... that last post of mine to you was not implying that I am a patent attorney or that I slept in the Patent Attorney Holiday Inn Express last night. Those were merely quotes with links from the USPTO's stance/rules/regs on whether or not claims in a patent can or can not be "broadened" during an ex parte reexamination.
They can NOT be , despite certain unsubstantiated remarks made here in the past.
Since we have very few patent attorneys 'on board' about the best we can do in discussing issues such as this amongst ourselves is to access pertinent sections on the USPTO website and then logically interpret these sections and apply these interpretations to NeoMedia's situation as best we can.
"If the PTO orders reexamination, the patent holder is given the opportunity to file a statement concerning the new question of patentability, including amendments or new claims they want to propose[6] (provided, however, that the claims may not be broadened).
Confusing to me. I wonder what the difference is? (non fact replies accepted.LOL)
Though the specific claims cannot be broadened, per se, you could say that the patent's reach (or perceived reach) into the industry can be broadened after a successful result.