Yesterday I spoke with someone in the OPLA (office of patent legal affairs?). I asked if they could offer any guidance as to when we might see a first office action. I was referred to the head of the examining unit (Greg Morse).

I just got off the phone with Greg Morse and in typical USPTO fashion, he would only refer back to the statistics posted on the website. He flat out stated that he couldn't discuss any specifics of a re-exam with anyone other than the patent owner. I told him that I fully understood that point. What I wanted to know was if the statistics were accurate. He said as far as he knows, they are still accurate and to keep in mind they were just averages. Whereas the MPEP addresses policy, the statistics deal with individual cases. Although the stats currently show 7.8 to first office action and we are at 9+ months with no office action , he could show instances where it took six months for a first office action.

So my question is this to everyone here? If the patent office can only speak to the patent owner and if PTSC is an owner who must abide by a non disclosure then is TPL at liberty to tell any of us what is going on? If so, has anyone tried to contact Leckrone directly to ask him?