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`UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
`United States Patent and TrademarkOffice
`Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
`
`17/683,790
`
`03/01/2022
`
`Jing Ya LI
`
`2022-0281A
`
`7819
`
`Lind&
`Wenderoth,
`Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack, L.L.P.
`1025 Connecticut Avenue, NW
`Suite 500
`Washington, DC 20036
`
`HILAIRE, CLIFFORD
`
`2488
`
`PAPER NUMBER
`
`NOTIFICATION DATE
`
`DELIVERY MODE
`
`10/20/2023
`
`ELECTRONIC
`
`Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
`
`Thetime period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
`
`Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
`following e-mail address(es):
`eoa@ wenderoth.com
`kmiller@wenderoth.com
`
`PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
`
`

`

`
`
`Disposition of Claims*
`1-9 is/are pending in the application.
`)
`Claim(s)
`5a) Of the above claim(s) ___ is/are withdrawn from consideration.
`Cj} Claim(s)
`is/are allowed.
`Claim(s) 1-9 is/are rejected.
`S)
`) © Claim(s)___is/are objected to.
`Cj) Claim(s
`are subjectto restriction and/or election requirement
`)
`S)
`* If any claims have been determined allowable, you maybeeligible to benefit from the Patent Prosecution Highway program at a
`participating intellectual property office for the corresponding application. For more information, please see
`http://Awww.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/pph/index.jsp or send an inquiry to PPHfeedback@uspto.gov.
`
`) )
`
`Application Papers
`10)(] The specification is objected to by the Examiner.
`11) The drawing(s) filed on 3/1/2022 is/are: a) accepted or b)( objected to by the Examiner.
`Applicant may not request that any objection to the drawing(s) be held in abeyance. See 37 CFR 1.85(a).
`Replacement drawing sheet(s) including the correction is required if the drawing(s) is objected to. See 37 CFR 1.121 (d).
`
`Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119
`12)1) Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d)or (f).
`Certified copies:
`_—_c)L) None ofthe:
`b)L) Some**
`a)Q) All
`1.2) Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.
`2.2 Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No.
`3.4.) Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been receivedin this National Stage
`application from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).
`* See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.
`
`Attachment(s)
`
`1)
`
`Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)
`
`Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/08a and/or PTO/SB/08b)
`2)
`Paper No(s)/Mail Date 3/1/2022,
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
`
`3)
`
`(LJ Interview Summary (PTO-413)
`Paper No(s)/Mail Date
`4) (J Other:
`
`PTOL-326 (Rev. 11-13)
`
`Office Action Summary
`
`Part of Paper No./Mail Date 20231017
`
`Application No.
`Applicant(s)
`47/683,790
`Liet al.
`
`Office Action Summary Art Unit|AIA (FITF) StatusExaminer
`CLIFFORD HILAIRE
`2488
`Yes
`
`
`
`-- The MAILING DATEof this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address --
`Period for Reply
`
`A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLYIS SET TO EXPIRE 3 MONTHS FROM THE MAILING
`DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION.
`Extensions of time may be available underthe provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a). In no event, however, may a reply betimely filed after SIX (6) MONTHSfrom the mailing
`date of this communication.
`If NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHSfrom the mailing date of this communication.
`-
`- Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § 133).
`Any reply received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, evenif timely filed, may reduce any earned patent term
`adjustment. See 37 CFR 1.704(b).
`
`Status
`
`1) Responsive to communication(s) filed on 3/1/2022.
`C} A declaration(s)/affidavit(s) under 37 CFR 1.130(b) was/werefiled on
`
`2a)() This action is FINAL. 2b)¥)This action is non-final.
`3)02 An election was madeby the applicant in responseto a restriction requirement set forth during the interview
`on
`; the restriction requirement and election have been incorporated into this action.
`4)\0) Since this application is in condition for allowance except for formal matters, prosecution as to the merits is
`closed in accordance with the practice under Exparte Quayle, 1935 C.D. 11, 453 O.G. 213.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/683,790
`Art Unit: 2488
`
`Page 2
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`DETAILED ACTION
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`Notice ofPre-AIA or AIA Status
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`1.
