Existing patches of similar content

Hi KernelNewbies,

Apologies if this is a stupid question.

I was finishing up on a patch to add a new (fairly small) feature to an existing driver.  While looking at the archives for the relevant mailing list, I noticed another contributor had submitted a patch to add the exact same feature just under a year ago, but the thread seems to have gone stale.  I believe there are some bits that were missing from this patch in terms of correctness.

What's the usual etiquette to approach this situation? I could:
1. submit my patch for review anyway; or
2. resurrect this thread providing a review for it along with the additions I think might be necessary; or
3. a combination of both?

---
Torin