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 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-9 and 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
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)(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) 1, 6, 10-12, 17 and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hur US 20240420377.
As to claim 1, Hur teaches a point cloud decoding method, comprising: determining M neighborhood blocks corresponding to a current point in a reference picture of the current point, wherein the current point is a point in a point cloud whose attribute information is to be decoded, M being a positive integer; [figs. 1-2; figs. 10-11; fig. 15; ¶ 0052-0059; ¶ 0136-0139; ¶ 0226-0233; ¶ 0237-0261; ¶ 0269-0272; ¶ 0285-0287; ¶ 0308-0315; ¶ 0349-0350] and determining an attribute prediction value of the current point based on attribute information of points comprised in the neighborhood blocks. [¶ 0235-0239; ¶ 0252-0261; ¶ 0308-0315; ¶ 0350-0365]
As to claim 6, Hur teaches the limitations of claim 1. Hur teaches wherein determining the attribute prediction value of the current point based on the attribute information of the points comprised in the M neighborhood blocks comprises: determining at least one first neighboring point among the points comprised in the M neighborhood blocks; [¶ 0220-0222; ¶ 0226-0230; ¶ 0232-0246] and determining the attribute prediction value of the current point based on attribute information of the at least one first neighboring point. [¶ 0220-0222; ¶ 0226-0230; ¶ 0232-0246]
As to claim 10, Hur teaches the limitations of claim 1. Hur teaches wherein before determining the M neighborhood blocks corresponding to the current point in the reference picture of the current point, the method further comprises: performing block partitioning on the point cloud; [¶ 0232-0246] and wherein determining the M neighborhood blocks corresponding to the current point in the reference picture of the current point comprises: determining the M neighborhood blocks corresponding to the current point among blocks comprised in the reference picture. [¶ 0232-0246]
As to claim 11, Hur teaches the limitations of claim 1. Hur teaches wherein the current point is any point in a level-of-detail (LOD) level of the point cloud whose attribute information is to be decoded, and the LOD level of the point cloud is obtained by performing LOD partitioning on the point cloud. [¶ 0118-0124; ¶ 0219-0223; ¶ 0226-0230; ¶ 0284-0287]
As to claim 12, Hurr teaches a point cloud encoding method, comprising: determining M neighborhood blocks corresponding to a current point in a reference picture of the current point, wherein the current point is a point in a point cloud whose attribute information is to be encoded, M being a positive integer; [figs. 1-2; figs. 10-11; fig. 15; ¶ 0052-0059; ¶ 0136-0139; ¶ 0226-0233; ¶ 0237-0261; ¶ 0269-0272; ¶ 0285-0287; ¶ 0308-0315; ¶ 0349-0350] and determining an attribute prediction value of the current point based on attribute information of points comprised in the M neighborhood blocks. [¶ 0235-0239; ¶ 0252-0261; ¶ 0308-0315; ¶ 0350-0365]
As to claim 17, Hur teaches the limitations of claim 12. Hur teaches wherein determining the attribute prediction value of the current point based on the attribute information of the points comprised in the M neighborhood blocks comprises: determining at least one first neighboring point among the points comprised in the M neighborhood blocks; [¶ 0220-0222; ¶ 0226-0230; ¶ 0232-0246] and determining the attribute prediction value of the current point based on attribute information of the at least one first neighboring point. [¶ 0220-0222; ¶ 0226-0230; ¶ 0232-0246]
As to claim 19, Hur teaches a point cloud decoding device, comprising: a processor and a memory; [fig. 1; ¶ 0052; ¶ 0091; ¶ 0152; ¶ 0374-0379] wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program; [¶ 0374-0379] and the processor is configured to call the computer program stored in the memory and run the computer program, to enable the point cloud decoding device to perform: determining M neighborhood blocks corresponding to a current point in a reference picture of the current point, wherein the current point is a point in a point cloud whose attribute information is to be decoded, M being a positive integer; [figs. 1-2; figs. 10-11; fig. 15; ¶ 0052-0059; ¶ 0136-0139; ¶ 0226-0233; ¶ 0237-0261; ¶ 0269-0272; ¶ 0285-0287; ¶ 0308-0315; ¶ 0349-0350] and determining an attribute prediction value of the current point based on attribute information of points comprised in the M neighborhood blocks. [¶ 0235-0239; ¶ 0252-0261; ¶ 0308-0315; ¶ 0350-0365]
As to claim 20, which is the corresponding non-transitory computer-readable storage medium with the limitations of the method as recited in claim 12, thus the rejection and analysis made for claim 12 also apply. In addition, Hur teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. [¶ 0045; ¶ 0376-0379]
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) 2-5 and 13-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hur US 20240420377 in view of Xu et al. US 2024/0233191.
