I saved this for my probable final post for the day (and everyone says "thank goodness!" LOL).

It just amazes me the amount of attention and consternation this has garnered from almost everyone here.

While there is a very good reason for hammering "Lurking" for his post, it is good that we were made aware of what we all should have expected to happen.

If you assume Lurking is somewhat ignorant and didn't understand that he was misrepresenting, then the hammering was not warranted. But if you assume he is not ignorant (or is "apatentlawyer" in disguise), it is clear that he misrepresented the facts. While the language of the USPTO contributes to the illusion, this is just a review. Nothing conclusive has happened. But the way in which it was posted gave the definite impression that a negative conclusion had occurred.

It hasn't, and the odds IMO are in our favor by virtue of the "ex parte" review approach. Our team KNOWS everything the opposition submitted, and goes into this game with no additional opposition. Is there really any better position our team could possibly be in, going into this?

Again, this action by the USPTO should have been expected, it's just happening sooner than most (I) expected.

Now IF Lurking were not ignorant, he should have provided a little more insight in his original post on this. Very deceiptful to do otherwise, thus, it was very deceiptful.

"Shot the messenger"? Fire away when the messenger intentionally proclaims that the war is over upon announcement that the first battle is about to begin.

And what's the big deal anyway? IT was expected! IMO, sooner is better. Get this out of the way! One way or the other! And IF it goes the other way, is it the end of the world? Look at the Markman result. We still have a strong (apparently) '148, and the monster '336. Ultimate "cost" if the '584 goes by the wayside? Probably not even discernable IMHO.

Analogy: I've got three unique gold coins; unique in that there was only one of each minted. Everyone engaged in commerce MUST have a shared ownership (rights to use) all of these coins, or cease commerce. I lost one of the coins. The other two remain essential. Did I really lose anything? Has my grip on the short hairs of commerce lessened? Did the aggregate value actually decrease, or stay the same? I believe the latter..... Essential is essential....

JMHO,

SGE