Society has a curious attitude towards inventors. Their brilliance over the centuries touches all of our lives in countless ways, yet we mostly take their efforts for granted. Indeed, more often than not in Britain we caricature them as eccentric boffins, like Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. This ambivalence is a mistake; to me, they are perhaps the greatest heroes of all.
It is a great shame that so much innovation now seems to stem from nameless teams inside large corporations. The whole idea of technological progress had so much more personality in the era of giants like Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison. There are too few such inspirational figures around today to dazzle and excite. Perhaps the solitary ideas of one man (or woman) are not enough to produce real technological progress in the 21st century.
Yet the spirit of independent innovation springs eternal. I recently saw Flash of Genius, a movie based on an article (also now a book) by John Seabrook. It tells the true story of Bob Kearns, the professor who pioneered the intermittent windscreen wiper for cars. He showed it to the Ford Motor Company in 1969, but subsequently entered into interminable litigation with it, almost reminiscent of Jarndyce and Jarndyce in Charles Dickens' Bleak House. More than 20 years later, he settled for $10.2m, but only after his legal actions had taken over his life.
Unfortunately, it appears patent infringement and suchlike is a fact of life for inventors. Sir James Dyson, the inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner, talks in his autobiography Against The Odds – and subsequently – about various lawsuits against both Hoover and Amway. Knowledge of patent law and persistence bordering on the obsessive seem useful attributes if you want to be a successful inventor.
The subject of intellectual property and its protection is a contentious one. Industries like the pharmaceutical trade exist thanks to laws that allow them to enjoy temporary monopolies for original drugs. Vast, long-term research and development expenditure can only be recouped because of this complex system. But some would argue that charging high prices (which often bear no relation to the cost of production) for life-saving treatments is immoral. Certainly, the juicy profits enjoyed by big pharma in the US are part of the reason that healthcare costs there are so high. Yet we are all beneficiaries of their discoveries and formulations. I believe in freedom for enterprise, but I also think entrepreneurs must be allowed to reap the just rewards for their efforts.
Moreover, it is clear that some abuse the patent system to prevent progress. Too many patents are now issued, many of dubious merit – especially in the field of software patents. Patent trolls are those who file “paper patents” or “submarine patents” that they never intend to exploit, but merely use as tools to sue unwitting infringers. Both Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, and more recently Microsoft have suffered from this type of behaviour, which acts as a harmful toll on endeavour.
Inventors I have met are fundamentally motivated by a desire to see their creations become appreciated and recognised, rather than an urge to accumulate wealth.
Tim Berners-Lee, the man responsible more than any other for the initiation of the world wide web, is a classic example of this attitude. He is a modest academic who has, I am sure, resisted countless overtures to make huge fortunes from the web, in order to carry on his role as one of its custodians.
Some inventors are almost dismissive of accountants and bankers – they say the money men do not understand the way creative minds work. Yet inventors must have a deeply practical streak: they need to think of ways to fabricate new things. They should be a combination of artist and engineer: with the vision to imagine a new device, and the ability to make it come to life.
We need inventors more than ever if we are to improve the world. From a cure to Alzheimer's to better car batteries, there are thousands of urgent problems that need solving. History suggests the magical combination of technology, capitalism and brains is capable of meeting every challenge – despite the doubts of the pessimists.
