LOL...my memory in my words from a conversation recently.

Reminds me of something Pat said in a side bar after the SHM, something like...the PTO does not rubber stamp anything. They will reject a claim making the inventor answer questions, we have to do the research, rather than them.

In other words, the process itself, almost by design or it seems that way, is to say no then let you prove why you are right.

There's just nothing simple about obtaining a patent.