DETAILED ACTION
1. This is a first office action in response to application no. 19/275,373 filed on July 21, 2025 in which claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
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 .
Double Patenting
2. 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).
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).
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.
3. Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-14 of U.S. Patent no. 12,395,660 to Wang.
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims 1-20 of the instant application and claims 1-20 of Patent Application 12,395,660 are drawn to the same invention. A close look at the instant application will show that representative claim 1 of the instant application example, call for a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a video processing apparatus to: receive a bitstream comprising a coded picture, a sequence parameter set (SPS), a picture parameter set (PPS), and a decoding unit (DU) hypothetical reference decoder (HRD) parameters present flag (du_hdr_params_present_flag) that specifies whether DU level HRD parameters are present in the bitstream, wherein the SPS is included in at least one access unit with temporal identifier (TemporalId) equal to zero, and the PPS is included in at least one access unit with TemporalId less than or equal to a TemporalId of a PPS network abstraction layer (NAL) unit, wherein the du_params_present_flag further specifies an HRD can be operated at an access unit (AU) level or a DU level, wherein the du_hrd_params_present_flag is set to one when specifying that the DU level HRD parameters are present and the HRD can be operated at the AU level or the DU level, and wherein the du_hdr_params_present_flag is set to zero when specifying that the DU level HRD parameters are not present and the HRD operates at the AU level; and decode the bitstream to produce a decoded picture.
Claim 1 of Patent no. 12,395,660 calls for a method implemented by a decoder, the method comprising: receiving a bitstream comprising a coded picture, a sequence parameter set (SPS), a picture parameter set (PPS), and a decoding unit (DU) hypothetical reference decoder (HRD) parameters present flag (du_hrd_params_present_flag) that specifies whether DU level HRD parameters are present in the bitstream, wherein the SPS is included in at least one access unit with temporal identifier (TemporalId) equal to zero, and the PPS is included in at least one access unit with TemporalId less than or equal to a TemporalId of a PPS network abstraction layer (NAL) unit, wherein the du_hrd_params_present_flag further specifies an HRD can be operated at an access unit (AU) level or a DU level, wherein the du_hrd_params_present_flag is set to one when specifying that the DU level HRD parameters are present and the HRD can be operated at the AU level or the DU level, and wherein the du_hrd_params_present_flag is set to zero when specifying that the DU level HRD parameters are not present and the HRD operates at the AU level; and decoding the bitstream to produce a decoded picture.
Independent claim 8 of the present application and independent claim 8 of Patent no. 12,395,660 are drawn to the same invention.
Claim 8 of the instant application calls for an encoding device, comprising: a memory containing instructions; a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to implement the instructions to cause the encoding device to: generate a coded picture, a sequence parameter set (SPS), a picture parameter set (PPS), and a decoding unit (DU) hypothetical reference decoder (HRD) parameters present flag (du_hrd_params_present_flag) that specifies whether DU level HRD parameters are present in a bitstream, wherein the SPS is included in at least one access unit with temporal identifier (TemporalId) equal to zero, and the PPS is included in at least one access unit with TemporalId less than or equal to a TemporalId of a PPS network abstraction layer (NAL) unit, wherein the du_hrd_params_present_flag further specifies an HRD can be operated at an access unit (AU) level or a DU level, wherein the du_hrd_params present_flag is set to one when specifying that the DU level HRD parameters are present and the HRD can be operated at the AU level or the DU level, and wherein the du_hrd params present_flag is set to zero when specifying that the DU level HRD parameters are not present and the HRD operates at the AU level.
Similarly, claim 8 of US Patent no. 12,395,660 calls for a non-transitory storage medium storing an encoded bitstream that, when decoded by a decoding device, is used by the decoding device to generate a video, the encoded bitstream comprising: a coded picture, a sequence parameter set (SPS), a picture parameter set (PPS), and a decoding unit (DU) hypothetical reference decoder (HRD) parameters present flag (du_hrd_params_present_flag) that specifies whether DU level HRD parameters are present in the bitstream, wherein the SPS is included in at least one access unit with temporal identifier (TemporalId) equal to zero, and the PPS is included in at least one access unit with TemporalId less than or equal to a TemporalId of a PPS network abstraction layer (NAL) unit, wherein the du_hrd_params_present_flag further specifies an HRD can be operated at an access unit (AU) level or a DU level, wherein the du_hrd_params_present_flag is set to one when specifying that the DU level HRD parameters are present and the HRD can be operated at the AU level or the DU level, and wherein the du_hrd_params_present_flag is set to zero when specifying that the DU level HRD parameters are not present and the HRD operates at the AU level.
Claim 15 of the instant application and claim 15 of US Patent no. 12,395,660 call for similar limitations.
Claim 15 of the instant application calls for a device for storing a bitstream, comprising: a receiver configured to receive the bitstream; and a memory coupled to the receiver and configured to store the bitstream, wherein the bitstream comprises a coded picture, a sequence parameter set (SPS), a picture parameter set (PPS), and a decoding unit (DU) hypothetical reference decoder (HRD) parameters present flag (du_hrd_params_present_flag) that specifies whether DU level HRD parameters are present in the bitstream, wherein the SPS is included in at least one access unit with temporal identifier (TemporalId) equal to zero, and the PPS is included in at least one access unit with TemporalId less than or equal to a TemporalId of a PPS network abstraction layer (NAL) unit, wherein the du_hrd params_present_flag further specifies an HRD can be operated at an access unit (AU) level or a DU level, wherein the du_hrd params present_flag is set to one when specifying that the DU level HRD parameters are present and the HRD can be operated at the AU level or the DU level, and wherein the du_hrd_params_present_flag is set to zero when specifying that the DU level HRD parameters are not present and the HRD operates at the AU level.
The difference between the instant examined claim and the conflicting patented claim is that the conflicting patented claims is narrower in scope and falls within the scope of the examined claims. Therefore, a patent to the examined claim genus would improperly extend the right to exclude granted by a patent to the species or sub-genus should the genus issue as a patent after the species or sub-genus. See MPEP §804(II)(B)(1)
Claims 2-7, 9-14 and 16-20 are rejected by dependency to claims 1, 8 and 15.
4. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sole Rojals et al. (US Patent Application Publication no. 2017/0085878) teaches video decoder conformance for high dynamic range (HDR) video coding using a core video standard.
Wang (US Patent no. 9154785) teaches sub-bitstream applicability to nested SEI messages in video coding.
Wang (US Patent Application Publication no. 2014/0086303) teaches bitstream conformance test in video coding.
Wang (US Patent no. 9654802) teaches sequence level flag for sub-picture level coded picture buffer parameters.
Wang (US Patent no. 9479774) teaches buffering period and recovery point supplemental enhancement information messages.
5 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GIMS S PHILIPPE whose telephone number is (571)272-7336. The examiner can normally be reached Maxi Flex.
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/GIMS S PHILIPPE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2424
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