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(s) (IDS) submitted on 08/06/2026 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/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 § 2146 et seq. 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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim(s) 1 and 15 of U.S. Patent No. 12445615 in view of Said et al. (US 20200413061) (hereinafter Said).
Regarding claim 1,
Instant Application
U.S. Patent No. 12445615 Claim 1
A computing system, comprising:
A method of video decoding performed at a computing system having memory and one or more processors, the method comprising:
control circuitry;
memory; and
one or more sets of instructions stored in the memory and configured for execution by the control circuitry, the one or more sets of instructions comprising instructions for:
receiving a video bitstream comprising coding information for a plurality of blocks;
receiving video data comprising a plurality of blocks from a video bitstream;
obtaining, from the video bitstream, respective values for a set of parameters associated with a block in the plurality of blocks, the set of parameters corresponding to an arithmetic coder probability update rate,
obtaining, from the video bitstream, respective values for a set of parameters associated with a block in the plurality of blocks, the set of parameters corresponding to an arithmetic coder probability update rate,
wherein: the set of parameters comprises A, B, C, and E parameters; and
the set of parameters comprises the A, B, C, and E parameters; and
the arithmetic coder probability update rate is determined according to an inverse of 2 raised to a power of (A+(count>B)+(count>C)+g(M,E));
wherein: the arithmetic coder probability update rate is determined according to an inverse of 2 raised to the power of (A+(count>B)+(count>C)+g(M, E));
determining a coding context based on the arithmetic coder probability update rate; and
determining one or more coding contexts based on the calculated arithmetic coder probability update rate; and
decoding the block in the plurality of blocks based on the coding context.
decoding the block in the plurality of blocks based on the one or more coding contexts.
Although claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12445615 does not specify a control circuitry, memory, and sets of instructions stored in the memory, Said paragraphs 45, 67, and 221 teaches control circuitry, memory, and sets of instructions stored in the memory. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention disclosed by claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12445615 with the hardware of Said so that the method of U.S. Patent No. 12445615 may implemented on computer hardware.
Claim(s) 2-12 is/are rejected for their dependence on claim(s) 1.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected for the same reasons as claim 1, albeit against claim 15 of U.S. Patent No. 12445615 regarding the inverse encoding form.
Claim(s) 14-16 is/are rejected for their dependence on claim(s) 13.
Regarding claim 17,
Instant Application
U.S. Patent No. 12445615 Claim 15
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a video bitstream that is generated by a video encoding method, the video bitstream comprising:
A method of video encoding performed at a computing system having memory and one or more processors, the method comprising:
coded information for a plurality of blocks of video data; and
receiving video data comprising a plurality of blocks;
one or more indicators for a set of parameters associated with a block in the plurality of blocks, the set of parameters corresponding to an arithmetic coder probability update rate,
selecting respective values for a set of parameters associated with a block in the plurality of blocks, the set of parameters corresponding to an arithmetic coder probability update rate,
wherein: the set of parameters comprises A, B, C, and E parameters; and
the set of parameters comprises the A, B, C, and E parameters; and
the arithmetic coder probability update rate is determined according to an inverse of 2 raised to a power of (A+(count>B)+(count>C)+g(M,E));
wherein: the arithmetic coder probability update rate is determined according to an inverse of 2 raised to the power of (A+(count>B)+(count>C)+g(M, E));
wherein the video encoding method comprises:
determining a coding context based on the arithmetic coder probability update rate; and
determining one or more coding contexts based on the calculated arithmetic coder probability update rate; and
encoding the block in the plurality of blocks using the coding context.
encoding the block in the plurality of blocks using at least one of the one or more coding contexts.
Although claim 15 of U.S. Patent No. 12445615 does not specify a non-transitory computer readable storage medium to store a bitstream, and indicator syntax, Said paragraphs 45, 67, and 221 teaches non-transitory computer readable storage medium to store a bitstream, and indicator syntax. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention disclosed by claim 15 of U.S. Patent No. 12445615 with the hardware of Said so that the method of U.S. Patent No. 12445615 may implemented on computer hardware.
