<My understanding is that if the request for reexamination is received after the NIRC then the request must address the amended version of the patent, which is the most current at that moment.>

If you look at the NIRC on IFW you will note that all original claims were amended. However the document does not list all the claims, hence no way to know how some of these claims read until published. Of the orgininal 1 to 10 claims, 3, 4, 5, and 8 were cancelled. 2, 7, and 9 were amended but missing from the document. The text of amended claims 1, 6 and 10 are provided along with new claims 11 through 16.

Regardless of what the rules may state, the request challenges claims 1 to 10 and the text of 2, 7 and 9 are still unknown to the general public. It is really strange that the examiner excluded certain claims in the NIRC. I would think that the exclusion had to be intentional. And that exclusion allows only the known claims to be challenged. I believe this is good news for us.

Opty