Robert Kearns was born in 1927 in Gary, Indiana to Martin Kearns and Mary E. O’Hara. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Detroit Mercy, a Master’s in Engineering Mechanics from Wayne State University, and a doctorate in engineering from Case Western Reserve University. Kearns also earned certificates in nuclear reactor control from Argonne National Laboratories.
Kearns served as a Corporal in the U.S. Army in intelligence-related groups and tool manufacturing. He was a member of the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency, during World War II. Prior to joining the army, Kearns worked at Mercury Engineering Company, preparing engineering shop drawings. After World War II, Kearns worked at the H & A Tool and Die Company as a draftsman. In 1957, Kearns joined the faculty of Wayne State University, Department of Engineering Mechanics, as an assistant professor, and was promoted to an associate professor in 1963. In 1963, Kearns established two businesses: the engineering firms of Kearns and Law (1963-1976) and Computer Central (1965-1976).
Kearns credited the invention of the windshield wiper to an incident on his wedding night in 1953. An errant champagne cork shot into his left eye and left him legally blind in that eye. About a decade later, Kearns was driving his Ford Galaxie through a light rain, and the constant movement of the wiper blades irritated his poor vision. Kearns modeled a new style of windshield wipers on the human eye, which blinks every few seconds, rather than continuously. He filed his first patent for the invention on December 1, 1964.
Kearns tried to interest the “Big Three” automakers—General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler—in licensing the technology. However, each company rejected his offer, and then began to install electronic intermittent wipers based on Kearns’ design in their cars. The first car to include the intermittent wiper was the Ford Mercury, in 1969.
By the 1970s, Kearns and his family had moved to Maryland, where Kearns worked for the National Bureau of Standards, creating a standard for measuring skid resistance on roadways. However, the infringement of his patents led to Kearns’ mental distress, and obsession.
Kearns sued Ford for patent infringement in 1978, and refused offers of a settlement in favor of trying the case as his own lawyer. Kearns sought $395 million in damages. Ford’s defense was that Kearns’ invention failed to meet the statutory requirement that patented inventions be “non-obvious,” because the intermittent windshield wiper had no new components and used only “off-the shelf” parts. Kearns rebutted this defense by arguing that his invention was a novel and non-obvious combination of parts.
In 1990, Kearns turned down a $30 million settlement offer. The jury awarded him $5.2 million. Ford agreed to pay $10.2 million rather than face further litigation.
Another suit began against Chrysler, in 1982. Chrysler was represented by Harness, Dickey and Pierce, which was one of the first firms that Kearns had consulted when he considered suing Ford. Kearns tried to have Harness, Dickey and Pierce removed as counsel for Chrysler for conflict of interest, but could not convince his attorneys to move to remove the firm. Subsequently, Kearns represented himself in the case, with help from his family, and he even questioned witnesses on the stand. The Chrysler verdict was also decided in Kearns’ favor in 1992 and Chrysler was ordered to pay $18.7 with interest. Chrysler appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which upheld the district court decision, and the Supreme Court denied certiorari. Kearns received $30 million in compensation from Chrysler.
Kearns would go on to sue Ford, Porsche, Volkswagen, Ferrari, Volvo, Alfa Romeo, Lotus, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault, Rolls-Royce Motors, Saab, Toyota, General Motors, and Mercedes-Benz.
Kearns had six children with his wife Phyllis, but his stress and obsession over his legal battles strained and ultimately fractured his family. He and his wife divorced, and the strain caused distance between him and his children.
After he won the Ford and Chrysler cases, Kearns moved to Maryland’s eastern shore. In the late 1990s, Kearns served on the board of directors of the Veterans of the Office of Strategic Services. Kearns died in 2005 of cancer complicated by Alzheimer’s.
Kearns’ story is dramatized in the 2008 Hollywood movie Flash of Genius, starring Greg Kinnear and Lauren Graham as Robert and Phyllis Kearns, along with Alan Alda, Dermot Mulroney, and Mitch Pileggi.