DETAILED ACTION
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 . 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. There are a total of 19 claims and claims 1-19 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 03/05/2026, 08/01/2025 were filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
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.
Claims 1-19 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-16 respectively of U.S. Patent No. 12,407,818 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other.
Claim 1 of the instant application is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obvious type double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of Patent 12,407,818 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the following table describes the double patenting rejection basis of claim 1 between the instant application and the patent.
19288417 (Instant Application)
12,407,818 B2 (Patent)
Claim 1
Claim 1
1
A method performed by a video decoding apparatus for intra prediction of a current block, the method comprising:
A method performed by a video decoding apparatus for intra prediction of a current block, the method comprising:
2
parsing a prediction mode derivation flag indicating whether to derive at least one prediction mode of the current block from a bitstream; and
3
checking the prediction mode derivation flag, wherein, when the prediction mode derivation flag is true, the method includes:
4
determining a calculation area used for calculating gradient values from restored neighboring samples of the current block;
determining a calculation area used for calculating gradient values from restored neighboring samples of the current block;
5
calculating a gradient histogram of directional modes in the calculation area for the current block;
calculating a gradient histogram of directional modes in the calculation area for the current block;
6
deriving at least one prediction mode of the current block based on the gradient histogram; and
deriving the at least one prediction mode of the current block based on the gradient histogram; and
7
generating a prediction block of the current block by performing intra prediction using the at least one prediction mode.
generating a prediction block of the current block by performing intra prediction using the at least one derived prediction mode, and wherein calculating the gradient histogram comprises:
8
calculating vertical and horizontal gradient values for restored reference samples included in the calculation area;
9
calculating gradient directions and gradient magnitudes at the restored reference samples using the vertical and horizontal gradient values;
10
calculating directional modes of intra prediction closest to the gradient directions; and
accumulating the gradient magnitudes in the gradient histogram corresponding to the directional modes.
The subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the patent and is covered by the patent since the patent and the instant application are claiming common subject matter, as follows:
The equivalencies in claim limitations of the instant application and the patent are highlighted in bold italics text. It is to be noted that all the limitations of the instant application are directly recited in the patent. The instant application claim 1 is a broader version of the patent claim 1 since the patent claim has additional limitations therein. Therefore, the instant application claim 1 as a whole is not patentably distinct from the patent claim 1.
Claim 18 of the instant application is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obvious type double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 15 of Patent 12,407,818 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the following table describes the double patenting rejection basis of claim 18 between the instant application and the patent.
19288417 (Instant Application)
12,407,818 B2 (Patent)
Claim 18
Claim 15
1
A method performed by a video encoding apparatus for intra prediction of a current block, the method comprising:
A method performed by a video encoding apparatus for intra prediction of a current block, the method comprising:
2
obtaining a prediction mode derivation flag indicating whether to derive at least one prediction mode of the current block; and
3
checking the prediction mode derivation flag, wherein, when the prediction mode derivation flag is true, the method includes:
4
determining a calculation area used for calculating gradient values from restored neighboring samples of the current block;
determining a calculation area used for calculating gradient values from restored neighboring samples of the current block;
5
calculating a gradient histogram of directional modes in the calculation area for the current block;
calculating a gradient histogram of directional modes in the calculation area for the current block;
6
deriving at least one prediction mode of the current block based on the gradient histogram; and
deriving the at least one prediction mode of the current block based on the gradient histogram; and
7
generating a prediction block of the current block by performing intra prediction using the at least one prediction mode.
generating a prediction block of the current block by performing intra prediction using the derived at least one prediction mode, and wherein calculating the gradient histogram comprises:
8
calculating vertical and horizontal gradient values for restored reference samples included in the calculation area;
9
calculating gradient directions and gradient magnitudes at the restored reference samples using the vertical and horizontal gradient values;
10
calculating directional modes of intra prediction closest to the gradient directions; and
accumulating the gradient magnitudes in the gradient histogram corresponding to the directional modes.
The subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the patent and is covered by the patent since the patent and the instant application are claiming common subject matter, as follows:
The equivalencies in claim limitations of the instant application and the patent are highlighted in bold italics text. It is to be noted that all the limitations of the instant application are directly recited in the patent. The instant application claim 18 is a broader version of the patent claim 15 since the patent claim has additional limitations therein. Therefore, the instant application claim 18 as a whole is not patentably distinct from the patent claim 15.
Claim 19 of the instant application is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obvious type double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 16 of Patent 12,407,818 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the following table describes the double patenting rejection basis of claim 19 between the instant application and the patent.
