Wiper Inventor’s Story Hits the Silver Screen
June 29, 2007

Don’t expect the automakers to fight for a product placement in this film!

The story of Robert W. Kearns, inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper systems used on most vehicles for decades, will hit the silver screen. Detroit’s Big Three automakers will play a starring role –- as the bad guys –- who lost after long court battles that ultimately reached the Supreme Court.

Actor Greg Kinnear, most recently appearing in the Oscar-winning Little Miss Sunshine, plays Kearns in Flash of Genius.

Kearns gained fame by winning one of the most famous of patent cases in which an individual won a court case against a large corporation. Kearns invented and patented the intermittent windshield wiper mechanism and tried to interest the Big Three in it. They rejected his idea. But then, when they later installed intermittent wipers on their cars, Kearns sued them for patent infringement. Long court battles culiminated at the Supreme Court and with Kearns winning $30 million in compensation. Kearns died a couple years ago.

Kearns was included among Forbes 400 of significant inventors in 2005, along with Allen Gant Sr., inventor of panty hose and Ray Tomlinson, who invented network email and the use of @ as the symbol for addresses.

Kinnear’s costar will be Lauren Graham of Gilmore Girls. She plays Kearns’ wife, Phyllis, who watches her husband’s obsession with legal retribution suffocate their marriage and put a strain on their children. The Universal Pictures drama marks the directing debut of producer Marc Abraham. Filming starts in July in Toronto.

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