DETAILED ACTION
1. This is a first Office Action in response to application no. 19/246,500 on June 23, 2025 in which claims 1-20 are presented 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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Claims 1-3, 7-8 and 10-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ghaznavi Youvalari et al. (US Patent Application Publication no. 2024/0292005).
Regarding claim 1, Youvalari discloses a method for video processing (See Youvalari’s Abstract, and [0001]), comprising: adjusting, for a conversion between a current video block of a video and a bitstream of the video, a prediction for the current video block (See Abstract, [0006] and [0009]) the prediction being determined based on a cross-component prediction scheme (See Youvalari [0009]-[0010]); and performing the conversion based on the adjusted prediction (See Youvalari [0214], and [0288]-[0289]).
As per claim 2, Youvalari further discloses wherein the cross-component prediction scheme comprises at least one of multi-model cross-component linear model (MM-CCLM) or multi-model convolutional cross-component model (MM-CCCM) (See Youvalari [0016], [0128]-[0129]), and the prediction for the current video block is adjusted by filtering the prediction (See Youvalari [0193]).
As per claim 3, Youvalari further discloses wherein the prediction for the current video block comprises a first prediction sample (See Youvalari [0015], [0077], the adjusted prediction comprises the filtered first prediction sample (See Youvalari [0038]-[0039]), , and the filtered first prediction sample is determined based on a weighted sum of a plurality of prediction samples in the prediction for the current video block (See Youvalari [0052], [0091] and [0095]).
As per claim 7, Youvalari further discloses wherein the prediction for the current video block is adjusted based on at least one reconstructed sample of at least one neighboring block of the current video block (See Youvalari [0007], [0009]).
As per claim 8, Youvalari further discloses wherein the prediction for the current video block is adjusted by filtering the prediction with the at least one reconstructed sample (See Youvalari’s Abstract, [0007] and [0086], [0256]).
As per claim 10, Youvalari further discloses wherein a prediction sample of the current video block is filtered with at least one of the following: a reconstructed sample, a further prediction sample, or a padding sample, or wherein a prediction sample of the current video block is filtered with at least one of the following based on a position of the prediction sample: a reconstructed sample, a further prediction sample, or a padding sample (See Youvalari [0039], [0083]-[0084]).
As per claims 11-12, Youvalari further discloses wherein the bitstream comprises a syntax element indicating whether filtering is applied for a block coded with MM-CCLM or MM-CCCM (See Youvalari [0014], [0127]-[0130] and [0262]).
As per claim 13, Youvalari further discloses wherein he plurality of cross-component prediction schemes comprises CCLM-L, CCLM-T, MM-CCLM-L and MM-CCLM-T, or the plurality of cross-component prediction schemes comprises CCCM-L, CCCM-T, MM-CCCM-L and MM-CCCM-T (See Youvalari [0188], [0215]).
As per claim 14, Youvalari further discloses wherein the bitstream comprises at least one of the following: a first indication indicating whether left or above direction is applied, or a second indication indicating whether multiple or single model is applied (See Youvalari [0168], [0014] and [0016]).
As per claim 15, Youvalari further discloses wherein the method is applicable in a coding tool requiring chroma fusion (See Youvalari [0168], [0171]).
As per claim 16, Youvalari further discloses wherein the conversion includes encoding the current video block into the bitstream (See Youvalari [0101]).
As per claim 17, Youvalari further discloses wherein the conversion includes decoding the current video block from the bitstream (See Youvalari [0279]).
As per claim 18, Youvalari discloses an apparatus for video processing comprising a processor and a non-transitory memory with instructions thereon (See Youvalari’s Abstract, [0022]), wherein the instructions upon execution by the processor, cause the processor (See Youvalari [0021]) to perform acts comprising: adjusting, for a conversion between a current video block of a video and a bitstream of the video (See Youvalari Abstract, [0006] and [0009]), a prediction for the current video block, the prediction being determined based on a cross-component prediction scheme (See Youvalari [0009]-[0010]); and performing the conversion based on the adjusted prediction (See Youvalari [0214], and [0288]-[0289]).
As per claim 19, Youvalari discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that cause a processor (See Youvalari’s Abstract, [0021]-[0022]) to perform acts comprising: adjusting, for a conversion between a current video block of a video and a bitstream of the video (See Youvalari Abstract, [0006] and [0009]), a prediction for the current video block, the prediction being determined based on a cross-component prediction scheme (See Youvalari [0009]-[0010]); and performing the conversion based on the adjusted prediction (See Youvalari [0214], and [0288]-[0289]).
