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 1/22/26 is in accordance with provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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)(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.
(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 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kang et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2022/0368940; cited in the IDS filed 1/22/26).
Claim 20’s recitation of “A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a video bitstream that is generated by a video encoding method, the video encoding method comprising…” is a product by process claim limitation where the product is the bit stream and the process is the method steps to generate the bitstream. MPEP §2113 recites “Product-by-Process claims are not limited to the manipulations of the recited steps, only the structure implied by the steps”. Thus, the scope of the claim is the storage medium storing the bitstream (with the structure implied by the method steps). The structure includes the modes, coding blocks, and values manipulated by the steps.
“To be given patentable weight, the printed matter and associated product must be in a functional relationship. A functional relationship can be found where the printed matter performs some function with respect to the product to which it is associated”. MPEP §2111.05(I)(A). When a claimed “computer-readable medium merely serves as a support for information or data, no functional relationship exists”. MPEP §2111.05(III). The storage medium storing the claimed bitstream in claim 20 merely serves as a support for the storage of the bitstream and provides no functional relationship between the stored bitstream and storage medium. Therefore, the bitstream structure, of which scope is implied by the method steps, is non-functional descriptive material and given no patentable weight. MPEP §2111.05(III). Thus, the claim scope is just a storage medium storing data and is anticipated by Kang which recites a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a video bitstream (i.e., a non-transitory recording medium include storage media; Claim 37: A non-transitory recording medium storing a bitstream generated by a video encoding method…) (para [0192]; Claim 37).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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.
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.
Claims 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2022/0368940; cited in the IDS filed 1/22/26) in view of Filippov et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2024/0244194; cited in the IDS filed 1/22/26).
In regard to claim 1, Kang teaches a method of video decoding performed at a computing system having memory and one or more processors (i.e., memory 190; microprocessor) (para[0028]), the method comprising:
receiving a video bitstream comprising a plurality of blocks, including a current block (i.e., entropy decoder 510 is configured to determine a current block to be decoded by decoding a bitstream generated by the video encoding apparatus) (para[0066]);
identifying a partial region of the current block, wherein residual data for the current block…is zero (i.e., inverse transformer 530 is configured to inversely transform the inversely quantized transform coefficients from the frequency domain to the spatial domain to reconstruct residual signals, thereby generating a residual block for the current block; fills a region that is not inversely transformed with the value of “0” as a residual block, thereby generating the final residual block for the current block; ““target block” may have the same meaning as the current block or coding unit (CU) described above, or may mean a partial region of a CU”) (para[0071]-[0072], [0078]); and
reconstructing the current block by applying a subblock transform to the partial region of the current block (i.e., transformer 140 may be configured to split the residual block into a plurality of subblocks, and perform the transformation using the subblock; inverse transformer 165 is configured to transform the transform coefficients output from the inverse quantizer 160 from the frequency domain to the spatial domain and reconstructs the residual block; the adder 170 is configured to add the reconstructed residual block to the prediction block generated by the predictor 120 to reconstruct the current block) (para[0054], [0061]).
However, Kang does not explicitly teach outside of the partial region.
In the same field of endeavor, Filippov teaches outside of the partial region (i.e., samples would lie outside the picture of the current block; search range 1308 may be positioned around the collocated position (or block) 1310 of current block 1300 in reference picture 1306; in some instances, search range 1308 may at least partially extend outside of reference picture 1306; when extending outside of reference picture 1306, constant boundary extension may be used such that the values of the samples in the row or column of reference picture 1306, immediately adjacent to the portion of search range 1308 extending outside of reference picture 1306, are used for the “sample” locations outside of reference picture 1306) (Figs. 13A and 13B; para[0077]-[0079], [0101]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to combine the teachings of Kang and Filippov because Filippov teaches video encoding and decoding may be performed on a block-by-block bases by partitioning a picture into blocks and, for example, larger block partitions may be used in areas of a picture with higher levels of homogeneity to improve coding efficiency (See, for example, para[0066] of Filippov). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine the teachings of Kang with those of Filippov.
