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 10/02/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
TITLE
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. See MPEP 606.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim limitations “a parameter decoder configured to decode, a sign prediction unit configured to change,” have been interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because they use non-structural term(s) “parameter decoder, sign prediction unit” coupled with functional language “configured to [for]” without reciting sufficient structure to achieve the functions. Furthermore, the non-structural terms are not preceded by a structural modifier.
Since this claim limitations invoke 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, claims 1 and 8 interpreted to cover the corresponding structures described in the specification that achieves the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
A review of the specification shows that the following appears to be the corresponding structure described in the specification for the 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph limitation: “A part or all of the video coding apparatus 11 and the video decoding apparatus 31 in the embodiment described above may be realized as an integrated circuit such as a Large Scale Integration (LSI). Each function block of the video coding apparatus 11 and the video decoding apparatus 31 may be individually realized as processors, or part or all may be integrated into processors. In addition, the circuit integration technique is not limited to LSI, and implementation as a dedicated circuit or a multi-purpose processor may be adopted. In addition, in a case that a circuit integration technology that replaces LSI appears as the semiconductor technologies advance, an integrated circuit based on that technology may be used,” - ¶0206.
If applicant wishes to provide further explanation or dispute the examiner’s interpretation of the corresponding structure, applicant must identify the corresponding structure with reference to the specification by page and line number, and to the drawing, if any, by reference characters in response to this Office action.
If applicant does not wish to have the claim limitation treated under 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may amend the claim so that it will clearly not invoke 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, or present a sufficient showing that the claim recites sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function to preclude application of 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
For more information, see Supplementary Examination Guidelines for Determining Compliance with 35 U.S.C. § 112 and for Treatment of Related Issues in Patent Applications, 76 FR 7162, 7167 (Feb. 9, 2011).
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)(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, 8 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Gao et al. (“Gao”) (U.S. PG Publication No. 2025/0220200).
In regards to claim 1, Gao teaches a video decoding apparatus comprising:
a parameter decoder configured to decode a sign prediction parameter from coded data (See ¶0007 and 0009); and
a sign prediction unit configured to change operation of sign prediction depending on a parameter used for decoding of a transform coefficient of a target block (See ¶0061, 0090-0091, 0096 and 0215 in view of 0169-0171, 0190 and 0215),
wherein the sign prediction unit determines whether to perform sign prediction depending on the parameter (See ¶0033, 0083, 0127 wherein it is noted that the encoding portion is merely an inverse order of the decoding order, and performs the processing on the decoding side as well).
In regards to claim 8, the claim is rejected under the same basis as claim 1 by Gao.
In regards to claim 10, the claim is rejected under the same basis as claim 1 by Gao, wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium is taught as seen in ¶0010 and 0259-0260.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al. (“Gao”) (U.S. PG Publication No. 2025/0220200) in view of Sato (U.S. PG Publication No. 2015/0139303).
In regards to claim 3, Gao fails to teach the video decoding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter used for decoding the transform coefficient is a quantization parameter.
In a similar endeavor Sato teaches wherein the parameter used for decoding the transform coefficient is a quantization parameter (See ¶0080 wherein the processing of the transform coefficient is based on at least the quantization parameter).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, and before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the teaching of Sato into Gao because it allows for the consideration of the quantization parameter in view of the next process in line for video decoding which is the inverse transform process as seen in FIG. 11.
Claim(s) 4 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al. (“Gao”) (U.S. PG Publication No. 2025/0220200) in view of Li (U.S. PG Publication No. 2021/0168369).
In regards to claim 4, Gao teaches the video decoding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter used for decoding the transform coefficient is a last position of the transform coefficient.
In a similar endeavor Li teaches wherein the parameter used for decoding the transform coefficient is a last position of the transform coefficient (See ¶0388 wherein parameters relating to the transform coefficients may be used in order to provide information such as the position of the last non-zero coefficient in the transform block [i.e. a last position of the transform coefficient])
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, and before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the teaching of Li into Gao because it allows for a decoder to properly parse out the data by using a parameter[s] which relates which transform coefficients are non-zero such as is described in at least ¶0388, thus allowing for further processing on such data units.
In regards to claim 5, Gao teaches the video decoding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter used for decoding the transform coefficient is a syntax element indicating whether the transform coefficient is greater than a prescribed value.
In a similar endeavor Li teaches wherein the parameter used for decoding the transform coefficient is a syntax element indicating whether the transform coefficient is greater than a prescribed value (See ¶0388 wherein a parameter related to transform coefficients may be used in order to determine whether there are non-zero transform coefficients within the data unit [i.e. a non-zero transform coefficient is one which indicates that the transform coefficient is greater than the prescribed value of zero]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, and before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the teaching of Li into Gao because it allows for a decoder to properly parse out the data by using a parameter[s] which relates which transform coefficients are non-zero such as is described in at least ¶0388, thus allowing for further processing on such data units.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDEMIO NAVAS JR whose telephone number is (571)270-1067. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, ~ 9 AM -6 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Ustaris can be reached at 5712727383. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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EDEMIO NAVAS JR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2483
/EDEMIO NAVAS JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2483
