I sent EPGL an email this morning about this looming end of year deadline and got a response back saying...
"A deadline was never set. We have only said we desired to do so. The only hard deadline we set was November 6th for CooperVision to respond to our counter. They did so prior to that date. We have been finalizing negotiations since. Our negotiations are progressing and we will announce news when we have it. People need to realize that EPGL is dealing with major corporations and we must do it right. We believe it is very close. "
IMO it's been my experience that nothing legal gets done the last 2 weeks of the year.