Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 26, 2026
Application No. 19/268,690

METHOD, APPARATUS, AND MEDIUM FOR VISUAL DATA PROCESSING

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jul 14, 2025
Priority
Jan 13, 2023 — CN PCT/CN2023/072024 +1 more
Examiner
BROWN JR, HOWARD D
Art Unit
2488
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Bytedance Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
10m
Est. Remaining
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allowance Rate
599 granted / 681 resolved
+30.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +7% lift
Without
With
+6.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 1m
Avg Prosecution
10 currently pending
Career history
697
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.6%
-34.4% vs TC avg
§103
50.3%
+10.3% vs TC avg
§102
19.7%
-20.3% vs TC avg
§112
6.1%
-33.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 681 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
DETAILED ACTION 1. This Office Action is sent in response to Applicant’s communication received on 07/14/2024 for application number 19/268,690. 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 . Priority 3. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed. Information Disclosure Statement 4. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/14/2025 is in accordance with provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 5. 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. (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. 6. Claim(s) 1 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Lee et al., [US Pub. No.: 2025/0150138 A1]. Re. Claims 1, Lee et al., [US Pub. No.: 2025/0150138 A1] discloses: A method for visual data processing [Fig.2 Flowchart for video processing video signal], comprising: determining, for a conversion between a current visual unit of visual data [Channel estimation and compression, Starts from measured downlink channel information to be compressed |0031, 0054] and a bitstream of the visual data [the quantizer performs the multi-stage vector quantization for each stage and generates the bitstream that includes the quantized channel information for transmission to the base station. |0033], a plurality of codewords in the bitstream [generate a bitstream based on the first codeword and the second codeword |0009,0056, 0074], a codeword being associated with at least one of: semantic element information, or latent variable information of at least one color component of the current visual unit [a latent vector based on the first channel matrix, selecting a first codeword from a first codebook corresponding to a first stage, and generating, in the first stage, a first residual latent vector based on the latent vector, selecting, in a second stage corresponding to the determined stage level, a second codeword from a second codebook corresponding to the second stage, and generating, in the second stage, a second residual latent vector based on the first residual latent vector, wherein the second residual latent vector is based on a second codeword, |Abstract, 0007,0033]; and performing the conversion based on the plurality of codewords [Fig.3 based on codewords a bitstream is generated]. 7. Regarding claims 18-20: These claims are interpreted and rejected for the same reason set forth in claim 1 including the CRM [See Paragraphs 0179-0183]. Allowable Subject Matter 8. Claims 2-17 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. Pertinent prior art 9. The prior art made of record and not relied upon but is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20240380929 A1 US 20170034520 A1 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. 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, 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. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. HOWARD D. BROWN JR Primary Examiner Art Unit 2488 /HOWARD D BROWN JR/Examiner, Art Unit 2488
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Prosecution Timeline

Jul 14, 2025
Application Filed
Aug 06, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+6.8%)
2y 1m (~10m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 681 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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