Zypper patch should patch Thunderbird?

Why does zypper patch not patch Thunderbird? For example, Thunderbird 31.1 contained security patches, but these were not installed by zypper patch, only by zypper update.

Name : MozillaThunderbird
Version : 31.1.0
Release : 3.1
Architecture: x86_64
Install Date: Wed Sep 3 04:57:53 2014
Group : Productivity/Networking/Email/Clients
Size : 69568433
License : MPL-2.0
Signature : DSA/SHA1, Wed Sep 3 00:55:44 2014, Key ID 026b47f3766da614
Source RPM : MozillaThunderbird-31.1.0-3.1.src.rpm
Build Date : Wed Sep 3 00:29:38 2014
Build Host : cloud129
Relocations : (not relocatable)
Vendor : obs://build.opensuse.org/mozilla
URL : http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/
Summary : The Stand-Alone Mozilla Mail Component

“zypper patch” only installs official patches from the standard update repo.

Your Thunderbird comes from the mozilla repo on OBS though:

Name : MozillaThunderbird
Version : 31.1.0
Release : 3.1
Architecture: x86_64
Install Date: Wed Sep 3 04:57:53 2014
Group : Productivity/Networking/Email/Clients
Size : 69568433
License : MPL-2.0
Signature : DSA/SHA1, Wed Sep 3 00:55:44 2014, Key ID 026b47f3766da614
Source RPM : MozillaThunderbird-31.1.0-3.1.src.rpm
Build Date : Wed Sep 3 00:29:38 2014
Build Host : cloud129
Relocations : (not relocatable)
Vendor : obs://build.opensuse.org/mozilla
URL : Thunderbird — Free Your Inbox. — Thunderbird
Summary : The Stand-Alone Mozilla Mail Component

Btw, the standard repos contain version 24.x only.
But this is not really older or outdated, it is the “Extended Support Release” (ESR).