EARS to a great invention

Name: Chris Bosua

Business: BGM innovations

Industry: Mechanical engineering

IP smart since: November 2006

The creation of a system that converts an ordinary compressor into one of almost double the capacity may be lost on the uninitiated.

However, this Australian invention is causing excitement across the world. Melbourne’s Chris Bosua, a trained mechanic, is the man responsible for the brainwave.

“Having operated businesses that rely on the use of air compressors and tools, I became aware of the wasted energy these machines generated,” he says. “Compressed air is used in almost all major industries from woodworking to automotive and it’s extremely inefficient, with 95 per cent of the energy wasted into the atmosphere.”

Bosua used his mechanical engineering skills to develop a way of harvesting this wasted energy. The result is his exhausted air recycling system, or EARS.

EARS sends air straight back to the compressor, much like a hydraulic tool. The pressurised air, once in the compressor, is converted back into energy, resulting in significant savings in power and environmental costs.

The system comprises fittings and attachments that work by tapping into the exhaust port of the air tool and redirecting it into the EARS manifold. It also dramatically reduces noise and removes hazardous fumes from the workspace.

Bosua seems to be on a winner – EARS was the overall series champion on ABC Television’s The New Inventors in 2006. It was also a finalist in Innovic’s 2006 Next Big Thing award and the system won US-based Motor magazine’s Top 20 Tool Award.

They are fitting tributes to a success story that began in the early 1990s when Bosua was 19, running his own business importing and fitting motors and gearboxes. Twelve years into the business he had an accident, and decided to redirect his energy into EARS.

Bosua set up EARS with business partner, Robert McInnes, an accountant with more than 30 years’ experience in manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing. They had worked together for about three years in compressor retailing and installations.

EARS started as a public company, Global Ears Limited, which has raised finance through a small-scale share offering, limiting the number of shareholders to 20 in a 12-month period.

Three months after a rough prototype of the EARS system was tested, Bosua and McInnes applied for a provisional patent, which gave them a year to further test and modify their design.

In August 2005, they took EARS to the United States to discuss the invention with 20 senior managers from one of the largest compressor manufacturers. The meeting was a success, and a full system of EARS was installed in the company’s R&D facility.

To keep both parties protected, the US company prepared confidentiality agreements, and Bosua also contacted other potential US distributors, who signed also confidentiality agreements and had access to the provisional EARS patent.

There were some cultural and legal hitches, however.

“Some US lawyers seemed to be unfamiliar with a provisional patent and felt it was too broadly written,” Bosua says. “They also repeatedly asked for more ‘prior art’ searches.”

Bosua says his patent attorney has been helpful in specifying the product so that it is broad enough and difficult to infringe, yet does not conflict with the prior art.

“As yet, no one has tried to infringe the patent or use the EARS name,” he says. “We regard the EARS name as very important and have applied for trade mark registrations in Australia, the US, Europe under the Madrid Protocol and other individual countries.”

EARS also met legal challenges in Germany. In November 2005, a German compressor manufacturer sent an engineer to Australia to test the system and took the product and information back to Germany for testing over a six-month period.

“Confidentiality agreements were signed and our provisional application was proved,” Bosua says of that experience. “The lawyers in Germany also stated that the provisional patent was too broad and did prior art searches themselves for Europe. They came back to us with what they thought was a similar patented product, however, we were able demonstrate that it was based on different principles. We also conducted an international search through the IP Australia, however this found no further prior art.”

The legal hurdles had finally been resolved.

“In total we found four prior art pieces and worked with our patent attorney to draft our final patent application, which showed that our design was unique. We included the prior art searches with our application. In November 2006, we were granted a patent through the PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty).”

Bosua has now made visits to the US, Europe and Asia and appointed retro-fit agents in those regions, with a view to continuing the march of EARS around the globe.

“The company’s business will continue to be focused on the global market, with 90 per cent of revenue generated from overseas royalties and license fees. Volume production has commenced in our associate’s factory in Taiwan, whereas specialist products and R&D will continue to be produced in Victoria,” he says.