Detailed Office Action
1. This communication is being filed in response to the submission having a mailing date of 07/17/2025 in which a three (3) month Shortened Statutory Period for Response has been set.
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 .
Acknowledgements
3. Upon new entry, claims (1 -3) appears pending for examination, of which (1 -3) are the three (3) parallel running independent claims on record.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) that was submitted on 06/24/2026 is fully in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97, approved and recorded on file.
Drawings
5. The submitted Drawings on date (07/17/2025) have been accepted and considered under the 37 CFR 1.121 (d).
Claim rejection section
35 USC § 103
6. 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. 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.
6.1. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ
459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or non-obviousness.
6.2. Claim (1 -3) is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the Jang; et al. [Disable ISP mode for 128xN, Nx128 Block.”] hereafter “Jang”, in view of Li; et al. [12,526,411 B2]; hereafter “Li”; with foreign benefit of KR2020/003359 of 03/11/2020,
Claim 1. Jang discloses the principles of the invention substantially as claimed, associated with ISP is enable/disable in the CB, and VPDU alignment in the process, in accordance with the VVC codec format - A decoding apparatus for an image decoding, the decoding apparatus comprising: a memory; and (e.g. see encoding and decoding methodologies of the same; [pages 1 and 5]).
More specifically Jang teaches - at least one processor connected to the memory, the at least one processor configured to: (e.g. see process 8.4.4 of the same, in [page 3]);
receive image information including prediction mode information for a current block, and intra sub-partition (ISP) related information for the current block through a bitstream, (e.g. see C code proposal in [pages 3-4]);
wherein the ISP related information is received based on a size of the current block and a maximum transform block size; and (e.g. see C code proposal in [pages 3-4])
decode the current block based on the prediction mode information and the ISP related information, (e.g. see encoding and decoding methodologies of the same; [pages 1 and 5]);
wherein the current block is decoded further based on: deriving an intra prediction mode of the current block based on the prediction mode information; and (e.g. see process 8.4.4 of the same, in [page 3]);
generating a prediction sample of the current block based on the intra prediction mode and the ISP related information, (e.g. see process 8.4.4 of the same, in [page 3])
wherein the ISP related information includes information on whether ISP is applied to the current block and information on a split direction, (e.g. see Table [7-8] for whether ISP is applied or not (enable; not-enable; vertical; horizontal); [pages 3-4]);
wherein the ISP related information is received based on the following condition related to the size of the current block being satisfied, (e.g. see C code proposal in [pages 3-4]);
cbWidth <= MaxTbSizeY && cbHeight <= MaxTbSizeY; wherein the cbWidth represents a width of the current block, the cbHeight represents a height of the current block, and the MaxTbSizeY represents the maximum transform block size; (e.g. see analogous formula in the C code proposal; [pages 3-4]);
Given the teachings of Jang as a whole, and under the obvious assumption and purpose of his papers, it is noted that some of the functional steps/components as listed (i.e. no encoder/decoder architecture/schematic, nor codec flow chart disclosed), are missed or not fully described in the papers.
For the purpose of additional codec structural and functional support, Li discloses a codec ecosystem (Fig. 1) of the same (encoder of Fig. 2 and decoder of Fig. 3) able to determining whether a prediction mode of a current block is an intra prediction mode, based on information on the prediction mode of the current block (CB), determining whether intra sub-partitions (ISP) is available for the current block, when the prediction mode of the current block is an intra prediction mode, decoding an ISP application indicator indicating whether to apply ISP to the current block, when ISP is available for the current block, and generating a prediction block for the current block by applying ISP to the current block, upon determining that ISP applies to the current block based on the ISP application indicator; [Summary].
