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 09/08/25 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. US 2017/0094305 in view of Xu et al. US 2019/0158870.
As to claim 1, Li teaches a decoder comprising: circuitry; [fig. 6; ¶ 0075] and memory, wherein, using the memory, [¶ 0049; ¶ 0089; ¶ 0112] the circuitry: in a first operating mode, derives first motion vectors for a first block obtained by splitting a picture, and generates a prediction image corresponding to the first block, with a bi-directional optical flow flag set to true, by referring to spatial gradients of luminance generated based on the first motion vectors; [abstract; figs. 4-6; ¶ 0037-0045; ¶ 0090-0095; ¶ 0101-0117] and and generates a prediction image corresponding to the sub-block, with the bi- directional optical flow flag set to false, [¶ 0102] wherein a size of the first block obtained by splitting the picture is variable [¶ 0066-0067]
Li does not explicitly teach in a second operating mode, derives motion vectors of a plurality of control points of a second block based on motion vectors of blocks spatially neighboring to the second block, the second block being obtained by splitting the picture, derives second motion vectors for a sub-block obtained by splitting the second block using the motion vectors of the plurality of control points, and a size of the sub-block obtained by splitting the second block is 4x4.
Xu teaches in a second operating mode, derives motion vectors of a plurality of control points of a second block based on motion vectors of blocks spatially neighboring to the second block, the second block being obtained by splitting the picture, [¶ 0063; ¶ 0087-0099] derives second motion vectors for a sub-block obtained by splitting the second block using the motion vectors of the plurality of control points, [¶ 0063; ¶ 0087-0099] and a size of the sub-block obtained by splitting the second block is 4x4. [¶ 0063]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the techniques of Xu with the teachings of Li allowing for improved coding prediction and efficiency.
As to claim 2, Li teaches an encoder comprising: circuitry; [fig. 5; ¶ 0075] and memory, wherein, using the memory, [¶ 0049; ¶ 0089; ¶ 0112] the circuitry: in a first operating mode, derives first motion vectors for a first block obtained by splitting a picture, and generates a prediction image corresponding to the first block, with a bi- directional optical flow flag set to true, by referring to spatial gradients of luminance generated based on the first motion vectors; [abstract; figs. 4-6; ¶ 0037-0045; ¶ 0090-0095; ¶ 0101-0117] and generates a prediction image corresponding to the sub-block, with the bi- directional optical flow flag set to false, [¶ 0102] wherein a size of the first block obtained by splitting the picture is variable [¶ 0066-0067]
Li does not explicitly teach in a second operating mode, derives motion vectors of a plurality of control points of a second block based on motion vectors of blocks spatially neighboring to the second block, the second block being obtained by splitting the picture, derives second motion vectors for a sub-block obtained by splitting the second block using the motion vectors of the plurality of control points, and a size of the sub-block obtained by splitting the second block is 4x4.
Xu teaches in a second operating mode, derives motion vectors of a plurality of control points of a second block based on motion vectors of blocks spatially neighboring to the second block, the second block being obtained by splitting the picture, [¶ 0063; ¶ 0087-0099] derives second motion vectors for a sub-block obtained by splitting the second block using the motion vectors of the plurality of control points, [¶ 0063; ¶ 0087-0099] and a size of the sub-block obtained by splitting the second block is 4x4. [¶ 0063]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the techniques of Xu with the teachings of Li allowing for improved coding prediction and efficiency.
As to claim 3, Li teaches a bitstream generation device comprising: circuitry; [figs. 5-6; ¶ 0075] and memory, wherein, using the memory, [¶ 0049; ¶ 0089; ¶ 0112] the circuitry: in a first operating mode, derives first motion vectors for a first block obtained by splitting a picture, and generates a prediction image corresponding to the first block, with a bi- directional optical flow flag set to true, by referring to spatial gradients of luminance generated based on the first motion vectors; [abstract; figs. 4-6; ¶ 0037-0045; ¶ 0090-0095; ¶ 0101-0117] generates a prediction image corresponding to the sub-block, with the bi- directional optical flow flag set to false; [¶ 0102] and generates a bitstream including information for deriving the first motion vectors or the second motion vectors, [fig. 1; figs. 5-6; ¶ 0108] wherein a size of the first block obtained by splitting the picture is variable [¶ 0066-0067]
Li does not explicitly teach in a second operating mode, derives motion vectors of a plurality of control points of a second block based on motion vectors of blocks spatially neighboring to the second block, the second block being obtained by splitting the picture, derives second motion vectors for a sub-block obtained by splitting the second block using the motion vectors of the plurality of control points, and a size of the sub-block obtained by splitting the second block is 4x4.
Xu teaches in a second operating mode, derives motion vectors of a plurality of control points of a second block based on motion vectors of blocks spatially neighboring to the second block, the second block being obtained by splitting the picture, [¶ 0063; ¶ 0087-0099] derives second motion vectors for a sub-block obtained by splitting the second block using the motion vectors of the plurality of control points, [¶ 0063; ¶ 0087-0099] and a size of the sub-block obtained by splitting the second block is 4x4. [¶ 0063]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the techniques of Xu with the teachings of Li allowing for improved coding prediction and efficiency.
As to claim 4, Li teaches a method of transmitting a bitstream comprising: in a first operating mode, deriving first motion vectors for a first block obtained by splitting a picture, generating a prediction image corresponding to the first block, with a bi- directional optical flow flag set to true, by referring to spatial gradients of luminance generated based on the first motion vectors; [abstract; figs. 4-6; ¶ 0037-0045; ¶ 0090-0095; ¶ 0101-0117] in a second operating mode, deriving motion vectors of a plurality of control points of a second block based on motion vectors of blocks spatially neighboring to the second block, the second block being obtained by splitting the picture, deriving second motion vectors for a sub-block obtained by splitting the second block using the motion vectors of the plurality of control points, and generating a prediction image corresponding to the sub-block, with the bi- directional optical flow flag set to false; [¶ 0102] generating the bitstream including information for deriving the first motion vectors or the second motion vectors; [fig. 1; figs. 5-6; ¶ 0108] and transmitting the bitstream, wherein a size of the first block obtained by splitting the picture is variable [¶ 0066-0067] and a size of the sub-block obtained by splitting the second block is 4x4.
Li does not explicitly teach in a second operating mode, derives motion vectors of a plurality of control points of a second block based on motion vectors of blocks spatially neighboring to the second block, the second block being obtained by splitting the picture, derives second motion vectors for a sub-block obtained by splitting the second block using the motion vectors of the plurality of control points, and a size of the sub-block obtained by splitting the second block is 4x4.
Xu teaches in a second operating mode, derives motion vectors of a plurality of control points of a second block based on motion vectors of blocks spatially neighboring to the second block, the second block being obtained by splitting the picture, [¶ 0063; ¶ 0087-0099] derives second motion vectors for a sub-block obtained by splitting the second block using the motion vectors of the plurality of control points, [¶ 0063; ¶ 0087-0099] and a size of the sub-block obtained by splitting the second block is 4x4. [¶ 0063]
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the techniques of Xu with the teachings of Li allowing for improved coding prediction and efficiency.
Conclusion
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/ANNER HOLDER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2483
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