J. Phil Thien's Projects

Coming very late to this, and so may no longer be relevant. There is an enormous amount of IP (current and now in public domain) related to separation techniques that has come out of the pulp and paper industry. It would very much surprise me that any ideas discussed here would not be rejected due to prior art. However, a design patent (vs utility) could be pursued - that's like a recipe though, change one little element and there would not be infringement.