Who Won?

If we go back to the final stages of the 336 reexam there was a final OA on 3/17. The enemy must have been feeling good at that point.

But then the 4/9 interview is posted. Once the enemy read that, they could see that it looked likely that we would be able to work around the rejections. Get to work on a new request.

New request received 4/24. I suspect the ememy must have felt that the timing of the new reexam request would, in all liklihood, delay any possible agreement in the ongoing reexam.

But alas, on 7/23 the enemy gets notice of an incomplete request. A corrected request is filed on 8/24, but is it too late to stop any recert? As it turns out, it is too late. Not only that, but the examiner made sure that the prior art used in the latest request is included in the prior art of record.

So, who won? Given the timing of the orginal request, I'd say that the enemy felt it was important to short-circuit any possible recert. They failed, hence we won. How big is the win? To be determined. But hopefully huge.

GLTA, Opty