Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. This Office Action is sent in response to Applicant’s Communication received on September 23, 2025 and March 4, 2026 for application number 19/337,727. This Office hereby acknowledges receipt of the following and placed of record in file: Specification, Drawings, Oath/Declaration, Abstract and Claims.
3. Claims 2-21 are presented for examination. Claim 1 has been canceled.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on October 28,2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
5. 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).
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6. Claims 2-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-17 and 19 of U.S. Patent No. 12,445,596 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims 2-20 of the instant application are just claims 1-17 and 19 of U.S. Patent No. 12,445,596 B2 with minor English language syntax differences. Therefore, claims 2-20 of the instant application are anticipated by claims 1-17 and 19 of U.S. Patent No. 12,445,596 B2 because they are broader than the claims. Still further, please refer to the following table for the correspondence of claims between the present application and U.S. Patent No. 12,445,596 B2:
Instant Application
Bold means difference
U.S. 12,445,596 B2
Bold means difference
2. A method of video decoding, the method comprising:
receiving a coded video bitstream including a current picture, the current picture including a current block coded based on a current picture referencing (CPR) mode;
determining a first block vector associated with the current block in the current picture;
deriving, by processing circuitry, a first refined block vector associated with the current block based on a template matching based block vector refinement, the first refined block vector including a first block vector refinement offset applied on the first block vector associated with the current block,
the first block vector refinement offset being derived based on the template matching based block vector refinement; and
reconstructing, by the processing circuitry, the current block based on a first reference block in the current picture, the first reference block being indicated by the first refined block vector.
1. A method of video processing in a decoder, comprising:
receiving a coded video bitstream comprising a current picture, the current picture including a current block;
determining, based on a syntax element in the coded video bitstream, that the current block is coded in a current picture referencing (CPR) mode;
extracting, from the coded video bitstream, a signal indicative of whether a template matching based block vector refinement is applied to the current block in the CPR mode;
deriving a first refined block vector associated with the current block according to the template matching based block vector refinement, the first refined block vector comprising a first block vector refinement offset applied on a first block vector associated with the current block, the first block vector refinement offset being derived by the decoder according to the template matching based block vector refinement; and
reconstructing the current block according to a first reference block in a same picture as the current block, the first reference block being indicated by the first refined block vector.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the CPR mode corresponds to an intra block copy (IBC) mode, and the method includes: applying the template matching based block vector refinement on IBC merge candidates in a candidate list to determine refined block vectors; updating the candidate list to include the refined block vectors; and performing a pruning process on the updated candidate list.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the CPR mode is an intra block copy (IBC) mode, the method further comprises: applying the template matching based block vector refinement on IBC merge candidates in a candidate list to determine refined block vectors to add into the candidate list; determining that a refined value associated with a specific IBC merge candidate is of a same value as an existing refined value in the candidate list; and pruning the refined value associated with the specific IBC merge candidate.
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising at least one of: adding an unrefined block vector of the specific IBC merge candidate into the candidate list; and removing the specific IBC merge candidate from the candidate list.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the CPR mode corresponds to an intra block copy (IBC) mode, and the method includes: decoding, from the coded video bitstream, a block vector difference associated with the current block with a first precision indicated by an adaptive motion vector resolution (AMVR) syntax, a refinement precision of the first block vector refinement offset being finer or equal to the first precision.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the CPR mode is an intra block copy (IBC) mode, and the method further comprises: decoding, from the coded video bitstream, a block vector difference associated with the current block with a first precision indicated by an adaptive motion vector resolution (AMVR) syntax, the first block vector refinement offset being finer or equal to the first precision.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first block vector is a block vector predictor (BVP) of the current block, and the deriving the first refined block vector includes:
applying the template matching based block vector refinement on the BVP of the current block to generate a refined BVP with the first block vector refinement offset applied on the BVP; and combining the refined BVP with the block vector difference to determine the first refined block vector.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first block vector is a block vector predictor (BVP) of the current block, and the deriving the first refined block vector comprises:
applying the template matching based block vector refinement on the BVP of the current block to generate a refined BVP with the first block vector refinement offset applied on the BVP; and combining the refined BVP with the block vector difference to determine the first refined block vector.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein the deriving the first refined block vector further comprises: combining a block vector predictor (BVP) with the block vector difference to determine the first block vector; and applying the template matching based block vector refinement on the first block vector of the current block to generate the first refined block vector with the first block vector refinement offset applied on the first block vector.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the deriving the first refined block vector further comprises: combining a block vector predictor (BVP) with the block vector difference to determine the first block vector; and applying the template matching based block vector refinement on the first block vector of the current block to generate the first refined block vector with the first block vector refinement offset applied on the first block vector.
7. The method of claim 4, wherein a search step size in the template matching based block vector refinement is smaller than the first precision.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein a search step size in the template matching based block vector refinement is smaller than the first precision.
