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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8/6/25 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 8/6/25. These drawings are acceptable.
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 obviousness-type 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); and 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 a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the conflicting application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement.
Effective January 1, 1994, a registered attorney or agent of record may sign a terminal disclaimer. A terminal disclaimer signed by the assignee must fully comply with 37 CFR 3.73(b).
Claims 1-17 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting over claims 1-15 of U. S. Patent No. 12,418,655 since the claims, if allowed, would improperly extend the "right to exclude" already granted in the patent. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims 1, 9 and 17 of the present application encompass claims 1, 8 and 15 of U.S. Patent No. 12,418,655.
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 application are claiming common subject matter, as follows in the Table below.
Instant Application
12,418,655
1. A video decoding method of predicting a current block based on a first mode, the method comprising: partitioning the current block into non-rectangular blocks; determining an intra block to be intra-predicted and an inter block to be inter- predicted among the non-rectangular blocks; deriving inter prediction samples of a first area including the inter block based on motion information; deriving intra prediction samples of a second area including the intra block based on an intra prediction mode; and generating a prediction block of the current block based on a weighted-sum between the inter prediction samples and the intra prediction samples,
wherein deriving the intra prediction samples comprises: constructing an intra prediction mode candidate list by selecting part of total available intra prediction modes, wherein the intra prediction mode candidate list includes one or more directional modes corresponding to an angle formed by the partition edge of the non-rectangular blocks, and the number of intra prediction modes included in intra prediction mode candidate list is less than the number of the total available intra prediction modes, and selecting the intra prediction mode from the intra prediction mode candidate list.
1. A method of predicting a current block based on a first mode, the method comprising: partitioning the current block into non-rectangular blocks based on a partition mode syntax element; determining an intra block to be intra-predicted and an inter block to be inter-predicted among the non-rectangular blocks; deriving inter prediction sample values of a first area including the inter block based on motion information; deriving intra prediction sample values of a second area including the intra block based on an intra prediction mode; deriving an intra weight and an inter weight to be applied to a to-be-predicted target sample by considering a distance between the target sample among samples within the current block and a partition edge of the non-rectangular blocks within the current block; and deriving a weighted prediction value of the target sample based on a weighted intra prediction value obtained by applying the intra weight to an intra prediction sample value of the target sample and a weighted inter prediction value obtained by applying the inter weight to an inter prediction sample value of the target sample,
wherein deriving the intra prediction sample values of the second area comprises: constructing an intra prediction mode candidate list by selecting a part of total available intra prediction modes, wherein the intra prediction mode candidate list includes one or more directional modes corresponding to an angle formed by the partition edge of the non-rectangular blocks, and a number of intra prediction modes included in intra prediction mode candidate list is less than a number of the total available intra prediction modes; and selecting the intra prediction mode from the intra prediction mode candidate list.
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the cited steps as indicated in claim 1 of the instant US application since the omission/addition/alteration of the cited limitations would not have changed the process according to which the process of determining the prediction block based on the combined weight of intra and inter prediction samples. Therefore, the ordinary skilled artisan would have been also motivated to modify claim 1 of the cited instant US application by altering the step of combined weight of intra and inter prediction samples of patent 12,418,655. Claims 9 and 17 of the instant application are analogous to double patenting claim 1 of patent No. 12,418,655 for the same reason as the claims discussed above. The cited altering elements would not interfere with the functionality of the steps previously claimed and would perform the same function. In re Karlson, 136, USPQ 184 (CCPA 1963).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Xu et al. (US 2021/0250581).
Regarding claim 17 of a method for transmitting a bitstream. The contents of the bitstream, defined by how the bitstream was generated, only describes the content of the information in the bitstream and as result are descriptive language. See MPEP §2111.05. The bitstream has no functional relationship with the claimed method for transmitting the bitstream. The claim scope (in light of the specification) describes the generation of bitstream in terms of how the video gets encoded within the bitstream, there is provided no functional relationship between the bitstream’s contents once generated and the process for transmitting the bitstream. As result, the contents of the bitstream are non-functional descriptive language and will be given not patentable weight. Thus, the claim scope is just a method for transmitting a bitstream containing encoded video data, the method comprising: generating the bitstream by encoding a current block; and transmitting the bitstream to a video decoding apparatus and is anticipated by Xu which recites a method for transmitting a bitstream containing encoded video data (see 13 in fig. 1A), the method comprising: generating the bitstream by encoding a current block (see 20 in fig. 1A); and transmitting the bitstream to a video decoding apparatus (see 13 and 30 in fig. 1A).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 1-17 is/are allowed upon overcoming the above rejections.
The following is an Examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Claim(s) 1, 9 and 17 discloses a video decoding method of predicting a current block based on a first mode, the method comprising: partitioning the current block into non-rectangular blocks; determining an intra block to be intra-predicted and an inter block to be inter- predicted among the non-rectangular blocks; deriving inter prediction samples of a first area including the inter block based on motion information; deriving intra prediction samples of a second area including the intra block based on an intra prediction mode; and generating a prediction block of the current block based on a weighted-sum between the inter prediction samples and the intra prediction samples, wherein deriving the intra prediction samples comprises: constructing an intra prediction mode candidate list by selecting part of total available intra prediction modes, wherein the intra prediction mode candidate list includes one or more directional modes corresponding to an angle formed by the partition edge of the non-rectangular blocks, and the number of intra prediction modes included in intra prediction mode candidate list is less than the number of the total available intra prediction modes, and selecting the intra prediction mode from the intra prediction mode candidate list. The closest prior art Xu discloses a method of predicting a current block based on a first (see 360 in fig. 3), the method comprising: partitioning the current block into non- rectangular blocks (see fig. 8) based on a partition mode syntax element (e.g. see T in [0148]); determining an intra block to be intra-predicted and an inter block to be inter-predicted among the non-rectangular blocks (see 344 and 354 in fig. 3); deriving prediction samples of a first area including the inter block based on motion information (see 360 in fig. 3; e.g. see 1 [0123]); and deriving prediction samples of a second area including the intra block based on an intra prediction mode (see 360 in fig. 3; e.g. see 1 [0123]), wherein deriving the prediction samples of the second area comprises: constructing an intra prediction mode candidate list (see 912 in fig. 9; e.g. see 1 [0151]) by selecting a part (e.g. see "When TriangleDir indicates that a triangular prediction unit is split along a diagonal, the intra candidate mode list (intra candidate list) includes only horizontal and vertical prediction modes" in 1 [0245]) of total available intra prediction modes (see total of 66 in fig. 6), wherein the intra prediction mode candidate list includes one or more directional modes corresponding to an angle formed by a partition edge of the non-rectangular blocks (see fig. 6; e.g. see I [0151]), and a number of intra prediction modes included in intra prediction mode candidate list is less than a number of the total available intra prediction modes (see fig. 6; e.g. see 1 [0151]); and selecting the intra prediction mode from the intra prediction mode candidate list (see 912 in fig. 9) but fails to anticipate or render the above underlined limitation obvious.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Citation of Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
1. Blasi et al. (US 2022/0103833), discloses encoding triangular partitions.
2. Zhang et al. (US 2022/0086441), discloses intra block copy with triangular partitions.
3. Kim et al. (US 2022/0070448), discloses inter prediction with candidate list.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD T TORRENTE whose telephone number is (571)270-3702. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 6:45-3:15 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jay Patel can be reached at (571) 272-2988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RICHARD T TORRENTE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2485
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