`
`The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, 1s being examined underthe first
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`inventor to file provisions of the AIA.
`
`2.
`
`Claims 3 and 6 recite the conditional statements:
`
`Claim Interpretation
`
`wherein the CTU 1s defined as a fixed-size square region when the CTU is not located
`
`at either a right end or a lower end ofthepicture, and
`
`the CTU 1s defined as a fixed-size square region or a region smaller than the fixed-
`
`size square region when the CTU és located at either the right end or the lower end.
`
`These claim elements suggest the CTU can be defined asa fixed-size square region
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`irrespective of the CTU position (2.e. when the CTU is not located at either a right end or a lower end ofthe
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`picture and when the CTUts located at either a right end or a lower end ofthepicture). Also, these elements are
`
`constructed such that “a fixed-size square region” from line 4 does not necessarily have for
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`antecedentbasis “‘a fixed-size square region” from line 2. For the purpose of examining the
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`Examinerwill interpret “a fixed-size square region” from line 4 as being the same“a fixed-size
`
`square region” from line 2, or “a fixed-size square region” from line 4 as not being the same “a
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`fixed-size square region” from line 2.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/683,790
`Art Unit: 2488
`
`Page 3
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`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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`The following 1s 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 undersection 151, or in an application for
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`patent published or deemed published undersection 122(b), in which the patent or application,as the case
`
`may be, names another imventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed
`
`mvention.
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`3.
`
`Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim Ki Baek /US
`
`20210044830 A].
`
`Regarding claim 1, Kim teaches:
`
`1. An encoder (i.e..A video encoding/ decoding method and device according to thepresent invention- Abstract)
`
`comprising:
`
`circuitry; and memory coupled to the circuitry (7.2. Referring to FIG. 1, the image encoding apparatus
`
`100 includes apicture diuding unit 110, prediction units 120 and 125, a transform unit 130, a quantization unit
`
`135, a reordering unit 160, an entropy encoding unit 165, an inverse quantization unit 140, an inverse transform
`
`unit 145, afilter unit 150, and a memory 155- 90058... In addition, various embodiments ofthepresent disclosure
`
`may be implemented by hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. In the case ofhardware
`
`implementation, the hardware may be implemented by one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICS),
`
`digital signalprocessors (DSPs), digital signalprocessing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field
`
`programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), generalprocessor, a controller, a micro-controller, a micro-processor, and the like-
`
`0454),
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/683,790
`Art Unit: 2488
`
`Page 4
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`wherein, in operation, the circuitry encodes subpicture information in which a width and a
`
`height of a subpicture are represented in a unit of a coding tree unit (CTU), the subpicture being a
`
`rectangular region (7.¢. seefig. 3)in a picture (2.2. The information specifying the size ofeach subpicture
`
`(hereinafter, size information) may include at least one ofwidth information and height information ofthe
`
`corresponding subpicture. Here, the width|height information may be encoded in units such as n-sample units, CTU
`
`size, (2*CTU size), 44*CTU size), and the like- 90118... The above-describedposition information and size
`
`information may be limited to be encoded/ decoded only when the numberofsubpictures belonging to apicture is two or
`
`more- 40119).
`
`Regarding claim 2, Kim teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Kim further teaches:
`
`wherein the circuitry encodes the subpicture information into a sequence parameterset (2.2.
`
`Information specifying the number of subpictures (hereinafter, number information) may be encoded by the encoding
`
`apparatus, and the decoding apparatus may determine the number ofsubpictures configuring onepicture based on the
`
`encoded number information. The number information may be signaled at least one level of VPS, SPS, PPS, and
`
`PH- 0116).
`
`Regarding claim 3, Kim teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Kim further teaches:
`
`wherein the CTU 1s defined as a fixed-size square region when the CTU 1s not located at
`
`either a right end or a lower end of the picture, and the CTU 1s defined as a fixed-size square region
`
`or a region smaller than the fixed-size square region when the CTUis located at either the nght end
`
`or the lower end (2.2 Referring to FIG.3,one tile may be composed ofaplurality of CTUs, and one CTU 320
`
`(hereinafter, a first block) may be divided into aplurality ofsubblocks (hereinafter, a second block) by at least one ofa
`
`vertical line or a horizontal line... The first block may be a square block or a non-square block- 401 26).
