DETAILED ACTION
1. This Office Action is sent in response to Applicant’s communication received on for application number 19/250,654. 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.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/11/2025 is in accordance with provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
4. 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).
5. 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).
6. 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.
7. Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-25 of U.S. Patent No. 12,388,993. 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.
Application: 19/250,654
1. A method comprising: determining a partition mode indicating an initial partition edge for partitioning a current block; identifying, based on the initial partition edge, reference samples neighboring the current block; determining a refined partition edge based on the reference samples; generating a prediction of the current block by predicting at least one part of the current block defined by the refined partition edge; and generating a reconstruction of the current block based on the prediction of the current block.
Patent No.: . 12,388,993
1. A method comprising: receiving, from a bit stream, a residual of a current block and an indication that the residual was determined based on a refined partition edge; selecting, based on a plurality of partitioning modes, an initial partition edge for partitioning the current block; determining, based on the indication and the initial partition edge, reference samples neighboring the current block; determining the refined partition edge based on the reference samples; determining, based on at least one prediction mode, a prediction for two parts of the current block defined by the refined partition edge; and determining a reconstruction of the current block based on the residual and the prediction of the current block.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein: the refined partition edge divides the current block into at least two parts, the at least two parts comprise the at least one part, and each of the at least two parts is predicted with a prediction mode.
1. “…determining, based on at least one prediction mode, a prediction for two parts of the current block defined by the refined partition edge; and determining a reconstruction of the current block based on the residual and the prediction of the current block.”
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from a bit stream, a residual of the current block and an indication that the residual was determined based on the refined partition edge.
1, “…receiving, from a bit stream, a residual of a current block and an indication that the residual was determined based on a refined partition edge…”
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the indication comprises a flag to indicate whether the determining the refined partition edge is enabled or not.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication comprises a one-bit flag to indicate whether partition edge refinement is enabled or not.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: signaling, in a bit stream, a residual of the current block and an indication that the residual was determined based on the refined partition edge.
12. “…and signaling, in a bit stream, the residual and an indication that the residual was determined based on the refined partition edge…”
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the partition mode comprises one or more of: a geometric partitioning mode; a multi-type tree splitting mode; or a quadtree splitting mode.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of partitioning modes comprises one or more of: a geometric partitioning mode; a multi-type tree splitting mode; or a quadtree splitting mode.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the refined partition edge comprises: generating a plurality of edges based on the reference samples; and selecting an edge from the plurality of edges to refine the initial partition edge.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the refined partition edge comprises: generating a plurality of edges based on the reference samples; and selecting an edge from the plurality of edges to refine the initial partition edge.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the refined partition edge comprises: generating an edge map from the reference samples; determining sets of positions for candidate edges in the reference samples; and refining the initial partition edge based on summing values of the edge map over the positions in each of the sets.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the refined partition edge comprises: generating an edge map from the reference samples; determining sets of positions for candidate edges in the reference samples; and refining the initial partition edge based on summing values of the edge map over the positions in each of the sets.
9. An apparatus comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to: determine a partition mode indicating an initial partition edge for partitioning a current block; identify, based on the initial partition edge, reference samples neighboring the current block; determine a refined partition edge based on the reference samples; generate a prediction of the current block by predicting at least one part of the current block defined by the refined partition edge; and generate a reconstruction of the current block based on the prediction of the current block.
12. A method comprising: selecting an initial partition edge for partitioning a current block based on a plurality of partitioning modes; determining, based on the initial partition edge, reference samples from neighboring blocks of the current block; determining a refined partition edge based on the reference samples; determining, based on at least one prediction mode, a prediction for two parts of the current block defined by the refined partition edge; determining a residual based on a difference between samples of the current block and the prediction; and signaling, in a bit stream, the residual and an indication that the residual was determined based on the refined partition edge.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein: the refined partition edge divides the current block into at least two parts, the at least two parts comprise the at least one part, and each of the at least two parts is predicted with a prediction mode.
1. “…determining, based on at least one prediction mode, a prediction for two parts of the current block defined by the refined partition edge; and determining a reconstruction of the current block based on the residual and the prediction of the current block.”
11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to receive, from a bit stream, a residual of the current block and an indication that the residual was determined based on the refined partition edge.
1. “…receiving, from a bit stream, a residual of a current block and an indication that the residual was determined based on a refined partition edge…”
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the indication comprises a flag to indicate whether the determining the refined partition edge is enabled or not.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication comprises a one-bit flag to indicate whether partition edge refinement is enabled or not.
13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to signal, in a bit stream, a residual of the current block and an indication that the residual was determined based on the refined partition edge.
20. “…a residual of a current block and an indication that the residual was determined based on a refined partition edge.”
14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein to determine the refined partition edge, the instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to: generate an edge map from the reference samples; determine sets of positions for candidate edges in the reference samples; and refine the initial partition edge based on summing values of the edge map over the positions in each of the sets.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the refined partition edge comprises: generating an edge map from the reference samples; determining sets of positions for candidate edges in the reference samples; and refining the initial partition edge based on summing values of the edge map over the positions in each of the sets.
15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the edge map is determined based on: a partial derivative in a horizontal direction; a partial derivative in a vertical direction; or a directional derivative.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the edge map is determined based on: a partial derivative in a horizontal direction; a partial derivative in a vertical direction; or a directional derivative.
16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to: determine a partition mode indicating an initial partition edge for partitioning a current block; identify, based on the initial partition edge, reference samples neighboring the current block; determine a refined partition edge based on the reference samples; generate a prediction of the current block by predicting at least one part of the current block defined by the refined partition edge; and generate a reconstruction of the current block based on the prediction of the current block.
20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: determine, from a bit stream, a residual of a current block and an indication that the residual was determined based on a refined partition edge; select, based on a plurality of partitioning modes, an initial partition edge for partitioning the current block; determine, based on the indication and the initial partition edge, reference samples neighboring the current block; determine the refined partition edge based on the reference samples; determine, based on at least one prediction mode, a prediction for two parts of the current block defined by the refined partition edge; and determine a reconstruction of the current block based on the residual and the prediction of the current block.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein: the refined partition edge divides the current block into at least two parts, the at least two parts comprise the at least one part, and each of the at least two parts is predicted with a prediction mode.
12. “…determining a refined partition edge based on the reference samples; determining, based on at least one prediction mode, a prediction for two parts of the current block defined by the refined partition edge…”
18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to receive, from a bit stream, a residual of the current block and an indication that the residual was determined based on the refined partition edge.
12, “…determining a residual based on a difference between samples of the current block and the prediction; and signaling, in a bit stream, the residual and an indication that the residual was determined based on the refined partition edge.”
19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the indication comprises a flag to indicate whether the determining the refined partition edge is enabled or not.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication comprises a one-bit flag to indicate whether partition edge refinement is enabled or not.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to signal, in a bit stream, a residual of the current block and an indication that the residual was determined based on the refined partition edge.
20. “…a residual of a current block and an indication that the residual was determined based on a refined partition edge.”
Allowable Subject Matter
8. Claims 1-20 are 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.
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.
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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.
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HOWARD D. BROWN JR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2488
/HOWARD D BROWN JR/Examiner, Art Unit 2488
Prosecution Insights