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(s) submitted on 10/6/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
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).
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Claims 2, 10, and 19 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 10, and 18 of U.S. Patent No. 12,363,288 B2 in view of Lee et al. (US 20230015638 A1). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because of the reasons set forth below:
Claims 3-9, 11-18, and 20-21 are rejected based on their dependence from claims 2, 10, and 19, respectively.
(Note: limitations bolded and underlined highlight claim language differing between the instant application and U.S. Patent No. 12,363,288 B2).
Instant Application
Issued U.S. Patent No. 12,363,288 B2
Claim 2
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform an encoding method comprising:
partitioning a coding unit (CU) in a picture of a video into a first partition and a second partition based on a geometric partition mode (GPM), the first partition and the second partition being adjacent to each other and divided by a partition line;
determining a first intra prediction mode for the first partition of the CU;
determining a second intra prediction mode for the second partition of the CU based on one of a first constraint that the second intra prediction mode is planar intra mode and a second constraint that the second intra prediction mode is adjacent to the first intra prediction mode, the first intra prediction mode being different from the second intra prediction mode;
encoding the CU in a bitstream based on the first intra prediction mode for the first partition of the CU and the second intra prediction mode for the second partition of the CU; and
transmitting the encoded bitstream.
Claim 10
A method of video encoding performed in a video encoder, the method comprising:
partitioning a coding unit (CU) in a picture of a video into a first partition and a second partition based on a geometric partition mode (GPM), wherein the first partition and the second partition are adjacent to each other and divided by a partition line;
determining a first intra prediction mode for the first partition of the CU;
determining a second intra prediction mode for the second partition of the CU based on one of a first constraint that the second intra prediction mode is planar intra mode and a second constraint that the second intra prediction mode is adjacent to the first intra prediction mode, the first intra prediction mode being different from the second intra prediction mode; and
encoding the CU in a bitstream based on the first intra prediction mode for the first partition of the CU and the second intra prediction mode for the second partition of the CU.
Claim 10
An apparatus for video processing, comprising:
processing circuitry configured to:
receive coded information of a coding unit (CU) in a picture of a video from a coded video bitstream;
partition the CU into a first partition and a second partition based on a geometric partition mode (GPM), the first partition and the second partition being adjacent to each other and divided by a partition line;
determine a first intra prediction mode for the first partition of the CU;
determine a second intra prediction mode for the second partition of the CU based on one of a first constraint that the second intra prediction mode is planar intra mode and a second constraint that the second intra prediction mode is adjacent to the first intra prediction mode, the first intra prediction mode being different from the second intra prediction mode; and
reconstruct the CU based on the first intra prediction mode for the first partition of the CU and the second intra prediction mode for the second partition of the CU.
Claim 1
A method of video decoding performed in a video decoder, the method comprising:
receiving coded information of a coding unit (CU) in a picture of a video from a coded video bitstream;
partitioning the CU into a first partition and a second partition based on a geometric partition mode (GPM), wherein the first partition and the second partition are adjacent to each other and divided by a partition line;
determining a first intra prediction mode for the first partition of the CU;
determining a second intra prediction mode for the second partition of the CU based on one of a first constraint that the second intra prediction mode is planar intra mode and a second constraint that the second intra prediction mode is adjacent to the first intra prediction mode, the first intra prediction mode being different from the second intra prediction mode; and
reconstructing the CU based on the first intra prediction mode for the first partition of the CU and the second intra prediction mode for the second partition of the CU.
Claim 19
An apparatus for video processing, comprising: processing circuitry configured to:
partition a coding unit (CU) in a picture of a video into a first partition and a second partition based on a geometric partition mode (GPM), the first partition and the second partition being adjacent to each other and divided by a partition line;
determine a first intra prediction mode for the first partition of the CU;
determine a second intra prediction mode for the second partition of the CU based on one of a first constraint that the second intra prediction mode is planar intra mode and a second constraint that the second intra prediction mode is adjacent to the first intra prediction mode, the first intra prediction mode being different from the second intra prediction mode; and
encode the CU in a bitstream based on the first intra prediction mode for the first partition of the CU and the second intra prediction mode for the second partition of the CU.
Claim 10
A method of video encoding performed in a video encoder, the method comprising:
partitioning a coding unit (CU) in a picture of a video into a first partition and a second partition based on a geometric partition mode (GPM), wherein the first partition and the second partition are adjacent to each other and divided by a partition line;
determining a first intra prediction mode for the first partition of the CU;
determining a second intra prediction mode for the second partition of the CU based on one of a first constraint that the second intra prediction mode is planar intra mode and a second constraint that the second intra prediction mode is adjacent to the first intra prediction mode, the first intra prediction mode being different from the second intra prediction mode; and
encoding the CU in a bitstream based on the first intra prediction mode for the first partition of the CU and the second intra prediction mode for the second partition of the CU.
Table 1
Regarding claim 2, as noted above, claim 2 of the instant application is a variation of claim 10 of U.S. Patent No. 12,363,288 B2. Specifically, claim 2 of the instant application is drawn towards a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform an encoding method which partitions a CU into a first partition and a second partition based on a geometric partition mode (GPM). Claim 10 of U.S. Patent No. 12,363,288 B2 recites limitations nearly verbatim to claim 2 of the instant application, but is instead drawn towards a method of video encoding performed in a video encoder rather than “a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium”. Additionally, claim 2 of the instant application appears to uniquely recite: “transmitting the encoded bitstream”. However, Lee et al. discloses:
the practice of storing instructions, or “code” on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (to be executed by a processor), and [See Lee, ¶ 0322 discloses a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to the present invention may store a bitstream generated by an image encoding method.]
transmitting a bitstream after it has been encoded [See Lee, ¶ 0117 discloses encoding apparatus 100 may generate a bitstream including encoded information through encoding the input image, and output the generated bitstream. The generated bitstream may be stored in a computer readable recording medium, or may be streamed through a wired/wireless transmission medium.]
It would have been obvious to the person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention disclosed by issued U.S. Patent No. 12,363,288 B2 to add the teachings of Lee in order to provide improved coding efficiency when transmitting image data through existing transmission media channels.
Regarding claim 10, as noted above, claim 10 of the instant application is a variation of claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,363,288 B2. Specifically, claim 10 of the instant application is drawn towards an apparatus for video processing, comprising: processing circuitry. Claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,363,288 B2 recites limitations nearly verbatim to claim 2 of the instant application, but is instead drawn towards a method of video decoding rather than “an apparatus”. Additionally, claim 1 of the instant application appears to uniquely recite: “processing circuitry configured to”. However, Lee et al. discloses:
a) processing circuitry configured to [See Lee, ¶ 0352 discloses examples of the computer-readable recording medium include magnetic recording media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tapes: optical data storage media such as CD-ROMs or DVD-ROMs; magneto-optimum media such as floptical disks, and hardware devices, such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), flash memory, etc., which are particularly structured to store and implement the program instruction.]
Note: Claim 19 is rejected for analogous reasons presented for claim 10 above.
Conclusion
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/PATRICK E DEMOSKY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2486
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