I just had a conversation with Ed, and he said that it's fine if I post something here and clarify what today's notification really means.

In short, it's not the end of the process by any means. It's a bump in the road, but the term "final" in this context just means that they have to respond once again. Since this is the second request for more information within a given time period, in patent lingo it's called "final". Medizone has to pay a nominal fee for an extension, and then respond to whatever specific points were not yet accepted.

He explained a little more about the process. A while back they received a "non-final rejection", which raised six specific areas concerning the application. The lawyers for Medizone responded in detail, and they were hopeful, but not positive, that this would satisfy all of those six points.

If any of those six questions needs further clarification, even one of them, the response is termed "final rejection", because another fee has to be paid for an extension. That's how the patent process goes.

The precise issues that need to be discussed further are sent to the lawyers by snail mail, so as of now, management has no idea what the objections of the examiner may be. It could be that only one question of the six isn't resolved enough in his mind, or it could be more. At this time no one knows. If it's one, that means that five out of the six are settled, but that's still called "final rejection" in the parlance of the patent office.

The attorneys expect to get that information at the beginning of next week. They will then evaluate what has yet to be clarified. They have the option to respond again in writing, or to request a face-to-face meeting, to ensure that all that needs to be clarified will be addressed. Management will also be working with the attorneys to formulate a response that will come from IR to shareholders, to let us know what's going on.

Ed is very confident that the patent will be forthcoming. Granted, it was somewhat disappointing that the process wasn't completed yet, because they had thought that the responses to the six points were thorough and convincing. But it really is a common pattern in the patent process to have to fine-tune specific points, and there is nothing "final", in the way the word is normally used, in today's notice.

As Yogi would say, "It ain't over 'til it's over"- and it ain't over.