Brazilian motorcyclist hits the road to stake claim on invention
Paulo Roberto Vieira stumbled into the Brazilian consulate, bedraggled, nearly broke, and at the end of his rope.
Dressed in a battered black leather jacket and scuffed black jeans, he told consular officials an almost unbelievable story: He had ridden his motorcycle from his home town in southern Brazil to Washington, an 18,000-mile quest for official recognition of his life’s proudest work, an automobile accessory he said he invented.
Vieira’s arrival last month ended an odyssey that wound through 11 countries, and it illustrates Washington’s enduring power as a magnet for ordinary people who think the answer to their prayers can be found in what’s seen as the capital of the free world.
Standing next to his Honda CG150 Titan several days later, Vieira, gaunt and looking weary, recounted in his native Portuguese his four-month journey.
He described how he rode for more than 1,900 miles on mostly unpaved roads through the Amazon. How a delay in obtaining a US visa forced him to traverse Mexico three times before crossing into Texas. How he hoped for sweet justice in the US capital, perhaps even from the president.
“I decided to come here because Washington is where things get done,’’ he said.
Vieira, 58, followed a well-worn pattern of travel to Washington. Over the years, people have traveled to the city to seek redress for grievances great and small.
Washington was not the endpoint Vieira had in mind in June when he left his home town of Campinas, an industrial city about 60 miles northwest of Sao Paulo. He said the trip sprang from his decades working as a motorcycle mechanic.
Vieira developed a device in the mid-1990s that detects low tire pressure in vehicles and alerts drivers with an alarm. He registered a patent for it in Brazil in 1999. Since then, he has waged a battle for international validation of his rights as the inventor, particularly in the United States, where a similar accessory is made under a US patent. His goal is to open a factory in Brazil to produce the alarm.
The patent fight led him to leave Campinas on June 25 for Brasilia, where he hoped his government could solve his problem. But after several fruitless days sparring with bureaucrats, Vieira decided there was only one place to go: Washington.
Over the course of his trip, Vieira said, he went through two wheel rims, four tires, and 250 gallons of fuel. By the time Vieira dismounted in the District of Columbia on Oct. 28, he was down to his last few dollars.
Knowing no English and having no contacts in the city, he turned to the Brazilian consulate. After leafing through his passport and verifying his story with family members back home, consular officials fed him lunch, and spotted Vieira money to cover a day or two of living expenses.
Vieira got a money transfer from home. But a big problem remained: He had no plan.
Vieira had not set up any meetings with government officials. He had no one to help him wade through US business law. And the consulate was not authorized to wade into a battle over intellectual property.
So Vieira made a liberating, yet agonizing, decision: He set aside his patent quest and declared victory, at least temporarily.
Source: Brazilian motorcyclist hits the road to stake claim on invention
Dressed in a battered black leather jacket and scuffed black jeans, he told consular officials an almost unbelievable story: He had ridden his motorcycle from his home town in southern Brazil to Washington, an 18,000-mile quest for official recognition of his life’s proudest work, an automobile accessory he said he invented.
Vieira’s arrival last month ended an odyssey that wound through 11 countries, and it illustrates Washington’s enduring power as a magnet for ordinary people who think the answer to their prayers can be found in what’s seen as the capital of the free world.
Standing next to his Honda CG150 Titan several days later, Vieira, gaunt and looking weary, recounted in his native Portuguese his four-month journey.
He described how he rode for more than 1,900 miles on mostly unpaved roads through the Amazon. How a delay in obtaining a US visa forced him to traverse Mexico three times before crossing into Texas. How he hoped for sweet justice in the US capital, perhaps even from the president.
“I decided to come here because Washington is where things get done,’’ he said.
Vieira, 58, followed a well-worn pattern of travel to Washington. Over the years, people have traveled to the city to seek redress for grievances great and small.
Washington was not the endpoint Vieira had in mind in June when he left his home town of Campinas, an industrial city about 60 miles northwest of Sao Paulo. He said the trip sprang from his decades working as a motorcycle mechanic.
Vieira developed a device in the mid-1990s that detects low tire pressure in vehicles and alerts drivers with an alarm. He registered a patent for it in Brazil in 1999. Since then, he has waged a battle for international validation of his rights as the inventor, particularly in the United States, where a similar accessory is made under a US patent. His goal is to open a factory in Brazil to produce the alarm.
The patent fight led him to leave Campinas on June 25 for Brasilia, where he hoped his government could solve his problem. But after several fruitless days sparring with bureaucrats, Vieira decided there was only one place to go: Washington.
Over the course of his trip, Vieira said, he went through two wheel rims, four tires, and 250 gallons of fuel. By the time Vieira dismounted in the District of Columbia on Oct. 28, he was down to his last few dollars.
Knowing no English and having no contacts in the city, he turned to the Brazilian consulate. After leafing through his passport and verifying his story with family members back home, consular officials fed him lunch, and spotted Vieira money to cover a day or two of living expenses.
Vieira got a money transfer from home. But a big problem remained: He had no plan.
Vieira had not set up any meetings with government officials. He had no one to help him wade through US business law. And the consulate was not authorized to wade into a battle over intellectual property.
So Vieira made a liberating, yet agonizing, decision: He set aside his patent quest and declared victory, at least temporarily.
Source: Brazilian motorcyclist hits the road to stake claim on invention
