DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the application filed on July 31, 2025. Claims 1-13 are pending and are examined.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Double Patenting
Claims 1-13 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-8 and 15-17 of U.S. Patent No. 12,400,369 (the ‘369 patent) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021/0407148 (“Flynn”). Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention that claims 1-13 of the ‘369 patent in view of Flynn and claims 1-13 of the instant invention cover substantially the same subject matter.
The table below shows claim 1, a sample of how each of these claims is rendered unpatentable by claims such as claim 1 of the ‘369 patent in view of Flynn:
Instant Application
‘369 Patent
1. (Original) A method of encoding point cloud data, the method comprising:
1. A method of encoding point cloud data, the method comprising:
1. Limitation 1: encoding geometry data of point cloud data based on a partial geometry slice for a layer group of one or more layers including one or more depths of an octree; and
1. Limitation 1: encoding geometry data of point cloud data based on a layer group of one or more layers including one or more depths of an octree; and
1. Limitation 2: encoding attribute data of the point cloud data based on a partial attribute slice for the layer group;
1. Limitation 2: encoding attribute data of the point cloud data based on the layer group;
1. Limitation 3: wherein the geometry data and the attribute data are included in a bitstream;
1. Limitation 3: transmitting a bitstream including the point cloud data;
One of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have understood that where attribute and geometry data of a point cloud are encoded and the point cloud data is transmitted in the bitstream, the bitstream includes the data of that point cloud, including its attribute and geometry data.
1. Limitation 4: wherein the bitstream includes:
1. Limitation 4: wherein the bitstream includes…
1. Limitation 5: information for representing that the point cloud data is encoded based on the layer group,
1. Limitation 4: … information for representing a number of layer groups, information for representing an identifier of a layer group, information for representing whether the layer group includes subgroups…
One of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have understood that where the bitstream includes information for representing a number of layer groups and identification of a layer group to be information representing that the point cloud is encoded based on the layer group – where such information is present, it is an indicator that the point cloud data is encoded based on a layer group.
1. Limitation 6: information for representing a number of layer groups, information for representing an identifier of a layer group, information for representing whether the layer group includes subgroups, and information for representing a bounding box for a subgroup, and
1. Limitation 4: … information for representing a number of layer groups, information for representing an identifier of a layer group, information for representing whether the layer group includes subgroups, and information for representing a bounding box for a subgroup, and
1. Limitation 7: wherein a number of missing layers of a subgroup is acquired based on information in the bitstream.
1. Limitation 5: wherein a number of missing layers of a subgroup is acquired based on information in the bitstream.
With respect to claim 1, the ‘369 patent does not disclose that the point cloud encoding occurs at the partial slice level, i.e, encoding geometry data of point cloud data based on a partial geometry slice… and encoding attribute data of the point cloud data based on a partial attribute slice.
However, Flynn discloses that it was known, at the time of filing, to encode point cloud geometry and attribute data at a slice level (see Figs. 11A-11B, ¶¶6-7, 54, 62, 69, 75-98, describing the coding of point cloud data at the partial/portion of a slice level).
At the time of filing, one of ordinary skill in the art was familiar with coding of point cloud data (including geometry and attribute data) and at which level the coding occurs, including, as described by Flynn, coding of portions of slices. Accordingly, to such a person, coding portions of slices of point cloud data in the coding system/method described in the claims of the ‘369 patent would have represented the combination of prior art elements according to known methods to obtain predictable results. Therefore, it would have been obvious to modify the claims of the ‘369 patent to use Flynn’s method of coding point cloud data of partial slices.
Thereby, claim 1 is not patentably distinct from claim 1 of the ‘369 patent.
Conclusion
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LINDSAY J UHL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2481
/LINDSAY J UHL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2481
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