Flash Of Genius. A Must See Movie.

Just released on the big screen, the true story about the invention, theft and the 30-year legal battle over the intermittent windshield wiper. Big corporations have time, money to pay high profile lawyers and power on their side. All the inventor Bob Kearns had was the truth. Shame on Ford. A must see movie. Flash Of Genius.

5 Responses to “Flash Of Genius. A Must See Movie.”


  1. 1 Lyle Oct 28th, 2008 at 10:44 pm

    Not to mention to poor guy who fought Craftsman tools for close to two decades over the use of his rachet wrench invention. The US patent system is not made for small business inventors. Yes, you can patent an idea, but nothing prevents others from manufacturing it without your consent. You still need money to defend it. It’s a system where the only people who win are the lawyers.

  2. 2 bcarter Oct 29th, 2008 at 1:12 pm

    Thanks Cyril, I hadn’t heard it before today. I’ll try and catch it at the Rave this weekend.

  3. 3 American Inventor Oct 30th, 2008 at 4:06 pm

    This is a good movie and it will help show how inventors in this country are being ripped off for there ideas. There is a lot of that happening in our industry as well, seems alot of people think patents are a joke and that it is there right to infringe on patent owners rights and steal there ideas. Patents have a life of twenty years the reason for that is so that an inventor has protection from infringers long enough that he can grow his business and be able to compete with the big corporations but in return he must show the world how his invention works and how to do the invention. That is part of the problem theives learn from the patent itself and then proceed to stealing the idea. And it is very expensive to fight these lawsuits but the only other choice for an inventor is stop the infringers or going out of business. So next time you see a knockoff part remember buying that part is helping someone kill a legitimate business or in the very least hurting them financially and raising your cost for the real patented parts because some one has to pay the attorney fees. The business owner has no choice but to pass those cost on to the consumer. I personally will not buy a knock off part, I know how hard it is to think up an idea then make the part and then go out and promote that idea it is very difficult, time consuming and very expensive and in fact most startup companies dont turn a profit for five years or more and that is why some people find it easier to sit back and wait for others to come up with good ideas then after the inventor or origanator gets it to be popular the infrigers A.K.A. theives start stealing those ideas and knocking off parts. I dont think most people would buy a knock off if they knew it is a knock off and understood what buying these parts really does as far as hurting the patent owners and there families. so I am glad this movie has been made it will help our industry as well as many others just buy opening peoples eyes to what inventors do go though. Even if you dont care about patents it is a good movie. Go see it and enjoy.

  4. 4 bobfather Oct 30th, 2008 at 7:38 pm

    I’ve seen this same behavior in our own industry and some of the bigger name players are guilty of it. My friend Duncan Keller is constantly having his motor mounts, coil mounts, gauge mounts and coil covers ripped off by some of the bigger names in our industry. He innovated these ideas and now people are ripping him off, sending the work overseas and selling it for a fraction of the price so not only are they guilty of ripping him off but they’re sending jobs overseas.
    I had a bike I built taken and run as a feature in Easyriders magazine by another shop. They claim they built the bike but in reality the entire bike was my design and labor. So much for that biker brotherhood we used to have.
    I agree with Cyril, shame on Ford for doing this. Maybe they didn’t remember how their company was started by a great innovator. Too bad our country has become a society where the big names always seem to win out.

  5. 5 Lyle Oct 31st, 2008 at 9:10 am

    There was a recent magazine cover with a knucklehead chopper on it with a Rocket Intake for a Linkert carb. I am the original designer and maker of these. Unfortunetely people have used my pieces as a foundry pattern and have sold them as “vintage” or “original period pieces.” the spec sheet in the magazine says it’s an original piece from the 50’s. Because of situations like this, I’ve had guys tell me that my own original stuff is a knock off from the 50’s. And there’s guys that have paid over 10x for a phoney that what I get for my originals because they’ve been lied to by ebay sellers. Some of these guys refuse to admit they’ve been duped…..

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Cyril Huze