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 .
TITLE
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. See MPEP 606.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 08/08/2025 and 03/03/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 1-7, 11-16 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiu et al. (“Xiu”) (U.S. PG Publication No. 2022/0007030) in view of Li et al. (“Li”) (“CE9-related: Simplification of BIO”, 12, JVET MEETING;20181003 – 20181012; MACAO; (THE JOINT VIDEO EXPLORATION TEAM OF ISO/IEC JTC`/SC29/WG11 AND ITU-T SG.16), no. JVET-L0123 5 October 2018 (2018-10-05), XP030194936).
It is to be noted that the information provided by Xiu is also supported in the provision application of 62/819,408, filed March 15, 2019.
In regards to claim 1, Xiu teaches a method of decoding implemented by a decoding apparatus, comprising:
performing entropy decoding, inverse quantization and inverse transform processing on a bitstream (See FIG. 2 and ¶0036-0038), to obtain information for indicating an initial motion vector pair for a current block and a residual value of the current block (See FIG. 5 wherein the initial motion vector pair may be taught as the first prediction samples and second prediction samples which comprise motion vectors to the first reference picture and to the second reference picture, respectively);
performing a bidirectional optical flowing prediction for the current block (See ¶0040-0041 in view of FIG. 4 and 5 which provide a general description of bidirectional optical flow) by:
obtaining the initial motion vector pair for the current block based on the information (See ¶0040-0041 and FIG. 4-5 in view of FIG. 2 and 0036-0038), wherein the initial motion vector pair comprises a forward motion vector and a backward motion vector (See FIG. 4);
obtaining a forward prediction block according to the forward motion vector and a backward prediction block according to the backward motion vector (See FIG. 4-6);
calculating gradient parameters for a current sample in the current block based on a forward prediction sample and a backward prediction sample corresponding to the current sample, wherein the forward prediction sample is in the forward prediction block and the backward prediction sample is in the backward prediction block (See ¶0043 with regards to Table 1 and 2, as well as 0004, 0047, 0055 and 0076-0080);
obtaining at least two sample optical flow parameters for the current sample based on the gradient parameters, wherein the sample optical flow parameters comprise a first parameter and a second parameter (See at least Table 1 and 2 wherein multiple parameters exist that take gradient parameters into consideration, such as ψx, ψy and θ as examples, for Bi-Directional Optical Flow [BDOF]).
Xiu, however, fails to teach obtain block optical flow parameters based on sample optical flow parameters of samples in the current block, wherein one of the block optical flow parameters is obtained by an operation including multiplying a value of the first parameter and a value of a sign function of the second parameter, and wherein the sign function is a piecewise function with at least three subintervals; obtaining a prediction value of the current block based on the forward prediction block, the backward prediction block, the block optical flow parameters and the sample optical flow parameters; and reconstructing the current block based on the residual value of the current block and the prediction value of the current block.
In a similar endeavor Li teaches obtain block optical flow parameters based on sample optical flow parameters of samples in the current block, wherein one of the block optical flow parameters is obtained by an operation including multiplying a value of the first parameter and a value of a sign function of the second parameter, and wherein the sign function is a piecewise function with at least three subintervals (See the latter two equations in pg. 7, i.e. that solve for s3 and s4; the examiner notes that this is a simplified form of the respective horizontal and vertical block optical flow formulas as described in at least pg. 2, this is similar to that which is described as the corresponding [sign] function within ¶0207 of instant application’s specification for the limitation); and
obtaining a prediction value of the current block based on the forward prediction block, the backward prediction block, the block optical flow parameters and the sample optical flow parameters (See the figures in pg. 3 and 5 which correspond to BIO optical flow model [and ultimately to the simplified mathematical functions in pg. 7] which create prediction values for a current B-picture using forward prediction block and backward prediction block information, as well as using the block optical flow parameters and sample optical flow parameters); and
reconstructing the current block based on the residual value of the current block and the prediction value of the current block (See pgs. 6-8 of Li, this is taken in view of Xiu’s teachings as seen in FIG. 1-6 and ¶0035-0043 wherein the optical flow functions are ultimately used to reconstruct the current block based in the residual values of the current block and using the prediction values, specifically in that Xiu provides structure in the form of a codec system [encoder-decoder]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, and before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the teaching of Li into Xiu because it allows for the continued use of optical flow functions that “provide[s] interesting gains, but [have] relatively high complexity” as described in pg. 2, and thus providing simplified versions of such functions.
In regards to claim 2, Xiu fails to teach the method of claim 1, wherein the sign function is Sign(x)={1;x>T0;-T⩽x⩽T-1;x<-T wherein T is a non-negative real number.
