Press Releases
DECEMBER 12, 2007
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Luke Lewis
(800) 353-1274
European Parliament Moves Forward in Adopting Repair Clause
Quality Parts Coalition: U.S. Design Patent Law Should Follow Suit to Ensure Competition
in the Collision Replacement Parts Industry
Washington, DC — The European Parliament today voted in favor of the Commission-proposed Repair Clause. The adoption of this clause by the European Parliament, as recommended by the Legal Affairs Committee, will ensure the European Union moves to join Australia, Belgium, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the U.K. in ascribing to free competition in the collision replacement parts industry.
The new directive would 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 Parliament to protect and promote competition in the collision replacement parts industry in the EU and urge the Council of Ministers to unify law in the EU by finalizing the adoption of the Repair Clause,” said Eileen Sottile, executive director of the Quality Parts Coalition (QPC). “As we work to incorporate a ‘repair clause’ in the U.S. design patent law, we strive to join the long list of countries that have already voted to promote competition—the foundation of U.S. business—in the collision replacement 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 eliminate the entire alternative collision replacement parts industry, thus removing competition in the marketplace.
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.
For more information, visit www.qualitypartscoalition.com
The Quality Parts Coalition represents the interests of the independent parts industry, the repair industry, the insurance industry and consumers. It is the goal of the Quality Parts Coalition to develop and secure a permanent legislative change to U.S. design patent law to preserve competition and to protect the consumer’s right to benefit from quality, lower-cost alternative replacement parts.