19288417 (Instant Application)
12,407,818 B2 (Patent)
Claim 19
Claim 16
1
A method of storing a bitstream of a video into a non-transitory computer- readable recording medium, wherein the bitstream is generated by an encoding method for intra predicting a current block performed by a video encoding apparatus, wherein the method comprises:
A method of storing a bitstream of a video into a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium, wherein the bitstream is generated by an encoding method for intra predicting a current block performed by a video encoding apparatus, wherein the method comprises:
2
obtaining a prediction mode derivation flag indicating whether to derive at least one prediction mode of the current block; and
3
checking the prediction mode derivation flag, wherein, when the prediction mode derivation flag is true, the method includes:
4
determining a calculation area used for calculating gradient values from restored neighboring samples of the current block;
determining a calculation area used for calculating gradient values from restored neighboring samples of the current block;
5
calculating a gradient histogram of directional modes in the calculation area for the current block;
calculating a gradient histogram of directional modes in the calculation area for the current block;
6
deriving at least one prediction mode of the current block based on the gradient histogram; and
deriving the at least one prediction mode of the current block based on the gradient histogram; and
7
generating a prediction block of the current block by performing intra prediction using the at least one prediction mode.
generating a prediction block of the current block by performing intra prediction using the at least one derived prediction mode, and wherein calculating the gradient histogram comprises:
8
calculating vertical and horizontal gradient values for restored reference samples included in the calculation area;
9
calculating gradient directions and gradient magnitudes at the restored reference samples using the vertical and horizontal gradient values;
10
calculating directional modes of intra prediction closest to the gradient directions; and
accumulating the gradient magnitudes in the gradient histogram corresponding to the directional modes.
The subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the patent and is covered by the patent since the patent and the instant application are claiming common subject matter, as follows:
The equivalencies in claim limitations of the instant application and the patent are highlighted in bold italics text. It is to be noted that all the limitations of the instant application are directly recited in the patent. The instant application claim 19 is a broader version of the patent claim 16 since the patent claim has additional limitations therein. Therefore, the instant application claim 19 as a whole is not patentably distinct from the patent claim 16.
Claims 2-17 of the instant application are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obvious type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-14 of Patent 12,407,818 B2 respectively. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1, 4, 6, 10-11, 16-19 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mora et al. (US PGPub 2020/0296356 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Mora et al. teach a method performed by a video decoding apparatus for intra prediction of a current block ([0026]-[0027]), the method comprising:
determining a calculation area used for calculating gradient values from restored neighboring samples of the current block ([0168]; Fig. 4d shows an application area 404d which is same as calculation area used for calculating gradient value from the restored neighboring samples on the left and above of the reconstructed area 401, as described in [0036]);
calculating a gradient histogram of directional modes in the calculation area for the current block ([0097]; It teaches that since the computed gradients provides information on an edge orientation at the corresponding pixel, the plurality of intra prediction video coding modes may in some embodiments be chosen to correspond to the directional intra prediction video coding modes supported by the decoder for decoding the encoded pixels of the block);
deriving at least one prediction mode of the current block based on the gradient histogram (Fig. 7b, reference numerals 703, 703a; [0251]; it teaches derivation of the prediction mode from the HoG analysis); and
generating a prediction block of the current block by performing intra prediction using the at least one derived prediction mode (Fig. 7b, reference numerals 704a, 704b, 704c; [0253]).
Regarding claim 4, Mora et al. teach the method of claim 1, wherein determining the calculation area comprises:
determining three rows of restored reference pixels on the left and top of the current block as the calculation area (Fig. 7a shows three rows of reference pixel lines 701 on the top and left of the current block 702), and
wherein the length of the calculation area located on the left and top of the current block is set based on the width and a height of the current block ([0117]; It teaches that the number of pixels of the application area may be dynamically chosen based on the size (number of pixels) of the current pixel block to be processed).
Regarding claim 6, Mora et al. teach the method of claim 1, wherein calculating the histogram comprises:
calculating vertical and horizontal gradient values for restored reference samples ([0220]-[0221]; it teaches that gradient for a pixel of the application area may be performed based on the following two filter matrices Mx and My respectively corresponding to the horizontal and vertical directions) located on the top second line and the left second line based on the current block by using a preset boundary detection filter ([0179]; it teaches an edge detection method based on FIR or IIR filter, wherein as shown in Fig. 7a, 701, the neighboring pixel application area has a 3x3 filter matrix, where the middle pixel or the second line of both top and left of the current block is used as shown in Fig. 6b and described in [0226]).