In regard to claim 2, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. In addition, Kang teaches wherein the current block is encoded using an intra prediction mode (i.e., intra-prediction unit 122 is configured to predict pixels in the current block) (para[0038]).
In regard to claim 3, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claims 1 and 2 as discussed above. In addition, Kang teaches wherein:
the partial region of the current block is identified when the intra prediction mode is a conventional intra prediction mode (i.e., decoding at least one first high level syntax element indicating whether each of at least one coding tool from a bitstream is allowed; the plurality of intra-prediction modes may include two non-directional modes, which include a planar mode and a DC mode, and 65 directional modes; neighboring pixels and an equation to be used arc defined differently for each prediction mode; among the wide angle intra-prediction modes, some wide angle intra-prediction modes available for the current block may be determined) (para[0008], [0038]-[0040]); and
when the intra prediction mode is a…intra prediction mode, subblock-based transforms are disallowed for the current block (i.e., intra-predictor 542 is configured to determine an intra-prediction mode of the current block among a plurality of intra-prediction modes based on the syntax element for the intra-prediction mode extracted from the entropy decoder; the first high-level syntax element indicates that the corresponding coding tool is not allowed; note: selective/configurable allowing/disallowing of use of coding tools may be signaled in the bitstream) (para[0072]-[0074], [0184]).
However, Kang does not explicitly teach non-conventional intra prediction mode.
In the same field of endeavor, Filippov teaches non-conventional (i.e., matrix-based intra prediction) (para[0155]) intra prediction mode.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to combine the teachings of Kang and Filippov for the same reasons as those discussed above for claim 1.
In regard to claim 4, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claims 1 and 2 as discussed above. In addition, Kang teaches wherein:
the subblock transform is applied when the intra prediction mode is an angular prediction mode (i.e., these modes may be referred to as “wide angle intra-prediction modes”; a wide-angle intra prediction mode is a mode in which prediction is performed in a direction opposite to a specific directional mode without additional bit transmission when the current block has a rectangular shape) (para[0038]-[0040], [0054], [0072]-[0074], [0184]);
when the intra prediction mode is not an angular prediction mode, the subblock transform is disallowed for the current block (i.e., intra-predictor 542 is configured to determine an intra-prediction mode of the current block among a plurality of intra-prediction modes based on the syntax element for the intra-prediction mode extracted from the entropy decoder; the first high-level syntax element indicates that the corresponding coding tool is not allowed; note: selective/configurable allowing/disallowing of use of coding tools may be signaled in the bitstream) (para[0072]-[0074], [0184]).
In regard to claim 5, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. In addition, Kang teaches wherein the partial region is identified based on a boundary sample consistency metric between one or more reconstructed samples of the current block and one or more neighboring reconstructed samples at a boundary of the current block (i.e., to derive a gradient of a sample located at the boundary of each reference block, samples outside the boundary of the first reference block and the second reference block are needed…each sample in the extended portion may be padded with a sample or integer sample at the nearest position in the reference block; additionally, gradients at a sample position outside the boundary of each reference block may be padded with gradients corresponding to samples at the nearest position) (para[0095]-[0097]).
In regard to claim 6, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claims 1 and 5 as discussed above. In addition, Kang teaches further comprising parsing a syntax element of the video bitstream, the syntax element indicating whether to identify the partial region using the boundary sample consistency metric (i.e., to decode at least one first high level syntax element indicating whether each of at least one coding tool from a bitstream is allowed, and decode, from the bitstream, a second high level syntax element corresponding to each of the at least one coding tool depending on the at least one first high-level syntax element and setting, at a picture level, whether each of the at least one coding tool is allowed; decoder 510 is configured to determine a current block to be decoded by decoding a bitstream generated by the video encoding apparatus and extracting information related to block splitting, and extract prediction information and information about a residual signal, and the like required to reconstruct the current block) (para[0008]-[0009], [0066], [0095]-[0097], [0184]).
