Patent ID: 7362807

Claim:
A motion vector coding method for coding a motion vector of a current block in a moving picture, said method comprising: specifying a neighboring block which is located in a neighborhood of the current block and is already coded; judging whether or not the neighboring block has been coded using a motion vector of another block; deriving a predictive motion vector of the current block using a motion vector of the neighboring block; and coding the motion vector of the current block using the predictive motion vector; wherein, in said deriving of the predictive motion vector of the current block, said deriving is performed in such a manner that, if the neighboring block is coded using the motion vector of the another block, a different motion vector, which is obtained using the motion vector of the another block and which is used in performing a coding process for the neighboring block, is used as the motion vector of the neighboring block, and in said deriving of the predictive motion vector of the current block, said deriving is performed in such a manner that, if the neighboring block is not coded using the motion vector of the another block, a different motion vector, which is detected for the neighboring block and which is used in performing the coding process for the neighboring block, is used as the motion vector of the neighboring block.