jean-claude: IF the patent is accepted, then the patent owner can sue people who {dehydrate, sprout, blend} raw foods for patent infringement. However, if the patent owner is so foolish as to do so, he will almost surely see the patent declared invalid due to what the patent offices refer to as "prior art" -- the fact that the methods were known and in use by others BEFORE the patent was issued. So a patent, if issued, is really a license to intimidate and try to extort money from others by the threat of a lawsuit. The patent owner does not want to actually go to trial, as he is sure to lose. Tom Billings