said, "Mr. Saddle, aren't you aware of the Notice of
October 11, 1955?"

I looked at him blankly and said, "What's that?"

"It says that interviews with Examiners are not to be held on Fridays
except in exceptional circumstances."

I gulped and said, "Is today Friday?"

He pushed his desk calendar toward me. It was Friday all right, and the
thirteenth at that. I was too embarrassed to speak, and I got up and
began to walk out. Mr. Krome called after me. "This must be an important
case, Mr. Saddle. I'll expect to see you the first thing Monday." I
nodded, and left.

By Monday, my embarrassment had not diminished. I had really done an
unheard-of thing in patent prosecution. In patent prosecution, the
patent attorney has six months to respond to an Office Action. Since
attorneys carry a docket of cases adapted to fill all their time, an
attorney in most instances requires the full six months to respond to an
outstanding Office Action. Industrious attorneys with relatively light
dockets might respond in five months' time. This may also happen when
the attorney is trying to get a little ahead so he can go on a vacation.
There are rare instances of record when an attorney had taken some
action in three or four months. But here, in the Tearproof Paper Case, I
had actually gone for an interview on the very first day. I couldn't
possibly go back on the following Monday; my pride would not allow me. I
waited until Tuesday.

By that time I had gone over the entire rejection and planned my
complete response to the Examiner. I sat down with Mr. Krome on Tuesday
morning and talked steadily for fifteen minutes before I realized he was
watching me instead of paying attention to the case. I said, "What's the
matter."

He said wonderingly, "I've never seen you like this before. You are
acting almost as unreasonably as an inventor. You don't even want to
hear what I have to say about this case. You should relax, Mr. Saddle.
You are here as an advocate, not as a midwife."

"I don't think that's very funny, Mr. Krome," I proceeded to explain the
high merit of the case, and he seemed to listen then. Before I left he
promised to give the case careful consideration. This was all he ever
promised, so I thanked him and went back to my office. I filed my
amendment in the case the next day. It was eight months before I got the
next Office Action.

* * *

Callahan returned in six months and immediately opened a proj