Nice find. And that certainly is crystal clear on the subject. Glad we can put that question to rest.

Since all the prior art of record has been found as not containing the features of the various claims, and that statement is in the record, I'm at a loss as to how the new examiner would be able to formulate an OA rejection using any of the prior art of record. Not only would he have to overcome the prior examiner's findings, but also have to explain exactly how this new way of looking at the same prior art makes it different. Had the reexam cert not issued, I believe he could have just said the SNQ exists just on the basis of looking at it in a new way or some generalized statement like that. At this point, with the issuance of a reexam cert, I believe the burden shifts to the examiner to explain exactly how this new way of looking differs.

The last sentance is perhaps worth looking into and quoting exactly what the MPEP says about it. I'll take a look.

GLTA, Opty