I think you are all making much ado about nothing, or grasping for some positive info - all that happened was that the patent was published.
The priority date was 07/2009 so 18 months later is 01/2011. All it means is that it is now public, nothing more - doesn't mean the patent was granted.
Let's hope for some real news, though given Mr. Marshall's track record of meeting timelines I'm rather skeptical we will hear anything noteworth mid-January.
Patent applications are generally published 18 months after the earliest priority date of the application. Prior to that publication the application is confidential to the patent office. After publication, depending upon local rules, certain parts of the application file may remain confidential, but it is common for all communications between an Applicant (or his agent) and the patent office to be publicly available.
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