"Necessity is the mother of invention." When faced with similar situations, others will come up with solutions that may be identical to yours and some will come up with better (or worse) solutions. I got a patent on automotive backpressure EGR based on the first sketch of the idea and a fellow in Japan came up with an IDENTICAL solution ON THE SAME DAY. Now our patent was honored in the US whereas his was not, but it makes the point from above.