of claim 7, further comprising:
generating, based on a frequency of repeated appearances of a first block in each of the at least one region before the first block is coded, a second lookup table (see Lai, paragraph 39); and
setting the second lookup table as a global lookup table of each of the at least one region (see Lai, paragraph 39 and Fig. 3A).
Regarding claim 9, Lai discloses: The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the first motion information of the current block based on the lookup table (see Lai, paragraph 32) comprises:
determining, based on the lookup table, at least one target candidate location (see Lai, paragraph 9), wherein the at least one candidate location comprises the at least one target candidate location (see Lai, paragraph 15-16);
determining, based on the at least one target candidate location, at least one motion vector predictor (MVP) of the current block (see Lai, paragraph 47-48); and
obtaining, based on the at least one MVP, the first motion information (see Lai, paragraph 49).
Regarding claim 10, Lai discloses: The method of claim 9, wherein the at least one target candidate location comprises one target candidate location, and wherein determining the at least one target candidate location comprises determining, based on the lookup table and an index of the at least one candidate location, the one target candidate location that is in the lookup table and that corresponds to the index (see Lai, paragraph 49 and Fig. 3A).
Regarding claim 11, Lai discloses: The method of claim 9, wherein determining the at least one target candidate location comprises selecting a predetermined quantity of candidate locations from the lookup table as target candidate locations (see Lai, paragraph 41), and wherein the predetermined quantity is an integer greater than zero (see Lai, paragraph 47).
Regarding claim 12, Lai discloses: The method of claim 11, wherein obtaining the first motion information of the current block based on the at least one MVP comprises:
constructing, based on the at least one MVP, an MVP candidate list of the current block (see Lai, paragraph 35-36); and
obtaining, based on the MVP candidate list, the first motion information (see Lai, paragraph 49).
Regarding claim 13, Lai discloses: The method of claim 11, wherein the predetermined quantity is related to at least one of a coding mode of the first motion information, a size of the current block, or a shape of the current block (see Lai, paragraph 53).
Regarding claims 14-17, claims 14-17 are drawn to a computer program having limitations similar to the methods claimed in claims 1-4 treated in the above rejections. Therefore, computer program claims 14-17 correspond to method claims 1-4 and are rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used above.
Regarding claims 18-20, claims 18-20 are drawn to a methods having limitations similar to the apparatus claimed in claims 1-3 treated in the above rejections. Therefore, method claims 18-20 correspond to apparatus claims 1-3 and are rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARYAM A NASRI whose telephone number is (571)270-7158. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00-8:00 M-T.
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, Joseph Ustaris can be reached at 5712727383. 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.
/MARYAM A NASRI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2483
Prosecution Insights