ABRA Auto Body & Glass (ABRA) has joined the Quality Parts Coalition’s (QPC) list of supporters. ABRA joins the QPC to advance the coalition’s goal to pass automotive “repair clause” legislation, which would create an exemption for design patent infringement liability for component parts used to repair automobiles and other articles of manufacture.
The QPC believes OEMs are attempting to stifle competition and drive up the prices of auto parts and notes that the number of design patents held by the car companies has more than doubled since 2005, when Ford Global Technologies (“Ford”) first attempt to enforced the 14-year design patents on seven collision replacement parts for the 2004 Ford F-150 through a complaint at the International Trade Commission (ITC).
“Higher parts prices will force insurance companies to declare more vehicles as ‘total wrecks,’ resulting in a great loss of business for the repair industry,” said Eileen A. Sottile, executive director, QPC. “More expensive collision parts benefit the car companies – not repair shops and certainly not consumers.”
In 2008, Ford filed another design patent enforcement complaint at the ITC, this time for replacement parts on the 2005 Ford Mustang, and the QPC says a ruling upholding the design patents will adversely affect the bottom lines of repair shops around the country.
“The QPC is fighting for the rights of the American consumer and for the livelihood of the auto repair industry in the U.S.,” said Tim Adelmann, executive vice president of business development, ABRA. “We at ABRA recognize the repair business will suffer if car companies gain a monopoly in the crash parts market. For this reason, we are dedicated to securing a permanent legislative change in 2009.”
In 2008, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA-16) introduced legislation (H.R. 5638), co-sponsored by seven members of Congress, that would create a design patent exemption for repair parts. The legislation did not pass, but the QPC says it’s committed to presenting the issue to the 111th Congress.
For more information, visit www.abraauto.com and www.qualitypartscoalition.com. Click HERE to read more about Ford’s ITC complaint and repair clause legislation.
