Flash of Genius will not win an Oscar. It won't win critics acclaim. Yet, this true story of Robert Kearns (played by Greg Kinnear) and his legal battle against the Detroit automakers, is a winner for the inventor and small business community. The movie provides a cautionary tale for anyone looking how to patent an idea.
Kearns had the flash of genius to create the intermittent windshield wiper. Ford Motor Co. introduced a "similar" technology after meeting with Kearns and dropped the deal with the professor. Despite the lack of support from family, friends and lawyers, Kearns takes on the giant company representing himself in court. Over a decade later, he eventually won his case against Chrysler and Ford and was awarded millions.
With the launch of this movie, Ford decidedly tried to avert the re-birth of a PR nightmare with it's own version of key facts:
"The film “Flash of Genius” chronicles the life story of Bob Kearns, who asserted that he invented the intermittent windshield wiper and sued Ford, Chrysler and other automakers for patent infringement. While films like “Flash of Genius” are made for entertainment purposes, the facts are often less dramatic."
For Bob Kearns, as depicted in the movie, the winning of the lawsuit was less about the money and more about standing up against the big corporation as an inspiration for the inventors before him who were battered and burned.