MARION WATSON - The family enter a historic vehicle run, from John O'Groats to Land's End.

Ruby Lipps is a glitter girl, cosmetics millionaire in the Cannonball Run from John O'Groats to Land's End. She is famous for inventing and perfecting a rouge lipstick, that glitters and is waterproof. Which earns her the name "Red Lips," in the media. A name that stuck, unlike her amazing lip gloss formula. Ruby did not patent her secret, keeping it to herself, so that the cosmetic world could not copy her discovery. She advocates that the patent system as it stands is a rip off device, that assists big business, to the disadvantage of lone entrepreneurs. Her favourite film is "Flash of Genius," about the inventor of the intermittent windscreen wiper for cars; Robert Kearns, who was ripped off by Ford and General Motors, amongst others.

In 1969, Ford debuted a fancy, first-of-its-kind intermittent windshield wiper on its line of Mercury cars.

The wipers, which cost Ford $10 to make and sold for $37, were a hot commodity and were soon adopted by others in the auto industry: By the mid-1970s, Chrysler, General Motors, Saab, Honda, Volvo, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes and dozens of other big-name brands had a version of intermittent wipers on their cars.

All mimicked the exact configuration of Kearns’ device.

For nearly 30 years, Kearns waged an impossible legal battle against one of America’s most powerful companies. In the end, he won millions of dollars — but it cost him his sanity, his marriage, and the remaining years of his life.

Kearns’ story is remembered as one of history’s great David vs. Goliath lawsuits. But it’s also a reminder of the shortcomings of the US (all) patent system(s) for independent inventors.

In January of 1990, Robert W. Kearns, a former professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, won his patent infringement suit against Ford on Monday in federal court. He has filed similar suits against General Motors Corp., Chrysler Corp., Daimler-Benz, Honda, Toyota, Nissan and 21 other companies. The Ford case was the first to go to trial.

Kearns said in his 12-year-old lawsuit that his version of intermittent windshield wipers was unique because of a certain combination of parts. Ford denied that. An eight-member jury sided with Kearns after a week of deliberations. Chrysler was ordered to pay Kearns US$18.7 million with interest. Chrysler appealed the court decision, but the Federal Circuit let the judgment stand. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case. By 1995, after spending over US$10 million in legal fees, Kearns received approximately US$30 million in compensation for Chrysler's patent infringement.

As Kearns waged this slow, agonizing war, his case became less about financial compensation and more about calling out big corporations for stealing intellectual property from inventors.

Ruby was alive to this conundrum. She and her partner, Poppy, proposed challenging the present patent system, with another kind of legal protection, stronger and better than the patent system that drained the brains of inventors the world over.

What Ruby and Popp are proposing is a "Super-NDA" or a Private Intellectual Property Covenant. It effectively shifts protection from the realm of statutory law (government-granted patents) to the realm of contract law (private agreements).

By making the agreement "run with the knowledge"—meaning the liability follows the information even if it moves to a third party—inventors are creating a legal "poison pill" for anyone who handles their trade secrets, with a view to cheating them, as in the Ford case.

Here is a conceptual framework for how such an agreement could be worded and formatted to achieve that "leap" over the traditional system.

THE "COVENANT OF PROPRIETARY KNOWLEDGE" (CPK)

1. The Format

To be effective as an alternative to a patent, this document must be formatted as a Deed rather than a simple contract. In many jurisdictions, a Deed is more robust because it doesn't always require "consideration" (money changing hands) to be binding and often has a longer statute of limitations.

2. Key Clauses & Wording

A. The "Contamination" Clause

This prevents the "I didn't know it was stolen" defense.

"The Receiving Party acknowledges that the Proprietary Information is a 'contaminant.' Any secondary party, subsidiary, or individual who receives this information, whether through authorized disclosure or unauthorized leak, shall be deemed to have constructive notice of this Agreement and shall be bound by its terms as if they were an original signatory."

B. Individual Tortious Liability

This pierces the corporate veil, making the employees themselves scared to steal the idea.

"The individual officers, directors, and employees of the Receiving Party who access the Proprietary Information acknowledge personal, joint, and several tortious liability for any breach. This liability survives the termination of their employment with the Receiving Party."

C. The "Clawback" of Profits

Standard patent cases often just result in a "reasonable royalty." Your agreement would be harsher.