More specifically Li discloses a similar intra prediction technique in C-code Tables of Figs (17-18), wherein the CB is decoded further based on deriving an intra prediction mode of the CB based on the prediction mode information; (e.g. see Figs (6 -9); [Li]) and generating a prediction sample of the CB based on the intra prediction mode and the ISP related information, (e.g. see Figs (13 and 15); [Li]) wherein the ISP related information includes information on whether ISP is applied to the CB (e.g. see ISP applies or NOT in at least (s1320; s1520)) and where size, max_transform (Figs. 10 A/B); [Li; Col. 21; 34: 35], and direction are taken into account, in at least (s1340; s1540) Figs (13 and 15); [Li; Col. 27 and Col. 29; 34: 35] respectively.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the methodology of Jang paper with the codec functional codec architecture of Li, in order to provide (e.g. a encoding/decoding method and apparatus with improved coding efficiency, by applying ISP for plurality of codec formats, and broadcast prediction information accordantly; [Li; Summary; Col. 12.)
Claim 2. Jang/Li discloses - An encoding apparatus for image encoding, the encoding apparatus comprising: a memory; and at least one processor connected to the memory, the at least one processor configured to:
derive an intra prediction mode of a current block; derive intra sub-partitions (ISP) related information for the current block based on a size of the current block and a maximum transform block size;
generate a prediction sample of the current block based on the intra prediction mode and the ISP related information;
generate a residual sample based on the prediction sample; and encode image information including prediction mode information on the intra prediction mode, the ISP related information and information on the residual sample,
wherein the ISP related information includes information on whether ISP is applied to the current block and information on a split direction,
wherein the ISP related information is received based on the following condition related to the size of the current block being satisfied,
cbWidth <= MaxTbSizeY && cbHeight <= MaxTbSizeY
wherein the cbWidth represents a width of the current block, the cbHeight represents a height of the current block, and the MaxTbSizeY represents the maximum transform block size. (Current lists all the same elements as recite in Claim 1 above, but in “Encoder form” instead, and is/are therefore on the same premise.)
Claim 3. Jang/Li discloses - An apparatus for transmitting data for an image, the apparatus comprising:
at least one processor configured to obtain a bitstream for the image,
wherein the bitstream is generated based on: deriving an intra prediction mode of a current block,
deriving intra sub-partitions (ISP) related information for the current block based on a size of the current block and a maximum transform block size,
generating a prediction sample of the current block based on the intra prediction mode and the ISP related information,
generating a residual sample based on the prediction sample, and
encoding image information including prediction mode information on the intra prediction mode, the ISP related information and information on the residual sample; and
transmitting the data comprising the bitstream, wherein the ISP related information includes information on whether ISP is applied to the current block and information on a split direction,
wherein the ISP related information is configured to be received based on the following condition related to the size of the current block being satisfied,
cbWidth <= MaxTbSizeY && cbHeight <= MaxTbSizeY
wherein the cbWidth represents a width of the current block, the cbHeight represents a height of the current block, and the MaxTbSizeY represents the maximum transform block size. (Current lists all the same elements as recite in Claim 1 above, but in “Apparatus form” instead, and is/are therefore on the same premise.)
Prior Art Citations
7. The following List of PA, made of record and not relied upon, is considered pertinent to
Applicant’s disclosure:
7.1. Patent documentation:
US 11,399,176 B2 H04N19/157; H04N19/159; H04N19/176; Lim; et al.
US 11,785,227 B2 H04N19/119; H04N19/159; H04N19/157; Ahn; et al.
US 12,526,411 B2 H04N19/119; H04N19/176; H04N19/157; Li; et al.
US 12,563,221 B2 H04N19/119; H04N19/117; H04N19/159; Park; et al.
7.2. Non-Patent documentation:
_ Versatile video coding; Draft 4; Chen - Jan-2019.
_ Versatile Video Coding; Draft 4; Bross - Jan-2019.
_ Intra Sub-Partitions Coding Mode; Hernandez – Jan-2019.
_ Disable ISP mode for 128xN, Nx128 blocks; Jang - March 19-2019.
CONCLUSIONS
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUIS PEREZ-FUENTES whose telephone number is (571) 270 -1168. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8am-5pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, WILLIAM VAUGHN can be reached on (571) 272-3922. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 272 -1168. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, please call (800) 786 -9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or (571) 272 -1000.
/LUIS PEREZ-FUENTES/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2481
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