" But if this were the case, it seems that if the defendants "had nuttin' " up till that late date (of their request), why the litigation?  Were they just hoping, in the course of the legal process, to come up with "sumpin' "?  I, in my naivete, see their pursuit of the litigation route as either very "ballsy" or an act of desperation.  This assuming they had nuttin'.  But, back to the original question, if they had their justification (compelling evidence for the USPTO)  at an earlier date, is there any reason why they would hold off on the petition to the USPTO?  Advantage?  I just don't see any.  And I find this puzzling...."

They were hoping that we might screw something up. In our negoiations with them we mentioned chip families infringeing. Sure enough when we built our consrtuction it was "Chip Families" in our documentation. That plus the hope of finding prior art may have been enough incentive for them to try to save billions.

AJMHO