Claim(s) 18-20 is/are rejected for their dependence on claim(s) 17.
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.
(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)(1 or 2) as being anticipated by Said et al. (US 20200413061).
Regarding claim 17, this claim is directed to a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a bitstream generated by a method. Significantly, the claimed non-transitory computer readable medium is not implementing any method; no instructions/steps are being executed. Instead, the claimed storage medium merely stores the data output from and/or generated by a method. In other words, these claims are directed to a mere machine-readable medium storing data content (a bitstream generated by an method).
Applicant seeks to patent the storage of a bitstream in the abstract. In other words, the claim seeks to patent the content of the information (bitstream with video content) and not the process itself. Moreover, this stored bitstream does not impose any definitive physical organization on the data as there is no functional relationship between the bitstream and the storage medium. In conclusion, this claim is directed to mere data content (bitstream generated by the recited method) stored as a bitstream on a computer-readable storage medium. Under MPEP 2111.05(III), such claims are merely machine-readable media. Furthermore, there is no disclosed or claimed functional relationship between the stored data and medium. Instead, the medium is merely a support or carrier for the data being stored. Therefore, the data stored and the way such data is generated should not be given patentable weight. See MPEP 2111.05 applying In re Lowry, 32 F.3d 1579, 1583-84, 32 USPQ2d 1031, 1035 (Fed. Cir. 1994) and In re Ngai, 367 F.3d 1336, 70 USPQ2d 1862 (Fed. Cir. 2004). As such, this claim is subject to a prior art rejection based on any non-transitory computer readable medium known before the earliest effective filing date of the present application. Therefore, this claim is anticipated by Said paragraph(s) 45, 67, and 221, which discloses a computer readable medium storing a coded bitstream.
Claims 18-20 are rejected for their dependence on claims 17, because they do not contain additional limitations that overcome the present rejection.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under non-statutory double patenting rejections as detailed above, as well as a 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection, but would be allowable if those rejections were overcome, due to containing subject matter allowable for similar reasons as noted in parent application 18/209205 (US 12445615).
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claim 1 contains the limitations regarding a video bitstream with respective values for a set of parameters corresponding to an arithmetic coder probability update rate, where the update rate is determined according to an inverse of 2 raised to the power of (A + (count> B) + (count> C) + g(M, E)) and the set of parameters comprises the A, B, C, and E parameters. At the time of the effective filing date of the application, these limitations had not been fully anticipated and it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine elements of the prior art to meet this limitation. Claim(s) 13 and 17 contain(s) allowable subject matter for the same reasons as claim 1. The claim(s) depending on these claim(s) contain allowable subject matter for the reasons concerning these claim(s).
The closest prior art, Said et al. (US 20200413061), Jeon et al. (US 20240007636), Kolesnikov et al. (US 20150341641), Frink et al. (US 20220263766), Sim et al. (US 20220132173), Park et al. (US 20220078422), Lee et al. (US 20210227222), Bossen (US 20210144381), Chen et al. (US 20210021831), Davies (US 10547841), Chiang et al. (US 20190058883), Zhou (US 20180192053), Han et al. (US 20180070106), Na et al. (US 20170064328), Sole et al. (US 20120147948), Kobayashi et al. (US 20050146451) either singularly or in combination fail to anticipate or render obvious the above described limitations. While the prior art contains teachings regarding probability update rates, and arithmetic coders that utilize those probability updates rates, the prior art is silent with regard to a video bitstream with respective values for a set of parameters corresponding to an arithmetic coder probability update rate, where the update rate is determined according to an inverse of 2 raised to the power of (A + (count> B) + (count> C) + g(M, E)) and the set of parameters comprises the A, B, C, and E parameters. Therefore, at the time of the effective filing date of the application, these limitations had not been fully anticipated and it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine elements of the prior art to meet this limitation.
Conclusion
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/MATTHEW DAVID KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2483
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