In regard to claim 7, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claims 1 and 5 as discussed above. However, while Kang teaches gradients (para[0095]-[0097]), it does not explicitly teach wherein the boundary sample consistency metric comprises a sum of histogram of gradient (HoG) values.
In the same field of endeavor, Filippov teaches wherein the boundary sample consistency metric comprises a sum of histogram of gradient (HoG) values (i.e., the histogram will contain cumulative values of gradient intensities for multiple intra prediction modes; determining a histogram of gradients (HoG)) (para[0130], [0162]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to combine the teachings of Kang and Filippov for the same reasons as those discussed above for claim 1.
In regard to claim 8, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claims 1 and 5 as discussed above. In addition, Kang teaches wherein the boundary sample consistency metric is applied to a subsampling of samples along the boundary of the current block (i.e., gradients at a sample position outside the boundary of each reference block may be padded with gradients corresponding to samples at the nearest position; using the horizontal and vertical gradients in a 6x6 window covering a 4x4 subblock) (para[0095]-[0097]).
In regard to claim 9, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claims 1 and 5 as discussed above. In addition, Kang teaches further comprising parsing a syntax element from the video bitstream, the syntax element indicating an index to a list of partial region options, wherein the partial region is identified according to the index (i.e., each CTU is split into one or more coding units (CUs) by a tree structure; information applied to each CU is encoded as a syntax of the CU, and information applied to the CUs included in one CTU in common is encoded as a syntax of the CTU; in addition, information applied to all blocks in one slice in common is encoded as a syntax of a slice header, and information applied to all blocks constituting one or more pictures is encoded in a picture parameter set (PPS) or a picture header; the term “target block” may have the same meaning as the current block or coding unit (CU) described above, or may mean a partial region of a CU; entropy decoder 510 of the video decoding apparatus decodes the index information signaled from the video encoding apparatus) (para[0029], [0072], [0078], [0125]).
In regard to claim 10, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. In addition, Kang teaches wherein the partial region has a size that is a power of 2 (i.e., for all samples (i’, j’) present in a mask Q of a certain size centered on the sample (i, j)…the current sample (i, j) may be determined as a vector that minimizes the sum of squares of the differences Δ[i’, j’] obtained for the respective samples) (para[0088]).
In regard to claim 11, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. In addition, Kang teaches wherein:
the subblock transform is applied when the current block…meets one or more criteria; and when the current block does not have a dimension that meets the one or more criteria, the subblock transform is disallowed for the current block (i.e., intra-predictor 542 is configured to determine an intra-prediction mode of the current block among a plurality of intra-prediction modes based on the syntax element for the intra-prediction mode extracted from the entropy decoder; the first high-level syntax element indicates that the corresponding coding tool is not allowed; note: selective/configurable allowing/disallowing of use of coding tools may be signaled in the bitstream) (para[0072]-[0074], [0184]).
However, Kang does not explicitly teach has a dimension that meets one or more criteria.
In the same field of endeavor, Filippov teaches has a dimension that meets one or more criteria (i.e., current block 904 is of w x h samples in size; reference samples 902 may be filtered based on the size of current block 904 being coded and an applied intra prediction mode) (para[0079], [0082]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to combine the teachings of Kang and Filippov for the same reasons as those discussed above for claim 1.
In regard to claim 12, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. In addition, Kang teaches wherein the partial region is identified (i.e., when the inverse transformer 530 inversely transforms only a partial region (subblock) of the transform block, it extracts a flag (cu_sbt_flag) indicating that only the subblock of the transform block has been transformed, the directionality (vertical/horizontal) information about the subblock (cu_sbt_horizontal_flag), and/or position information about the subblock (cu_sbt_pos_flag)) (para[0071]-[0074]).
However, Kang does not explicitly teach based on an angular intra prediction mode of the current block.