"In the event of a breach, the Disclosing Party is entitled to an immediate injunction and a 'Disgorgement of Profits.' The Receiving Party agrees that 100% of gross revenue derived from products utilizing the Proprietary Information shall be held in constructive trust for the Disclosing Party."

D. The Independent Watchdog (The "Vault")

Instead of the Patent Office, you designate a Private Escrow Agent (like a major law firm or a blockchain-based notary).

"A 'Master Hash' of the technical specifications has been lodged with [Independent CPK Watchdog]. This serves as the definitive 'Date of Origin.' Both parties agree that this record is admissible in any international court as conclusive proof of ownership."

3. Structural Comparison

Disclosure Fully Public (Blueprint provided) Private (Only shared under Seal)
Duration 20 Years (Fixed) Perpetual (As long as secret is kept)
Enforcement Civil Court (Expensive) Arbitration + International Tort Law
Liability Corporate entity only Corporate + Personal (The "Kearns" fix)

The Role of "No-Win, No-Fee" Groups

For this to work, the CPK would need a Litigation Fund. Because the agreement includes a "Disgorgement of Profits" clause, the potential "winnings" for a lawyer are huge. You would essentially be creating a "Bounty" system where law firms are incentivized to hunt down infringers because the contract pre-approves their high fees upon a proven breach.

Is this legally recognized?

Courts generally respect the "Freedom of Contract." If two sophisticated companies sign a document saying "If we leak this, we owe you everything," the court will often uphold it. The challenge is the "Third Party"—the company that buys the stolen secret. Your "Contamination Clause" tries to solve this by making the knowledge "legally radioactive."

THE PARADOXICAL PATENT TRAP

It is a classic paradox: to get the state to protect your idea, you first have to tell the whole world exactly how it works. You’ve hit on the "Patent Trap"—the moment Kearns published his intermittent wiper design, he essentially gave Ford a blueprint while banking on a legal system he couldn't afford to defend for decades.

If innovators are looking to "leap" over the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) framework, there are several alternative strategies that companies use to maintain an edge without the vulnerability of a patent.


1. The "Coca-Cola" Strategy (Trade Secrets)

Instead of a patent, which expires (usually after 20 years) and requires public disclosure, you keep the recipe a Trade Secret.

- The Logic: If no one can reverse-engineer it, your protection lasts forever.

- The Risk: Unlike a patent, if someone else figures it out independently or reverse-engines it legally, you have zero protection. You rely on "Non-Disclosure Agreements" (NDAs) and extreme internal security rather than the courts.


2. First-to-Market & "Speed to Scale"

In the tech world, many companies view patents as "dead paper" because the industry moves faster than the patent office.

The Logic: By the time a competitor steals your idea and manufactures a clone, you should already be on Version 3.0.

The Goal: Brand loyalty and market share. If you become the "generic" name for the product (like Xerox or Google), the patent matters less than the head start.


3. Open Source as a Defensive Shield

Tesla famously did this by "opening" their patents.

- The Logic: If you give away the "how-to," you encourage an entire industry to adopt your standards.

- The Benefit: It prevents competitors from locking you out with their own patents and makes your ecosystem the "default" for the whole world.


4. Technical Obfuscation (The "Black Box")

Some manufacturers use physical "pottants" (hard resins) to encase electronics, or custom-designed chips (ASICs) that are nearly impossible to deconstruct without destroying the evidence. You aren't protected by law; you are protected by the difficulty of the heist.

Is there a "New System" on the horizon?

There is significant talk about Blockchain for Intellectual Property. The idea is a decentralized "Proof of Existence":

- Immutable Timestamping: Instead of a multi-year patent application, you "hash" your idea onto a blockchain.

- The Leap: It doesn't give you a government-enforced monopoly like a patent, but it provides undeniable, unforgeable proof that you had the idea first. This can be used as a "Prior Art" defense to stop others from patenting your own idea and suing you for it.


A Quick Reality Check

The Kearns vs. Ford case is heartbreaking because Kearns was right, but he lacked the "War Chest" to fight. Today, many small inventors use Patent Infringement Insurance or Litigation Funding (where investors pay for your lawsuit in exchange for a cut of the settlement), which helps level the playing field against giants like Ford.

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