The Quality Parts Coalition (QPC) is accusing the Automotive Service Association (ASA) of spreading misinformation about the Access to Repair Parts Act (H.R. 3059/S.1368).
The legislation, currently under consideration by the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, would amend U.S. patent code so that it wouldn’t be an act of design patent infringement to manufacture or distribute alternative repair parts for the purpose of repairing a vehicle to its original appearance.
Last week, ASA issued a press release stating its opposition to the legislation, which the group claims makes no assurances for the quality and safety of non-OEM parts and would deny businesses the ability to rightfully protect their intellectual property.
Pat Felder, a member of the QPC Board of Directors, issued the following statement in response:
“The Automotive Service Association (ASA) got it wrong last week.
In a press release dated Feb. 25, ASA claimed that the Access to Repair Parts Act ‘would deny businesses the ability to rightfully protect their intellectual property.’ This is simply not true. The identical bills, H.R. 3059 and S.1368, strike a balance between protecting intellectual property and ensuring free competition by creating a very limited exception from design patent infringement for collision repair parts needed to restore vehicles to their original appearance. This legislation would still permit car companies to secure design patents on collision parts and enforce them against competing car companies to prevent them from copying one another’s vehicle designs in the primary market.
Moreover, by opposing the legislation, ASA has abandoned the thousands of small businesses it represents – and departed from its stated legislative objective, which currently appears on its very own Web site, issued for the 111th Congress: ‘ASA opposes granting vehicle manufacturers monopoly copyright or patent rights on sheet metal parts or design patents on the shapes of other OE parts.’
ASA’s recent statements inaccurately depict the scope of the Access to Repair Parts Act. The bill, introduced by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), addresses the danger posed by car companies’ increasing use of design patents to eliminate competitive choice in the alternative collision parts market. The Quality Parts Coalition, which counts among its 80-plus members and diverse network supporting the legislation the nation’s consumer groups, senior citizens, representatives of the collision repair industry and the largest insurance trade associations and companies, is an ardent supporter of H.R. 3059/S.1368.
We applaud Rep. Lofgren, Sen. Whitehouse and their cosponsors for spearheading an effort that will end the predatory practice of eliminating competition and consumer choice through restrictive 14-year design patents and ensure that aftermarket-related businesses and the jobs they create continue to flourish. We have a hard time believing that ASA – which purports to represent small businesses across the nation – would disagree with that. Unfortunately, perhaps it is the case that ASA has aligned itself with the car company lobby.”
ASA, along with other associations, wrote a letter in 2009 opposing the bill.
In the Nov. 18, 2009 letter to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, signors said: "Manufacturers of unlicensed automobile parts have to meet only one basic threshold, to produce a copy that looks similar to an original part. Those who produce such parts incur no costs attributable to original design, research and development and most importantly, product safety testing. Accordingly, the manufacturer of the original product for whom such unlicensed replacement parts are made does not know how these parts will perform and how their use will impact the quality and integrity of the original product. Automotive collision repairers are very concerned about the quality of replacement crash parts. Permitting this intellectual property infringement also exposes consumers to significant safety, performance or durability risks."
More information:
• Quality Parts Coalition
• ASA’s legislative Web site, Taking the Hill
• U.S. House May Soon Consider Crash Part Patent Bill
