Re: Henneman

Did he give you any actual/direct hints re: when to expect something?

Did he advise as to whether the Examiner appreciated his input, or better, if the Examiner had solicited that input?

The answer to both of your questions is no. I did find this on the USPTO website and sent an e-mail to them asking if action on number 11 is over due. Perhaps the "if appropriate" language is the cause for delay. Hoping for a dismissal or NIRC.

The PALM system is used to monitor major events that take place in processing reexamination proceedings. During ini­tial processing all major pre-ex parte examination events are reported. During the ex parte phase, the mailing of examiner’s actions are reported as well as owner’s responses thereto. The reexamination clerk is responsible for reporting these events using the reex­amination icon and window initiated in the PALM EXPO program.

(1)PALM Reports — A number of automated reports generated from the PALM system are pro­vided to the TCs at the beginning of each week. These reports serve to indicate to the TCs when certain deadlines are approaching. Each report is subdivided by working group and lists the requests in control number sequence. The following reports have been identified.

(11) *Overdue First Ex Parte Actions — This report lists those requests in which reexamination has been ordered and a first action has not been mailed and 6 weeks have passed since the request became available for ex parte prosecution. These requests should be taken up for immediate action by the exam­iner.

*Asterisk items require immediate action and fol­low-up, if appropriate.