Reviewed the reply again. The amendment made to claim 9 does not appear to need any patent reference, since everything came from either claim 8 which was cancelled, or claim 9. Perhaps the term non-responsive means any amendment that was not specifically asked for by the examiner. Hope so.

All the arguments look sound to me. That is not to say that the examiner will accept them. But the arguments should hold up in court, should we have to take it that far. GLTA Opty