Jonathan Rogers

Great IP themed movie just came out.

If you want to get your friends to understand why IP is important and exciting to you, this would be a good movie to get them to see.

Billed as educational while also inspiring and entertaining, the early reviews have been positive.  The story is based on the true story of college professor and part-time inventor Robert Kearns’s (Greg Kinnear) long battle with the U.S. automobile industry and his fight to receive recognition for his invention.  Kearns took on a battle that nobody thought he could win.

Kearns invented and patented the intermittent windshield wiper mechanism for use in light rain or mist and tried to license it to the big automakers. They all rejected his idea and then some went ahead and put intermittent wipers in their cars beginning in 1969. In 1967, he received the first of more than 30 patents for his wipers.   He sued Ford in 1978 and Chrysler in 1982 for patent infringement.

Ford argued that Kearns’ patents were overly broad and therefore invalid.  In 1990, a jury decided that Ford infringed on Kearns’ patent, though it concluded the infringement was not deliberate. Ford had contended the patent was invalid because the windshield system contained no new concepts. But Kearns argued a new combination of parts made his invention unique.

That jury failed to reach agreement on how much he should be awarded, and another jury later ordered Ford to pay Kearns $6.3 million, trimmed by a judge to $5.2 million. To settle the case, Ford agreed to pay $10.2 million and to drop all appeals.  Chrysler ended up paying Kearns $18.7 million plus interest.

Synopsis from Patent Baristas.