Intermittent Wipers Won Kearns Millions

In 1963, American inventor Robert Kearns demonstrated his intermittent windshield wiper to Ford, hoping to supply the technology to the automotive industry. Ford initially told him that his invention would appear on the 1969 Mercury line, but it later dismissed him and claimed its engineers had developed their own system. Ford introduced an electronic intermittent wiper in 1969, followed by General Motors in 1974 and Chrysler in 1977, prompting Kearns to sue Ford for patent infringement in 1978. After a 12-year court fight, he settled with Ford for $10.2 million, then represented himself against Chrysler and won about $11.5 million plus interest.

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