In a similar endeavor Li teaches wherein the sign function is
Sign(x)={1;x>T0;-T⩽x⩽T-1;x<-T
wherein T is a non-negative real number (See the latter two formulas of pg. 7 which make use of the sign function, wherein it is understood that the claimed function is how sign(x) functions generally work within the mathematical field).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, and before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the teaching of Li into Xiu because it allows for the continued use of optical flow functions that “provide[s] interesting gains, but [have] relatively high complexity” as described in pg. 2, and thus providing simplified versions of such functions.
For the purposes of clarity and compact prosecution, the examiner provides the following resources that provide the sign function as is per described within the claim language:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_function
https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Sign.html
https://www.mathsisfun.com/sets/function-sign.html
In regards to claim 3, Xiu teaches The method of claim 2, wherein when T is 0, the sign function is Sign (x)={1;x>00;x=0-1;x<0
In a similar endeavor Li teaches wherein when T is 0, the sign function is Sign (x)={1;x>0;x==0;x<0 (See the latter two formulas of pg. 7 which make use of the sign function, wherein it is understood that the claimed function is how sign(x) functions generally work within the mathematical field).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, and before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the teaching of Li into Xiu because it allows for the continued use of optical flow functions that “provide[s] interesting gains, but [have] relatively high complexity” as described in pg. 2, and thus providing simplified versions of such functions.
For the purposes of clarity and compact prosecution, the examiner provides the following resources that provide the sign function as is per described within the claim language:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_function
https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Sign.html
https://www.mathsisfun.com/sets/function-sign.html
In regards to claim 4, Xiu teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the initial motion vector pair is obtained according to motion information of at least one spatial or temporal neighboring block of the current block (See FIG. 4 and 5 wherein the initial motion vector pair comprise motion information of temporal neighboring blocks of the current block).
In regards to claim 5, Xiu teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the current block is a coding unit or a sub-block of the coding unit (See ¶0026 wherein Coding Units are used as per HEVC and VVC standards).
In regards to claim 6, Xiu teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the gradient parameters comprise a forward horizontal gradient, a backward horizontal gradient, a forward vertical gradient and a backward vertical gradient (See ¶0004, 0055 and 0076).
In regards to claim 7, Xiu teaches the method of claim 6, wherein the forward horizontal gradient is a difference of a right sample and a left sample adjacent to the forward prediction sample; the backward horizontal gradient is a difference of a right sample and a left sample adjacent to the backward prediction sample; the forward vertical gradient is a difference of a bottom sample and an upper sample adjacent to the forward prediction sample; or the backward vertical gradient is a difference of a bottom sample and an upper sample adjacent to the backward prediction sample (See ¶0043, 0047 and 0055 in view of FIG. 4).
In regards to claim 11, the claim is rejected under the same basis as claim 1 by Xiu in view of Li, wherein the one or more processor and computer-readable storage medium are taught as seen in ¶0006 and 0086-0105.
In regards to claim 12, the claim is rejected under the same basis as claim 2 by Xiu in view of Li.
In regards to claim 13, the claim is rejected under the same basis as claim 3 by Xiu in view of Li.
In regards to claim 14, the claim is rejected under the same basis as claim 4 by Xiu in view of Li.
In regards to claim 15, the claim is rejected under the same basis as claim 6 by Xiu in view of Li.
In regards to claim 16, the claim is rejected under the same basis as claim 7 by Xiu in view of Li.
In regards to claim 20, the claim is rejected under the same basis as claim 1 by Xiu in view of Li, wherein the one or more processor and computer-readable storage medium are taught as seen in ¶0006 and 0086-0105.
Claim(s) 8 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiu et al. (“Xiu”) (U.S. PG Publication No. 2022/0007030) in view of Li et al. (“Li”) (“CE9-related: Simplification of BIO”, 12, JVET MEETING;20181003 – 20181012; MACAO; (THE JOINT VIDEO EXPLORATION TEAM OF ISO/IEC JTC`/SC29/WG11 AND ITU-T SG.16), no. JVET-L0123 5 October 2018 (2018-10-05), XP030194936) and Ye et al. (“Ye”) (U.S. Patent No. 11,363,293).
It is to be noted that the information provided by Xiu is also supported in the provision application of 62/819,408, filed March 15, 2019.
In regards to claim 8, Xiu fails to teach the method of claim 6, wherein the sample optical flow parameters comprise a sample difference, a horizontal average gradient and a vertical average gradient.
In a similar endeavor Ye teaches wherein the sample optical flow parameters comprise a sample difference, a horizontal average gradient and a vertical average gradient (See col. 26, li. 24-47).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, and before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the teaching of Ye into Xiu because it allows for a determination of whether prediction signals contain high-frequency information as described in at least col. 26, li. 24-47.
In regards to claim 17, the claim is rejected under the same basis as claim 8 by Xiu in view of Li and Ye.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9, 10, 18 and 19 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 EDEMIO NAVAS JR whose telephone number is (571)270-1067. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, ~ 9 AM -6 PM.
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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.
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EDEMIO NAVAS JR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2483
/EDEMIO NAVAS JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2483
