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 .
Specification/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.
The following title is suggested: METHOD, APPARATUS, AND MEDIUM USING SELECTABLE SUB-MODULE NEURAL NETWORK FILTERS FOR VIDEO PROCESSING.
Claim Interpretation
Nonfunctional Descriptive Material
Claim 20 recites “A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing a bitstream of a video”. There are no recitations of a processor or other element-merely a bitstream content (a bitstream of a video which is generated by a method). Under MPEP 2111.05(III), this claim is merely machine-readable media. The Examiner finds that there is no disclosed or claimed functional relationship between the stored bitstream and the medium. Instead, the medium is merely a support or carrier for the bitstream being stored. Therefore, the bitstream stored should not be given patentable weight. See MPEP 2111.05 applying In re Lowry, 32 F.3d 1579, 1583-84, 32 USPQ2d 1031, 1035 (Fed. Cir. 1994); and In re Ngai, 367 F.3d 1336, 70 USPQ2d 1862 (Fed. Cir. 2004). As such, claim 20 is subject to a prior art rejection based on any non-transitory computer readable storage medium known before the earliest effective filing date of the present application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by LI, (US 2022/0101095).
Claim 20 has been interpreted above as nonfunctional descriptive material under MPEP 2111.05(III) and the case law cited therein because claim 20 recites “A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing a bitstream of a video”. As such, claim 20 is subject to a prior art rejection based on any non-transitory computer readable storage medium known before the earliest effective filing date of the present application. In other words, the proper interpretation of claim 20 is merely a machine-readable media in which the media is merely a support or carrier for the bitstream being stored wherein the bitstream stored and the way such bitstream is generated should not be given patentable weight.
LI, which is analogous art, discloses non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored therein a bitstream comprising video information [¶0008 teaches: In yet another example aspect, a computer readable medium that stores a bitstream is disclosed. The bitstream is generated according to above-described methods.]. As such, LI clearly anticipates the non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing a bitstream of video.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-19 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the closest prior art LI et al., (US 2022/0101095) which teaches convolutional neural network-based filter for video coding and LI et al., (From IDS: US 2022/0191483) which teaches model selection in neural network-based in-loop filter for video coding. These references, either singularly or in combination fail to anticipate or render obvious especially the underlined limitations of claim 1 (and the similar apparatus for video processing comprising a processor and a non-transitory memory with instructions thereon of claim 18, and the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon limitations of claim 19) including [a] method of video processing, comprising: applying, for a conversion between a video unit of a video and a bitstream of the video, a neural network (NN) filter to the video unit, wherein the NN filter comprises a set of sub-modules, at least one of: the set of sub- modules, inputs of the set of sub-modules, or outputs of the set of sub-modules is selectable; and performing the conversion based on the NN filter.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Marnie Matt whose telephone number is (303)297-4255. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:30-5:00.
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, Jay Patel can be reached on 571-272-2988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARNIE A MATT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2485
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