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/683,790
`Art Unit: 2488
`
`Regarding claim 4, Kim teaches:
`
`Page 5
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`4. A decoder (i.e. A video encoding/decoding method and device according to the present invention- Abstract)
`
`comprising:
`
`circuitry; and memory coupledto the circuitry (Ze. Referring to PIG. 2, the image decoding apparatus
`
`200 may include an entropy decoding unit 210, a rearrangement unit 215, a dequantization unit 220, an inverse
`
`transform unit 225, prediction units 230 and 235, afilter unit 240, and a memory 245- 40089... In addition, various
`
`embodiments ofthepresent disclosure may be implemented by hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. In
`
`the case of hardware implementation, the hardware may be implemented by one or more application specific integrated
`
`circuits (ASICs), digital signalprocessors (DSPs), digital signalprocessing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices
`
`(PLDs),fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAS), generalprocessor, a controller, a micro-controller, a micro-processor,
`
`and the like- 0454),
`
`wherein, in operation, the circuitry decodes subpicture information in which a width and a
`
`height of a subpicture are represented in a unit of a coding tree unit (CTU), the subpicture being a
`
`rectangular region (i.e. seefig. 3) in a picture(i.e. The information specifying the size of each subpicture
`
`(hereinafter, size information) may include at least one ofwidth information and height information ofthe
`
`corresponding subpicture. Here, the width|height information may be encoded in units such as n-sample units, CTU
`
`size, (2*CTU size), 44*CTU size), and the like- 90118... The above-describedposition information and size
`
`information may be limited to be encoded/ decoded only when the numberofsubpictures belonging to apicture ts two or
`
`more- 40119).
`
`Regarding claim 5, Kim teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Kim further teaches:
`
`wherein the circuitry decodes the subpicture information from a sequence parameterset. (2.2.
`
`Information specifying the number of subpictures (hereinafter, number information) may be encoded by the encoding
`
`apparatus, and the decoding apparatus may determine the number ofsubpictures configuring onepicture based on the
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/683,790
`Art Unit: 2488
`
`Page 6
`
`
`encoded number information. The number information may be signaled at least one level of VPS, SPS, PPS, and
`
`PH- 0116).
`
`Regarding claim 6, Kim teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Kim further teaches:
`
`wherein the CTU 1s defined as a fixed-size square region when the CTU 1s not located at
`
`either a right end or a lower end ofthe picture, and the CTU 1s defined as a fixed-size square region
`
`or a region smaller than the fixed-size square region when the CTUis located at either the nght end
`
`or the lower end (2.2 Referring to FIG.3,one tile may be composed ofaplurality of CTUs, and one CTU 320
`
`(hereinafter, a first block) may be divided into aplurality ofsubblocks (hereinafter, a second block) by at least one ofa
`
`vertical line or a horizontal line... The first block may be a square block or a non-square block- 401 26).
`
`Regarding claim 7, method claim 7 corresponds to apparatus claim 1, and therefore is also rejected for
`
`the same rationale as listed above.
`
`Regarding claim 8, method claim 8 corresponds to apparatus claim 4, and therefore 1s also rejected for
`
`the same rationale as listed above.
`
`Regarding claim 9, computer-readable medium storing instructions claim 1 corresponds to apparatus
`
`claim 1, and therefore 1s also rejected for the samerationale as listed above.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 17/683,790
`Art Unit: 2488
`
`Page 7
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`Conclusion
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`Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner
`
`should be directed to CLIFFORD HILAIRE whose telephone number1s (571)272-8397. The
`
`examiner can normally be reached 5:30-1400.
`
`Examinerinterviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a
`
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`use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
`
`If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examinet’s supervisor,
`
`SATH V PERUNGAVOORcan be reached on (571)272-7455. The fax phone numberfor the
`
`organization where this application or proceeding1s assigned 1s 571-273-8300.
`
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`
`CLIFFORD HILAIRE
`Primary Examiner
`Art Unit 2488
`
`/CLIFFORD HILAIRE/
`Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2488
`
`