But it’s also a reminder of the shortcomings of the US patent system for independent inventors. Kearns’ story is remembered as one of history’s great David vs. In the end, he won millions of dollars - but it cost him his sanity, his marriage, and the remaining years of his life. He constructed prototypes in his basement, filed a patent, and began to dream up a plan: He’d set up a pretty little factory in Detroit, become a major supplier of windshield wipers, and go down in history as one of the automobile industry’s great innovators.įor nearly 30 years, Kearns waged an impossible legal battle against one of America’s most powerful companies. On a rainy day in 1962, Robert Kearns had one of those meandering thoughts that separate great inventors from mere mortals: What if a windshield wiper paused between each wipe, like a blinking eye?
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