No, the patent does not start over again for another 17 years...the PTO does grant some extentions of time if there is a delay caused by the PTO...not including normal reexams time though.

And yes, as some are realizing now, the negotiations, that have been noted, in some of the PR's, may have been in the hundreds ,but now they will start anew starting from the issue date of the reexam...which by the way has not occurred yet on the Official Gazette.

That is also why we are seeing new reexams being requested. With amended claims, some prior art may not have been useable in the reexam based on the old claim wording. With new amended wording those may come into play now, if not, then the PTO usually justs denies the newly requested reexam ie. the '584. If there is any chance of some validilty to the new requests for reexam they will assign it to an examiner who inturn does his investigation to determine if there is any substance there...as we are seeing on the '336.

All of these things plus the judge willing to wait annother 90 days for the additional patent reexams to come to a conclusion is why we are not seeing a "rush to sign" licenses...any reason that is attributable to PTO or judicial rulings is fair game enough to push off negotiations and signings and also eliminates any ruling of extended damages for infringing purposely on the exisitng patents.

Not what many of us want to read and understand but such is the world of patent infringement and licensing.

JMHO