DETAILED ACTION
1. This office action is in response to U.S. Patent Application No.: 19/284,895 filed on 7/30/2025 with effective filing date 3/24/2016. Claims 1-7 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
2. 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.
3. The factual inquiries 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 nonobviousness.
4. Claim(s) 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Van der Auwera et al. US 2013/0114708 A1 (hereinafter Van) in view of Ameres et al. US 2013/0016778 A1.
Per claims 1, 3, 5 & 6, Van discloses a method of video decoding comprising: partitioning an image of a video into coding blocks (para: 39 & fig.3, e.g. a video block may correspond to a block or a partition of a block. The video blocks may have fixed or varying sizes, and may differ in size according to a specified coding standard. Each video frame may include a plurality of slices. Each slice may include a plurality of blocks, which may be arranged into partitions, also referred to as sub-blocks); retrieving from a bitstream information about filtering around a visual block boundary, wherein the visual block boundary is different from a coding block boundary (para: 55 & 57, e.g. video decoder 30 may perform techniques similar to those of video encoder 20 for determining whether to perform secondary boundary filtering; the relatively horizontal prediction modes utilize data from a left-side boundary of the block to predict the block, while the relatively vertical prediction modes utilize data from a top-side boundary of the block to predict the block), wherein the information about filtering specifies that a filtering around the visual block boundary is skipped (para: 96-97, e.g. mode select unit 40 may determine whether the predicted block should be secondary boundary filtered, e.g., by comparing the boundary relationship value to a threshold value. In some examples, mode select unit 40 may include data defining different threshold values based on various characteristics), decoding pixel lumas in the coding blocks (para: 40, e.g. such as 16 by 16, 8 by 8, or 4 by 4 for luma components, and 8.times.8 for chroma components, as well as inter prediction in various block sizes, such as 16.times.16, 16.times.8, 8.times.16, 8.times.8, 8.times.4, 4.times.8 and 4.times.4 for luma components and corresponding scaled sizes for chroma component).
Van et al. fails to explicitly disclose the remaining claim limitation.
Ameres et al. in the same field of endeavor teaches filtering at positions in the image where the filtering is not to be skipped (para: 37 & 86-87, e.g. when implemented as a separable 2-dimensional filter such that the prediction block is first filtered in one dimension (horizontal or vertical) and the resulting filtered data block is then filtered in the other dimension; the filter is implemented using floating point or fixed point arithmetic, or the filter may not be implemented as a separable 2 dimensional filter… ); and outputting a decoded image (para: 239-240, e.g. a decoded prediction error signal is subsequently added to the prediction block to create the final reconstructed block).
Therefore, in view of disclosures by Ameres et al., it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to combine Van et al. and Ameres et al. in order to generate a predicted value for a pixel located in a row and a column of a current block using a processor, for a selected pixel in the current block.
Per claims 2 & 4, Van et al. further teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program when executed on a processor performs the method as claimed in claim 1 (para: 22, e.g. boundary when the predicted block is generated using a relatively horizontal intra-prediction mode… when the predicted block is generated using a relatively vertical intra-prediction mode).
Per claim 7, Van et al. further teaches a video encoding apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the processor circuit is arranged to created a bitstream, wherein the bitstream comprises the video partitioned video and the information about pixel lumas and the information about filtering, wherein the processor circuit is arranged to transmit the bitstream (para: 40 & 62, e.g. the ITU-T H.264 standard supports intra prediction in various block sizes, such as 16 by 16, 8 by 8, or 4 by 4 for luma components, and 8.times.8 for chroma components, as well as inter prediction in various block sizes, such as 16.times.16, 16.times.8, 8.times.16, 8.times.8, 8.times.4, 4.times.8 and 4.times.4 for luma components and corresponding scaled sizes for chroma component).
Conclusion
5. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Chen, et. al. US 9,609,343 B1, e.g. a second combined prediction block is formed by selecting a second intra prediction block using a first partitioned area of the first block, selecting a second inter prediction block using a second partitioned area of the second block, the first and second partitioned areas separated by a border at an angle to an orientation of a row or column of pixels, and combining pixel values of the second inter and intra prediction blocks that are weighted by a weighting function based on a distance of a pixel from the border.
Jeon et al. US 2015/0036749 A1, e.g. an apparatus for processing a video signal and method thereof are disclosed. The present invention includes receiving prediction mode information, interpolating information and a residual of a current block, reconstructing an interpolating pixel using the interpolating information and a neighbor block, and reconstructing the current block using the interpolating pixel, the prediction mode information and the residual, wherein the interpolating information is generated based on a location of the current block.
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to IRFAN HABIB whose telephone number is (571)270-7325. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Th 9AM-7PM.
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/Irfan Habib/Examiner, Art Unit 2485
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