In the returned ex parte reexam request it is noted in the conclusions

"Jurisdiction over the present ex parte reexamination request papers is being retained in the Office of Patent Legal Administration pending response to this decision or the expiration of time to respond."

It sounds like OPLA is going to get the first pass at determining if the resubmission passes all legal hurdles before the examiner gets the opportunity to determine anything on the merits. So, the delay might be getting the OPLA review done. Not sure if this is a correct assessment, but it would make sense that the resubmission pass the legal hurdles first before being returned to the examiner. But it certainly seems like the examiner has been advised to deal with the reexam request before proceeding with NIRC.

Opty