8. The method of claim 2, wherein the CPR mode corresponds to an intra block copy (IBC) mode, and the deriving the first refined block vector includes: determining the first block vector that has a first resolution; and applying the template matching based block vector refinement on the first block vector using a search step size that is finer than the first resolution.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the CPR mode is an intra block copy (IBC) mode, and the deriving the first refined block vector comprises: determining the first block vector that has a first resolution; and applying the template matching based block vector refinement on the first block vector using a search step size that is finer than the first resolution.
9. The method of claim 2, wherein the CPR mode corresponds to an intra block copy (IBC) mode, and the deriving the first refined block vector includes: performing a hash-based search that determines whether there exists a match to a current template of the current block in a reconstructed area in the current picture; and performing the template matching based block vector refinement when the match is not found in the hash-based search.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the CPR mode is an intra block copy (IBC) mode, the deriving the first refined block vector comprises: performing a hash-based search that determines whether there exists a match to a current template of the current block in a reconstructed area in the same picture as the current block; and performing the template matching based block vector refinement when the match is not found in the hash-based search.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the performing the hash-based search further comprises: applying a hash function to first subblocks in the reconstructed area to generate entries in a hash map; applying the hash function to second subblocks in the current template to generate hashed values; and determining whether there exists the match based on the hash map and the hashed values.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the performing the hash-based search further comprises: applying a hash function to first subblocks in the reconstructed area to generate entries in a hash map; applying the hash function to second subblocks in the current template to generate hashed values; and determining whether there exists the match based on the hash map and the hashed values.
11. The method of claim 2, wherein the template matching based block vector refinement corresponds to determining the first block vector refinement offset based on a template matching cost measuring a distortion between a current template of the current block and a reference template of the first reference block.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the template matching based block vector refinement determines the first block vector refinement offset according to a template matching cost calculated by a distortion between a current template of the current block and a reference template of the first reference block.
12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: determining that a second refined block vector has a same minimum template matching cost value as the first refined block vector; calculating a first sum of a first horizontal absolute value of a horizontal component of the first refined block vector and a first vertical absolute value of a vertical component of the first refined block vector; calculating a second sum of a second horizontal absolute value of a horizontal component of the second refined block vector and a second vertical absolute value of a vertical component of the second refined block vector; and selecting the first refined block vector when the first sum is smaller than the second sum.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: determining that a second refined block vector has a same minimum template matching cost value as the first refined block vector; calculating a first sum of a first horizontal absolute value of a horizontal component of the first refined block vector and a first vertical absolute value of a vertical component of the first refined block vector; calculating a second sum of a second horizontal absolute value of a horizontal component of the second refined block vector and a second vertical absolute value of a vertical component of the second refined block vector; and selecting the first refined block vector when the first sum is smaller than the second sum.
13. The method of claim 11, further comprising: determining that one or more other refined block vectors have a same minimum template matching cost value as the first refined block vector; constructing a block vector candidate list that includes the first refined block vector and the one or more other refined block vectors; and decoding, from the coded video bitstream, a signal that indicates the first refined block vector from the block vector candidate list.
11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: determining that one or more other refined block vectors have a same minimum template matching cost value as the first refined block vector; constructing a block vector candidate list that includes the first refined block vector and the one or more other refined block vectors; and decoding, from the coded video bitstream, a signal that indicates the first refined block vector from the block vector candidate list.
14. The method of claim 2, further comprising: decoding a flag that indicates application of the template matching based block vector refinement for the current block, the flag being at least one of a block level flag, a sequence level flag, a picture level flag, a slice level flag, a tile level flag, or a tile group level flag.
14. The method of claim 12, further comprising: decoding a flag that indicates the application of the template matching based block vector refinement on the IBC merge candidates, the flag being at least one of a block level flag, a sequence level flag, a picture level flag, a slice level flag, a tile level flag, and/or a tile group level flag.
15. The method of claim 2, wherein the CPR mode corresponds to an intra template matching prediction (IntraTMP) mode, and the method includes: performing an intra template matching prediction on the current block to derive the first block vector; and performing the template matching based block vector refinement on the first block vector to obtain the first refined block vector.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the CPR mode is an intra template matching prediction (IntraTMP) mode, and the method further comprises: performing an intra template matching prediction on the current block to derive the first block vector; and performing the template matching based block vector refinement on the first block vector to obtain the first refined block vector.
16. The method of claim 2, wherein the CPR mode corresponds to an intra block copy (IBC) mode, and the method includes: determining that a neighboring block of the current block is in an intra template matching prediction (IntraTMP) mode, the neighboring block being at least one of a spatial neighbor or a temporal neighbor of the current block; and using a block vector obtained from the neighboring block as a block vector predictor (BVP) candidate for the current block.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the CPR mode is an intra block copy (IBC) mode, and the method further comprises: determining that a neighboring block of the current block is in an intra template matching prediction (IntraTMP) mode, the neighboring block being at least one of a spatial neighbor or a temporal neighbor of the current block; and using a block vector obtained from the neighboring block as a block vector predictor (BVP) candidate for the current block.
