Bright ideas go unrewarded
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`Published 24 May 2012 00:01, Updated 25 May 2012 14:49
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`Counter culture: Ric Richardson says the lack of reward retards invention Photo: Naz Mulla
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`Few inventors have made it onto the BRWRich 200, however useful or appealing their inventions.
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`The Hill-Ling family invented and manufactured the Hills Hoist and have featured in the Rich 200 eight times. Their
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`wealth peaked at $70 million and was sustained because the family diversified into producing television antennas,
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`among other things.
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`In the early 1970s, Ralph Sarich invented the orbital engine which had the potential to transform the automotive
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`industry. It had modest commercial success but he sold out in 1992 to go into property development, which has
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`proved far more lucrative.
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`Mike O’Dwyer is one of the few other inventors to make the list. The former Wooloworths store manager envisaged a
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`super rapid-fire gun in the 1960s but did not take out a patent until 1993. He raised seed capital in 1996 and floated
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`Metal Storm in 1999 with backing from the Australian and Unites States defence departments. His shareholding was
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`once worth $235 million but difficulties with commercialisation dramatically reduced his wealth. Metal Storm’s
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`market capitalisation is now about $9 million.
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`The record of the Rich 200 suggests that invention is not the way to get rich and Australia’s most prolific inventor, Ric
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`Richardson, is not surprised. His inventing has been lucrative but even he has not made it onto the Rich 200.
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`His inventions number in the hundreds and one led to a half-billion dollar settlement from technology giant Microsoft
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`— a story that began in 1992 when the Byron Bay-based inventor took out a patent for the anti-piracy software he
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`developed for his computer security company Uniloc.
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`In 1999, he took Microsoft to court for infringing this patent. In April 2009, a US court ordered Microsoft to pay
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`compensation of $US388 million (then worth $530 million) for using the technology without his knowledge or
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`permission. It was one of the biggest damages awards in US patent history but the verdict was overturned five months
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`later. Richardson successfully appealed and damages were due to be re-assessed. Then, earlier this year, the parties
`settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
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`Patent Owner Ex. 2001 Page 1
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`Patent Owner Ex. 2001 Page 1
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`Richardson is not motivated by wealth and is believed to have donated large sums to charity. He once said that no one
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`should keep a fortune any bigger than $10 million. He now spends his time mentoring inventors and consulting.
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`“It’s rare to reap significant financial rewards for invention in Australia,” he says. “We don’t like to stick our necks out
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`to try and make ourselves look special. Even the idea of having a patent in your name is countercultural.”
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`Just how much the Australian culture stymies individuals seeking monetary reward for their inventions was obvious
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`to Richardson when he returned to Australia after 12 years living in the US.
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`“Here we get bored with celebrating a grand final win after a few days,” he says. “In the US they’ll wear a signet ring
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`from winning a football game in college 20 years ago and still talk about it.
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`“They celebrate people going out on a limb and a lot of investors are happy to lose money so long as they were part of
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`an exciting project. You don’t need to be making money — you just need to prove that what you’re doing is popular or
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`of interest to another company.”
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`Unlike some Americans, Richardson says local inventors are driven more by a desire to solve practical problems than
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`the chance to make a mountain of money. Even so, it is a source of frustration that so few are rewarded richly for their
`efforts.
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`“Invention is not the issue here,” he says. “Making money is.”
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`This became clear to him during a conversation he had with John O’Sullivan, who invented wireless internet at the
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`CSIRO. Richardson asked if the CSIRO had looked after him financially. “He said not really but he’s had a very
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`comfortable contracting situation since the sale,” he says. “Which is great but the fact of the matter is that getting no
`reward at all is a shame. It retards invention.”
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`Few inventors can negotiate the long and precarious pathway from developing an idea, taking it to market and
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`running a commercial entity. This is in part because the characteristics of a successful inventor are very different from
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`those of an astute business operator.
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`“I love being around inventors because they’re passionate and being around them is so invigorating,” Richardson says.
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`“But at the same time most are so far from being a successful business person that they need to team up with a
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`professional. I hate breaking that news to them but I can with authority because I’m in the exact same situation.”
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`It’s why he spends his time finding business partners for inventors. “It’s funny to think that the key to success is to
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`find someone else but it’s true,” he says. “It’s a waste of time and effort for an inventor to think that he or she can learn
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`the commercial process and pull it off on their own.”
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