Regarding claim 10, Mora et al. teach the method of claim 1, wherein deriving the prediction mode comprises:
determining a first direction mode having the largest value from the gradient histogram as the one prediction mode of the current block (Fig. 7a, 7b; it shows that the highest value (dark shade) is taken from among the group of HoG 703).
Regarding claim 11, Mora et al. teach the method of claim 1, wherein deriving the at least one prediction mode comprises:
determining a first directional mode having a first largest value and a second directional mode having a second largest value from the gradient histogram as a first prediction mode of the current block and a second prediction mode of the current block ([0251]-[0252]; Fig. 7a, 7b; It shows the first highest value (dark shade) is taken from the first group of HoG to determine a first prediction mode and the second highest value (dark shade) is taken from the second group of HoG 703 to determine a second prediction mode).
Regarding claim 16, Mora et al. teach the method of claim 11, wherein generating the prediction block comprises:
generating the prediction block of the current block by generating a first prediction block of the current block using the first directional mode, generating a second prediction block of the current block using the second directional mode, and performing weighted averaging on the first prediction block and the second prediction block (Fig. 7b; reference numeral 703a shows different intra prediction modes M including multiple directional prediction modes as represented by angular arrows, of which the first one represents the first directional mode and the second one represents the second directional mode. Reference numeral 704 represents the prediction blocks, of which the first one of the prediction blocks of 704c is the first prediction block and the second one of the prediction blocks of 704c is the second prediction block. Lastly, the prediction blocks are fused together with weighted averaging in the fusion step).
Regarding claim 17, Mora et al. teach the method of claim 16, wherein generating the prediction block comprises:
when the first prediction mode of the current block and the second prediction mode of the current block are directional modes (Fig. 7b shows angular (directional) intra prediction modes in 703a (last ones in M) as well as non-directional (DC, planar) modes in 703a (first two in M)), generating a third prediction block of the current block by additionally using a non-directional mode (Fig. 7b; reference numeral 703a shows different intra prediction modes M including multiple directional prediction modes (last ones in M) as well as non-directional (DC, planar) modes in 703a (first two in M). Of the non-directional modes, anyone can be the third non-directional mode), and
wherein the prediction block of the current block is generated by performing weighted averaging on the first prediction block, the second prediction block, and the third prediction block (Fig. 7b; Reference numeral 704 represents the prediction blocks of the corresponding two directional modes and the third non-directional prediction mode and lastly the prediction blocks are fused together with corresponding weights to generate weighted averaged prediction block in the fusion step).
Regarding claim 18, Mora et al. teach a method performed by a video encoding apparatus for intra prediction of a current block ([0025], [0027]), the method comprising:
determining a calculation area used for calculating gradient values from restored neighboring samples of the current block ([0168]; Fig. 4d shows an application area 404d which is same as calculation area used for calculating gradient value from the restored neighboring samples on the left and above of the reconstructed area 401, as described in [0036]);
calculating a gradient histogram of directional modes in the calculation area for the current block ([0097]; It teaches that since the computed gradients provides information on an edge orientation at the corresponding pixel, the plurality of intra prediction video coding modes may in some embodiments be chosen to correspond to the directional intra prediction video coding modes supported by the decoder for decoding the encoded pixels of the block);
deriving at least one prediction mode of the current block based on the gradient histogram (Fig. 7b, reference numerals 703, 703a; [0251]; it teaches derivation of the prediction mode from the HoG analysis); and
generating a prediction block of the current block by performing intra prediction using the at least one prediction mode (Fig. 7b, reference numerals 704a, 704b, 704c; [0253]).
Regarding claim 19, Mora et al. teach a method of storing a bitstream of a video into a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium, wherein the bitstream is generated by an encoding method for intra predicting a current block performed by a video encoding apparatus ([0039]), wherein the method comprises:
determining a calculation area used for calculating gradient values from restored neighboring samples of the current block ([0168]; Fig. 4d shows an application area 404d which is same as calculation area used for calculating gradient value from the restored neighboring samples on the left and above of the reconstructed area 401, as described in [0036]);
calculating a gradient histogram of directional modes in the calculation area for the current block ([0097]; It teaches that since the computed gradients provides information on an edge orientation at the corresponding pixel, the plurality of intra prediction video coding modes may in some embodiments be chosen to correspond to the directional intra prediction video coding modes supported by the decoder for decoding the encoded pixels of the block);
deriving at least one prediction mode of the current block based on the gradient histogram (Fig. 7b, reference numerals 703, 703a; [0251]; it teaches derivation of the prediction mode from the HoG analysis); and
generating a prediction block of the current block by performing intra prediction using the at least one prediction mode (Fig. 7b, reference numerals 704a, 704b, 704c; [0253]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mora et al. (US PGPub 2020/0296356 A1) in view of Abdoli et al. (“Gradient-Based Intraprediction Fusion for Video Coding”) (See attached pdf document NPL3).