In the same field of endeavor, Filippov teaches based on an angular intra prediction mode of the current block (i.e., for angular modes, a sample at location [x, y] in current block 904 may be predicted) (para[0089]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to combine the teachings of Kang and Filippov for the same reasons as those discussed above for claim 1.
In regard to claim 13, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claims 1 and 12 as discussed above. In addition, Kang teaches wherein:
when an angle of the angular intra prediction mode is closer to a horizontal mode than a vertical mode, a vertical…size is selected for the partial region (i.e., among the wide angle intra-prediction modes, some wide angle intra-prediction modes available for the current block may be determined based on a ratio of the width and height of the rectangular current block; for example, wide angle intra-prediction modes with an angle less than 45 degrees (intra prediction modes 67 to 80) may be used when the current block has a rectangular shape with a height less than the width thereof; to determine transform functions or transform matrices to be applied in the horizontal and vertical directions) (para[0038]-[0040], [0071]-[0074]); and
when the angle of the angular intra prediction mode is closer to the vertical mode than the horizontal mode, a horizontal… size is selected for the partial region (i.e., among the wide angle intra-prediction modes, some wide angle intra-prediction modes available for the current block may be determined based on a ratio of the width and height of the rectangular current block; wide angle intra-prediction modes with an angle greater than -135 degrees (intra-prediction modes -1 to -14) may be used when the current block has a rectangular shape with a width greater than the height; to determine transform functions or transform matrices to be applied in the horizontal and vertical directions) (para[0038]-[0040], [0071]-[0074]).
However, Kang does not explicitly teach a vertical half size or a horizontal half size.
In the same field of endeavor, Filippov teaches a vertical half size and a horizontal half size (i.e., half vertical and half horizontal size) (para[0067]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to combine the teachings of Kang and Filippov for the same reasons as those discussed above for claim 1.
In regard to claim 14, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claims 1 and 12 as discussed above. In addition, Kang teaches wherein:
when an angle of the angular intra prediction mode is closer to a horizontal mode than a vertical mode, a top-right corner or bottom-right corner is selected as the partial region (i.e., scan mode to be used may be determined among the zig-zag scan, the diagonal scan, the vertical scan and the horizontal scan according to the size of the transformation unit and the intra-prediction mode; there may be two types of models for affine motion prediction; one is a model using the motion vectors of two control points of the top-left corner and top-right corner of a target block to be currently encoded, that is, four parameters, as shown in Fig. 8A) (Figs. 8A-8B; para[0038]-[0040], [0058], [0108]-[0111]); and
when the angle of the angular intra prediction mode is closer to the vertical mode than the horizontal mode, a bottom-right corner or bottom-left corner is selected for the partial region (i.e., scan mode to be used may be determined among the zig-zag scan, the diagonal scan, the vertical scan and the horizontal scan according to the size of the transformation unit and the intra-prediction mode; there may be two types of models for affine motion prediction; the other model is a model using the motion vectors of three control points of the top-left corner, top-right corner and bottom-left corner of the target block, that is, six parameters, as shown in Fig. 8B) (Figs. 8A-8B; para[0038]-[0040], [0058], [0108]-[0111]).
In regard to claim 15, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claims 1 and 12 as discussed above. In addition, Kang teaches wherein a corner of the current block is selected as the partial region (i.e., using the motion vectors of two control points of the top-left corner and top-right corner of a target block to be currently encoded; affine motion prediction may be performed for each sample in the target block to be currently encoded; affine motion prediction may be performed for each sample in the target block using a motion vector…the prediction may be performed for each subblock split from the target block) (para[0071]-[0074], [0108]-[0111]).
However, Kang does not explicitly teach based on an angle of the angular intra prediction mode of the current block.
In the same field of endeavor, Filippov teaches based on an angle of the angular intra prediction mode of the current block (i.e., the direction specified by the angular mode may be given by an angle φ defined relative to the y-axis for vertical prediction modes (e.g., modes 19-34 in HEVC and modes 35-66 in VVC) and relative to the x-axis for horizontal prediction modes (e.g., modes 2-18 in HEVC and modes 2-34 in VVC)) (para[0089]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to combine the teachings of Kang and Filippov for the same reasons as those discussed above for claim 1.
