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Letter to the Editor
Thursday January 3
European Parliament Adopts Repair Clause
The European Parliament voted in December in favor of the Commission-proposed Repair Clause. The adoption of this clause by the European Parliament as a whole and the Council of Ministers, as recommended by the Legal Affairs Committee, aims to ensure the European Union (EU) as a whole joins Australia, Belgium, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the U.K. in ascribing to free competition in the replacement automotive parts market.The intent of the new directive is to strike a balance between protecting intellectual property and ensuring free competition by creating a limited design patent exception for spare parts intended to restore the original appearance of complex products, including automobiles.
“I commend the decision in the European Union to protect and promote competition in the replacement automotive parts market in the EU,” said Eileen Sottile, executive director of the Quality Parts Coalition (QPC) in the U.S. “As we work to incorporate a ‘repair clause’ in the U.S. design patent law, we strive to join the EU and the long list of countries that have already voted to promote competition — the foundation of U.S. business — in the replacement collision parts industry.”
The number of design patents awarded to the major automobile manufacturers in the United States has dramatically increased during the past five years, representing approximately 20 to 25 percent of the total U.S. patents awarded to those manufacturers. Collision parts account for 50 to 93 percent of the U.S. design patents awarded to the car companies. Without a permanent solution, such as a “repair clause,” automaker design patent cases could possibly eliminate the entire alternative replacement collision parts industry, thus removing competition in the marketplace, according to a QPC press release.
The QPC, which represents the interests of the independent parts industry, the repair industry, the insurance industry and consumers, is asking Congress to establish a repair clause in U.S. design patent law. Like the directive approved in Parliament, the amendment would specify that the making and use of a matching exterior auto part for purposes of repair to a vehicle is not an act of infringement.
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