They have no choice but to say what exactly they said. They stilll have a valid patent...until the final closure of the reexam.

That being said, most of not all potential licensees will wait till this is complete before jumping on the licensing bandwagon....unless they infringe on those claims on any one patent that has not received a non-final rejection. Yesterday's license announcement could easily have been, as others have stated...a reaction to the merger Hoya just went through with Pentax.

JMO