You can thank the late Dr. Robert Kearns, a former Wayne State
University engineering professor, for your intermittent windshield
wipers. Of course, no one really knows that. But the new film "Flash of
Genius" looks to refresh everyone's memory. The movie follows Kearns,
played by Greg Kinnear, and his battle with the Ford Motor Company over
the patent rights of his invention. The film, though shot in Toronto,
is completely based in Detroit (despite Kearns' move to Maryland in
1971.)
Excerpt:
Working in the basement of his Detroit home near 8 Mile Road and
Greenfield, he came up with a prototype and demonstrated it for Ford
Motor Co. engineers in a parking lot in 1963. Kearns was initially
cautious, but granted them a closer look when they agreed to go into
business with him.
Kearns envisioned a family-run operation in
which he would manufacture the wipers used in Ford cars. When Ford
suddenly pulled out of the deal, he was stymied. Later, he discovered
that Ford and also Chrysler were introducing Kearns-style intermittent
systems on their models beginning in 1969.
Kearns began suing for
patent infringement in 1978, first against Ford and later Chrysler. His
first trial wasn't granted until 1990. By the final trial in 1995, he
had received nearly $30 million in compensation, though still with no
admission that the auto companies had willfully stolen his invention.
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