re: “But the patent is about to expire,”
On Freon, yeah, you’re barking up the WRONG tree.
Freon, like Freon 12, per se, was never patented.
Prove me wrong.
Be advised, I’ve got the original patent numbers dating back over 70 years on this subject, and they are ALL expired now, so your ‘contention’ “the patent is about to expire” ain’t it ...
December 31, 1928
Charles Franklin Kettering
Thomas Midgley was chosen by Kettering to head the research into the new refrigerants. In 1928, Midgley and Kettering invented a “miracle compound” called Freon. Frigidaire received the first patent, US#1,886,339, for the formula for CFCs on December 31, 1928.