As per claim 20, Youvalari discloses a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a bitstream of a video which is generated by a method performed by an apparatus for video processing (See Youvalari’s Abstract, [0021]-[0022]), wherein the method comprises: adjusting a prediction for a current video block of the video (See Youvalari Abstract, [0006] and [0009]), the prediction being determined based on a cross-component prediction scheme (See Youvalari [0009]-[0010]); and generating the bitstream based on the adjusted prediction (See Youvalari [0214], and [0288]-[0289]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ghaznavi Youvalari et al. (US Patent Application Publication no. 2024/0292005) in view of Li et al. (US Patent Application Publication no. 2022/0060702).
Regarding claim 5, most of the limitations of this claim have been noted in the above rejection of claim 2.
It is noted that Youvalari is silent about a filter for filtering the prediction being a 9-taps filter as specified in the claim.
However, Li proposes a similar filter for filtering the prediction being a 9-taps filter (See Li Fig. 25A-25B and [0203]-[0240]).
Therefore, it is considered obvious that one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, would recognize the advantage of modifying Youvalari to incorporate Li’s teachings to provide a filter for filtering the prediction being a 9-taps filter. The motivation for providing such a 9- taps filter is to provide the appropriate filter that will help in reducing latency.
8. Claims 6 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ghaznavi Youvalari et al. (US Patent Application Publication no. 2024/0292005) in view of Zhao et al. (US Patent Application Publication no. 2024/0015279).
Regarding claim 6, most of the limitations of this claim have been noted in the above rejection of claim 1.
It is noted that Youvalari is silent about wherein a padding process is applied on at least one sample at a boundary of the current video block.
However, Zhao teaches wherein a padding process is applied on at least one sample at a boundary of the current video block (See Zhao [0197]).
Therefore, it is considered obvious that one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, would recognize the advantage of modifying Youvalari to incorporate Zhao’s teachings wherein a padding process is applied on at least one sample at a boundary of the current video block. The motivation for performing such a modification in Youvalari is to adjust the reference area in order to include available samples only.
As per claim 9, it is noted that Youvalari is silent about wherein the at least one reconstructed sample comprises neighboring reconstructed samples above the current video block, top N rows of prediction samples of the current video block are filtered with the neighboring reconstructed samples, and N is an integer, or wherein the at least one reconstructed sample comprises neighboring reconstructed samples left to the current video block, top M columns of prediction samples of the current video block are filtered with the neighboring reconstructed samples, and M is an integer.
However, Zhao teaches wherein the at least one reconstructed sample comprises neighboring reconstructed samples above the current video block, top N rows of prediction samples of the current video block are filtered with the neighboring reconstructed samples, and N is an integer (See Zhao [0157]), or wherein the at least one reconstructed sample comprises neighboring reconstructed samples left to the current video block, top M columns of prediction samples of the current video block are filtered with the neighboring reconstructed samples, and M is an integer (See Zhao [0012], [0157]).
Therefore, it is considered obvious that one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, would recognize the advantage of modifying Youvalari to incorporate Zhao’s teachings wherein the at least one reconstructed sample comprises neighboring reconstructed samples above the current video block, top N rows of prediction samples of the current video block are filtered with the neighboring reconstructed samples, and N is an integer (See Zhao [0157]), or wherein the at least one reconstructed sample comprises neighboring reconstructed samples left to the current video block, top M columns of prediction samples of the current video block are filtered with the neighboring reconstructed samples, and M is an integer. The motivation for performing such a modification in Youvalari is to determine a respective cross-component prediction mode for each of the plurality of groups by comparing the respective chroma samples and the respective luma samples of each respective group to the determined feature value (See Zhao [0023]).
9. Claim 4 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 claim is allowable since the cited references taken individually or in combination fail to teach or suggest a method for video processing comprising adjusting a prediction for a current video block wherein a filtered first prediction sample is determined based on the equation noted in in the claim, where the F(x, y) represents the filtered first prediction sample that is at a coordinate (x, y), L represents the number of the plurality of predictions samples, P(X sub k, Y subk) represents a k-th prediction sample in the plurality of prediction samples, and Wk represents a weighting value for the k-th prediction sample, or wherein the filtered first prediction sample is determined based on another expression cited in the claim.
10. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
See the Notice of References Cited PTO-892.
11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GIMS S PHILIPPE whose telephone number is (571)272-7336. The examiner can normally be reached Maxi Flex.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Benjamin Bruckart can be reached at 571-272-3982. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GIMS S PHILIPPE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2424