Regarding claim 2, Mora et al. teach the method of claim 1.
But Mora et al. do not explicitly teach parsing, from a bitstream, one or a plurality of flags that indicate whether the at least one prediction mode of the current block is a non-directional mode, wherein, when all the flags indicating one of the non-directional modes are false, the calculation area is determined.
However, Abdoli et al., in the same field of endeavor (Abstract), teach a decoding process where it parses from the bitstream, one or a plurality of flags that indicate whether a prediction mode of the current block is a non-directional mode (Figure 2; It shows the block diagram where a CDMD flag is parsed to determine whether the current block is non-directional or not), wherein, when all the flags indicating one of the non-directional modes are false, the calculation area is determined (Figure 2; It shows the block diagram where it shows when the flag is 0 it does normal intra prediction mode analysis and when the flag is 1, meaning non-directional mode is false, it traverses the path of mode derivation as shown on the right side as gradient analysis in Figure 2(a), where the calculation area is determined (See Page 91, Template Selection section)).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to combine Mora et al’s invention of determining an application area of a current block to perform gradient analysis to include Abdoli et al's usage of flag indicating intra mode derivation, because in Abdoli et al's present work, the computational cost of implicit derivation of IPM for a block is reduced both at the encoder and decoder sides. For this purpose, a low-complexity texture analysis is performed on the neighboring pixels to avoid the need for applying TM-based process (Abdoli et al.; Page 90, Column 2, Last paragraph).
Claims 3, 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mora et al. (US PGPub 2020/0296356 A1) in view of Lee et al. (US PGPub 2023/0109828 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Mora et al. teach the method of claim 1.
Even though, Mora et al. teach the prediction mode derivation flag (Mora et al.; [0017], L5-12; it teaches that a flag to signal to the decoder that selection using a gradient analysis has been used for at least one intra prediction video coding mode), but it does not explicitly teach parsing a subblock partitioning application flag from a bitstream to determine whether to perform subblock partitioning of the current block.
However, Lee et al., in the same field of endeavor ([0013]), teach a decoding system where it teaches parsing a subblock partitioning application flag from a bitstream to determine whether to perform subblock partitioning of the current block (Lee et al.; [0196]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to combine Mora et al’s invention of determining an application area of a current block to perform gradient analysis to include Lee et al's usage of subblock partitioning flag, because it improves accuracy of intra prediction through modification of intra prediction (Lee et al.; [0029]).
Regarding claim 14, Mora et al. and Lee et al. teach the method of claim 3, wherein, when the subblock partitioning application flag is true, the current block is partitioned into subblocks (Lee et al.; [0196]).
But Mora et al. do not explicitly teach that a derived prediction mode of the current block is shared as the same intra prediction mode of the subblocks.
However, Lee et al., in the same field of endeavor ([0013]), teach a decoding system where it teaches that a derived prediction mode of the current block is shared as the same intra prediction mode of the subblocks (Lee et al.; Claim 1 of the reference states “the intra prediction is sequentially performed in units of the sub-blocks and the plurality of sub-blocks belonging to the current block uses the same intra prediction mode for the intra prediction”).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to combine Mora et al’s invention of determining an application area of a current block to perform gradient analysis to include Lee et al's usage of subblock partitioning flag, because it improves accuracy of intra prediction through modification of intra prediction (Lee et al.; [0029]).
Regarding claim 15, Mora et al. and Lee et al. teach the method of claim 3, wherein, when the subblock partitioning application flag is true, the current block is partitioned into subblocks (Lee et al.; [0196]), and the prediction mode of a current subblock is derived based on restored samples of a restored previous subblock (Lee et al.; [0243]; it teaches that a current sub-block may be predicted by referring to a sample of a pre-reconstructed sub-block in a coding unit), and
wherein whether to derive a prediction mode for each subblock is implicitly determined based on the sizes of the subblocks (Lee et al.; [0022]; it teaches that the number of sub-blocks belonging to the current block may be variably determined based on at least one of a size or a shape of the current block and as shown in Fig. 22, the prediction mode (horizontal or vertical) is implicitly dependent upon the size and shape of the partitioned sub-blocks).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to combine Mora et al’s invention of determining an application area of a current block to perform gradient analysis to include Lee et al's usage of subblock partitioning flag, because it improves accuracy of intra prediction through modification of intra prediction (Lee et al.; [0029]).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mora et al. (US PGPub 2020/0296356 A1) in view of Kobayashi (US PGPub 2011/0002385 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Mora et al. teach the method of claim 1.
