WASHINGTON - The Quality Parts Coalition (QPC) along with consumer and other aftermarket groups may be making some progress in their efforts to stop automakers from attaching design patents to popular collision replacement parts. In Feb., these groups and automakers appeared before the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property to discuss the growing movement among vehicle makers to file for these patents, which give them exclusive right to replacement part designs for 14 years.
On March 13, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., introduced legislation (H.R. 5638) that would effectively remove infringement liability for manufacturers and sellers of component parts used in the repair of automobiles and other patented articles of manufacture. The proposed legislation would create an exemption from infringement liability in the Patent Act, 35 U.S.C., Section 271, to include any offer to sell, use or import any “component part of another article of manufacture,” if that the component part is used only to restore the “original appearance” of a manufactured article. The bill would retain the patent of the entire vehicle.
The “repair exemption” created by H.R. 5638 is similar to laws in place several other countries, including Australia and the European Union, that ensure competition for car owners in the collision repair market.
The QPC and others argue that, by pursing design patents, automakers raise collision repair costs and give consumers fewer buying options for their vehicles. These groups also say this trend threatens to cost U.S companies thousands of jobs in the automotive aftermarket. Automakers argue they are protecting their investments in parts they spend billions of dollars designing and building.
