In looking through the various USPTO transactions and TPL's responses one gets a feeling the battle is "Moore", sorry couldn't help it, intense then the lay person understands, myself included. We definitely seem to be seeing the new lay of the land regarding the issue of "obviousness". I think everyone can pretty much agree that, so far, Mr. Goerner has been a man of his words. That being said, I took the warning from him a few months ago very seriously. I even, dare I say it, felt like a final rejection notice was a possibility based on the tone of his words. In the day of Sarsbanes-Oxley one must always take the high road and cover your arse. He may have chosen the words, "months even years" simply to cover himself but we still must proceed with caution. Mr. Moore may be the smartest man in the room but the persons sitting across from him have the power to offer a very "subjective" ruling just as you stated. You can really whip yourself into a frenzy if one starts to think about the task at hand for TPL and company. I hope like crazy there is some correlation between Mr. G's timeline and the USPTO ruling.