As to claim 2, Hur teaches the limitations of claim 1. Hur teaches wherein determining the M neighborhood blocks corresponding to the current point in the reference picture of the current point comprises: determining a first spatial block of the current point in a current picture; [¶ 0232-0246] determining a block of the first spatial block in the reference picture; [¶ 0232-0246] and determining M neighborhood blocks of the block in the reference picture as the M neighborhood blocks corresponding to the current point. [¶ 0232-0246]
Hur does not explicitly teach a collocated block in the reference picture.
Xu teaches a collocated block in the reference picture. [¶ 0167-0177; ¶ 0202-0210]
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 Hur allowing for improved coding efficiency.
As to claim 3, Hur (modified by Xu) teaches the limitations of claim 2. Xu teaches wherein determining the block of the first spatial block in the reference picture comprises: determining the collocated block of the first spatial block in the reference picture based on position information of the first spatial block. [¶ 0167-0177; ¶ 0202-0210]
As to claim 4, Hur (modified by Xu) teaches the limitations of claim 3. Xu teaches wherein determining the collocated block of the first spatial block in the reference picture based on the position information of the first spatial block comprises: determining the collocated block of the first spatial block in the reference picture based on the position information of the first spatial block and a size of the first spatial block. [¶ 0167-0177; ¶ 0202-0210]
As to claim 5, Hur (modified by Xu) teaches the limitations of claim 4. Xu teaches wherein determining the block of the first spatial block in the reference picture based on the position information of the first spatial block and the size of the first spatial block comprises: determining a block in the reference picture whose position information is consistent with the position information of the first spatial block in the current picture and whose size is consistent with the size of the first spatial block as the block of the first spatial block. [¶ 0167-0177; ¶ 0202-0210]
As to claim 13, Hur teaches the limitations of claim 12. Hur teaches wherein determining the M neighborhood blocks corresponding to the current point in the reference picture of the current point comprises: determining a first spatial block of the current point in a current picture; [¶ 0232-0246] determining a block of the first spatial block in the reference picture; and determining M neighborhood blocks of the block in the reference picture as the M neighborhood blocks corresponding to the current point. [¶ 0232-0246]
Hur does not explicitly teach collocated block. Of the current point.
Xu teaches collocated block. Of the current point. [¶ 0167-0177; ¶ 0202-0210]
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 Hur allowing for improved coding efficiency.
As to claim 14, Hur (modified by Xu) teaches the limitations of claim 13. Xu teaches wherein determining the collocated block of the first spatial block in the reference picture comprises: determining the collocated block of the first spatial block in the reference picture based on position information of the first spatial block. [¶ 0167-0177; ¶ 0202-0210]
As to claim 15, Hur (modified by Xu) teaches the limitations of claim 14. Xu teaches wherein determining the collocated block of the first spatial block in the reference picture based on the position information of the first spatial block comprises: determining the collocated block of the first spatial block in the reference picture based on the position information of the first spatial block and a size of the first spatial block. [¶ 0167-0177; ¶ 0202-0210]
As to claim 16, Hur (modified by Xu) teaches the limitations of claim 15. Xu teaches wherein determining the collocated block of the first spatial block in the reference picture based on the position information of the first spatial block and the size of the first spatial block comprises: determining a collocated block in the reference picture whose position information is consistent with the position information of the first spatial block and whose size is consistent with the size of the first spatial block as the block of the first spatial block. [¶ 0167-0177; ¶ 0202-0210]
Conclusion
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/ANNER HOLDER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2483