In regard to claim 16, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. In addition, Kang teaches further comprising determining one or more of a transform type and a transform kernel for the partial region (i.e., when the inverse transformer 530 inversely transforms only a partial region) (para[0053]-[0054], [0072]).
In regard to claim 17, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claims 1 and 16 as discussed above. In addition, Kang teaches wherein one or more of the transform type and the transform kernel is determined based on an intra prediction mode of the current block (i.e., subtractor 130 is configured to subtract the prediction block generated by the intra-predictor 122 or the inter-predictor 124 from the current block to generate a residual block; residual signals may by transformed by dividing the block into two subblocks, which are a transform region and a non-transform region, and using only the transform region subblock as a transform unit; intra-predictor 542 is configured to determine an intra-prediction mode of the current block) (para[0053]-[0054], [0074]).
In regard to claim 18, Kang and Filippov teach all of the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. In addition, Kang teaches wherein the partial region is half or a quarter of the current block (i.e., dividing the block into two subblocks, which are a transform region and a non-transform region, and using only the transform region subblock) (para[0054]).
In regard to claim 19, Kang teaches a method of video encoding performed at a computing system having memory and one or more processors (i.e., memory 190; microprocessor) (para[0028]), the method comprising:
receiving video data comprising a plurality of blocks, including a current block (i.e., current picture; video encoding apparatus includes a picture splitter 110; the picture splitter 110 splits each picture constituting the video into a plurality of CTUs having a predetermined size, and then recursively splits the CTUs using a tree structure; in the tree structure, a leaf node serves as a coding unit (CU), which is a basic unit of coding) (Fig. 1; para[0012], [0028], [0031]);
identifying a partial region of the current block, wherein residual data for the current block…is zero (i.e., the entropy decoder 510 is also configured to extract information about quantized transform coefficients of the current block as information related to quantization and information about residual signals; fills a region that is not inversely transformed with the value of “0” as a residual block, thereby generating the final residual block for the current block; ““target block” may have the same meaning as the current block or coding unit (CU) described above, or may mean a partial region of a CU”) (para[0070]-[0072], [0078]); and
encoding the current block by applying a subblock transform to the partial region of the current block (i.e., the transformer 140 may be configured to transform residual signals in the residual block using the entire size of the residual block as a transformation unit; alternatively, the transformer 140 may be configured to split the residual block into a plurality of subblocks, and perform the transformation using the subblock as a transform unit; alternatively, the residual signals may be transformed by dividing the block into two subblocks, which are a transform region and a non-transform region, and using only the transform region subblock as a transform unit) (para[0054], [0061]).
However, Kang does not explicitly teach outside of the partial region.
In the same field of endeavor, Filippov teaches outside of the partial region (i.e., samples would lie outside the picture of the current block; search range 1308 may be positioned around the collocated position (or block) 1310 of current block 1300 in reference picture 1306; in some instances, search range 1308 may at least partially extend outside of reference picture 1306; when extending outside of reference picture 1306, constant boundary extension may be used such that the values of the samples in the row or column of reference picture 1306, immediately adjacent to the portion of search range 1308 extending outside of reference picture 1306, are used for the “sample” locations outside of reference picture 1306) (Figs. 13A and 13B; para[0077]-[0079], [0101]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to combine the teachings of Kang and Filippov because Filippov teaches video encoding and decoding may be performed on a block-by-block bases by partitioning a picture into blocks and, for example, larger block partitions may be used in areas of a picture with higher levels of homogeneity to improve coding efficiency (See, for example, para[0066] of Filippov). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine the teachings of Kang with those of Filippov.
Conclusion
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KRISTIN DOBBS
Examiner
Art Unit 2488
/KRISTIN DOBBS/Examiner, Art Unit 2488
Prosecution Insights