17. A method of video encoding, the method comprising:
determining a first block vector associated with a current block in a current picture, the current block being coded based on a current picture referencing (CPR) mode;
deriving, by processing circuitry, a first refined block vector associated with the current block based on a template matching based block vector refinement, the first refined block vector including a first block vector refinement offset applied on the first block vector associated with the current block, the first block vector refinement offset being derived based on the template matching based block vector refinement; and encoding, by the processing circuitry based on the first refined block vector, the current block in a bitstream that carries a video including the current picture.
17. A method of video processing in an encoder, comprising:
determining to use a template matching based block vector refinement for coding a current block in a current picture referencing (CPR) mode;
deriving a first refined block vector associated with the current block according to the template matching based block vector refinement, the first refined block vector comprising a first block vector refinement offset applied on a first block vector associated with the current block, the first block vector refinement offset being derived according to the template matching based block vector refinement; and encoding, according to the first refined block vector, the current block in a bitstream that carries a video including the current picture.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the CPR mode corresponds to an intra block copy (IBC) mode, and the method includes: applying the template matching based block vector refinement on IBC merge candidates in a candidate list to determine refined block vectors; updating the candidate list to include the refined block vectors; and performing a pruning process on the updated candidate list.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the CPR mode is an intra block copy (IBC) mode, the method further comprises: applying the template matching based block vector refinement on IBC merge candidates in a candidate list to determine refined block vectors to add into the candidate list; determining that a refined value associated with a specific IBC merge candidate is of a same value as an existing refined value in the candidate list; and pruning the refined value associated with the specific IBC merge candidate.
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising at least one of: adding an unrefined block vector of the specific IBC merge candidate into the candidate list; and removing the specific IBC merge candidate from the candidate list.
19. (New) The method of claim 17, wherein the CPR mode corresponds to an intra block copy (IBC) mode, and the method includes: encoding, into the bitstream, a block vector difference associated with the current block with a first precision indicated by an adaptive motion vector resolution (AMVR) syntax, a refinement precision of the first block vector refinement offset being finer or equal to the first precision.
19. The method of claim 17, wherein the CPR mode is an intra block copy (IBC) mode, and the method further comprises: encoding, into the bitstream, a block vector difference associated with the current block with a first precision indicated by an adaptive motion vector resolution (AMVR) syntax, the first block vector refinement offset being finer or equal to the first precision.
20. The method of claim 17, further comprising: encoding a flag in the bitstream that indicates application of the template matching based block vector refinement for the current block, the flag being at least one of a block level flag, a sequence level flag, a picture level flag, a slice level flag, a tile level flag, or a tile group level flag.
14. The method of claim 12, further comprising: decoding a flag that indicates the application of the template matching based block vector refinement on the IBC merge candidates, the flag being at least one of a block level flag, a sequence level flag, a picture level flag, a slice level flag, a tile level flag, and/or a tile group level flag.
Claims 1-17 and 19 of U.S. Patent No. 12,445,596 B2 are more specific and claims 2-20 of the present application are broader in scope than claims that are already issued. A double patenting rejection is needed to prevent two claims to the same invention.
7. Claim 21 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 17 of U.S. Patent No. 12,445,596 B2 in view of ZHANG et al.(US 2024/0259555 A1)(hereinafter Zhang).
With regards to claim 21, U.S. Patent No. 12,445,596 B2 in claim 17 claimed a method of video processing in an encoder, comprising: determining to use a template matching based block vector refinement for coding a current block in a current picture referencing (CPR) mode; deriving a first refined block vector associated with the current block according to the template matching based block vector refinement, the first refined block vector comprising a first block vector refinement offset applied on a first block vector associated with the current block, the first block vector refinement offset being derived according to the template matching based block vector refinement; and encoding, according to the first refined block vector, the current block in a bitstream that carries a video including the current picture.
U.S. Patent No. 12,445,596 B2 is silent to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method of encoding a bitstream and transmitting the bitstream.
However, Zhang discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method of encoding a bitstream [See Zhang: at least par. 10-14, 64-65 regarding non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores instructions that cause a processor to perform a method in accordance with the first or second aspect of the present disclosure…The encoded video data may be transmitted directly to destination device 120 via the I/O interface 116 through the network 130A. The encoded video data may also be stored onto a storage medium/server 130B for access by destination device 120.] and transmitting the bitstream[See Zhang: at least par. 10-14, 64-65 regarding The encoded video data may be transmitted directly to destination device 120 via the I/O interface 116 through the network 130A. The encoded video data may also be stored onto a storage medium/server 130B for access by destination device 120.].
One of ordinary skill in the art has been motivated to combine the method of U.S. Patent No. 12,445,596 B2 with Zhang’s teachings by including “a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method of encoding a bitstream and transmitting the bitstream” before the time of filing because this combination has the benefit of improving the coding effectiveness and coding efficiency [See Zhang: at least par. 4-14].
Conclusion
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANA J PICON-FELICIANO whose telephone number is (571)272-5252. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00-5:00.
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/Ana Picon-Feliciano/Examiner, Art Unit 2482
/CHRISTOPHER S KELLEY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2482
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