Even though Mora et al. teach as a set of pixels located on the left and above the current block as application area as shown in Fig. 6a and described in [0218], but it does not explicitly teach that the application area is calculated based on parsing a flag from the bitstream.
However, Kobayashi, in the same field of endeavor (Abstract), teach a decoding system where it teaches that the application area is calculated based on parsing a flag from the bitstream (Kobayashi; [0031]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to combine Mora et al’s invention of determining an application area of a current block to perform gradient analysis to include Kobayashi's determination of an application area by parsing flag, because it helps determining the prediction mode of the current block (Kobayashi; [0031]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-9, 12-13 are 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. Claim 7 recites “calculating the gradient directions and magnitudes at the restored reference samples located on the second lines using the vertical and horizontal gradient values; calculating a directional mode of intra prediction closest to the gradient direction; and accumulating the gradient magnitudes in the histogram corresponding to the directional mode.” Although Mora et al. teach calculating the gradient directions and magnitudes at the restored reference samples using the vertical and horizontal gradient values, but it does not teach calculating a directional mode of intra prediction closest to the gradient direction; and accumulating the gradient magnitudes in the histogram corresponding to the directional mode. The other references also fail to teach these limitations. Claim 8 recites “subsampling the restored reference samples located on the second lines based on a predetermined sampling interval and then calculating the gradient histogram for the subsampled pixels”. Although Mora et al. teach calculating the gradient directions and magnitudes at the restored reference samples using the vertical and horizontal gradient values, but it does not teach subsampling the restored reference samples located on the second lines based on a predetermined sampling interval and then calculating the gradient histogram for the subsampled pixels. The other references also fail to teach this limitation. Claim 12 recites “when the histogram value of the first directional mode is smaller than a preset first threshold or the sum of values from the gradient histogram is smaller than a preset second threshold, determining a non-directional prediction mode as the prediction mode of the current block.”. Although Mora et al. teach calculating the gradient directions and magnitudes at the restored reference samples using the vertical and horizontal gradient values, but it does not teach that when the histogram value of the first directional mode is smaller than a preset first threshold or the sum of values from the gradient histogram is smaller than a preset second threshold, determining a non-directional prediction mode as the prediction mode of the current block. The other references also fail to teach this limitation. Claim 13 recites “when the ratio between the histogram value of the first directional mode and the sum of gradient histogram values is smaller than a preset ratio, determining a non-directional mode as the prediction mode of the current block.”. Although, Mora et al. teach calculating the gradient directions and magnitudes at the restored reference samples using the vertical and horizontal gradient values, but it does not teach that when the ratio between the histogram value of the first directional mode and the sum of gradient histogram values is smaller than a preset ratio, determining a non-directional mode as the prediction mode of the current block. The other references also fail to teach this limitation. Other objected claim 9 is dependent on objected claim 8. Therefore, these claims will be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
“IGNALING FOR DECODER-SIDE INTRA MODE DERIVATION” – Wang et al., US PGPub 2022/0224922 A1.
“ENCODER, DECODER, ENCODING METHOD, AND DECODING METHOD” – Lim et al., US PGPub 2019/0110076 A1.
“ENCODING BLOCKS IN VIDEO FRAMES CONTAINING TEXT USING HISTOGRAMS OF GRADIENTS” – Cote et al., US PGPub 2016/0014421 A1.
"DECODER-SIDE INTRA MODE DERIVATION WITH TEXTURE ANALYSIS IN VVC TEST MODEL" - Nasrallah et al., 2019 IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP); Date Added to IEEE Xplore: 26 August 2019.
" INTRA PREDICTION METHOD AND DEVICE BASED ON INTRA PREDICTION MODE DERIVATION" - Kim et al., US PGPub 2024/0137560 A1.
“IMAGE CODING METHOD BASED ON QUADRATIC TRANSFORM, AND APPARATUS THEREFOR” – Koo et al., US PGPub 2021/0377568 A1.
“GRADIENT CALCULATION IN DIFFERENT MOTION VECTOR REFINEMENTS” – Zhang et al., US PGPub 2022/0070490 A1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAINUL HASAN whose telephone number is (571)272-0422. The examiner can normally be reached on MON-FRI: 10AM-6PM, Alternate FRIDAYS, EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JAY PATEL can be reached on (571)272-2988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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, see 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, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Mainul Hasan/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2485
Prosecution Insights