Last year, General Motors legal counsel Angela Caligiuri sent a letter to aftermarket auto parts company LKQ, asking it to stop selling certain replacement parts that the automaker alleged infringed upon various design patents it owned.
Now, LKQ has filed a lawsuit against GM, claiming it had licensed the replacement parts from the automaker and “had been paying royalties under the DPLA for such parts,” thereby allowing it to continue selling them through online parts distributor CCC.
Among the parts that GM alleges LKQ is selling without a license is a replacement hood for the 2017-present GMC Acadia, a replacement grille for the 2017-2019 GMC Acadia and a hood for the 2017-present Chevrolet Trax. LKQ says it paid royalties to General Motors for both the Acadia hood and grille, while the Trax hood it is selling is too different from the factory hood to be considered a design infringement.
2019 Chevrolet Trax
LKQ also says the patents for other GM replacement parts it produces, including a lower grille for the 2017-2019 Cadillac XT5, a hood for the 2018-2020 Buick Regal and a bezel grille for the 2019-present Chevrolet Camaro should be thrown out altogether as they “purport to cover unpatentable subject matter.”
LKQ also recently filed a number of post-grant reviews on GM patents with the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board, suggesting the company is looking to have other General Motors design patents thrown out as well. PTAB denied these requests, which included review requests for patents of truck rear bumpers and tailgates and a Chevrolet Blazer front fascia. A number of different GM-LQK cases also now stand before PTAB, according to vehicle repair publication Repairer Driven News.
RDN reached out to GM for comment on the matter, but it did not return the request. We’ll keep tabs on this lawsuit as it progresses through the courts in the coming months.
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Comments
We all know that auto repairs can be stressful. However, once they are completed and we are back to driving, we don’t want to have to worry that the repair parts are faulty or defective. Everyone involved with the auto repair needs to pull their weight. That starts with the producers of the repair parts and ends with the mechanics. http://www.ShiffletAutoCare.com
My family own NJ’s oldest auto body repair shop and aftermarket parts can be the biggest pieces of crap. Even in my Design of Mechanical components course in college I learned that parts made from different materials react differently to stress and strain. Plenty of aftermarket components are made from alternative cheaper materials to save costs and sometimes do not fit a vehicle well like an OEM part. Fixing with OEM parts is always better unless there is no other option, for long term durability and sometimes safety.
This sounds like what Bill Clinton would describe as is is; LKQ may have license to make specific items except the items they make need to be absolutely 100-percent identical to what is sold by General Motors as any change and alteration to the basic design would require a new agreement.
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LKQ has sent me 3 defective rebuilt engines for my Suzuki XL7……….now they wont stand behind the latest one installed. The first two engines needed to be REPLACED ..they couldnt be REPAIRED……i feel each REPLACEMENT engine should have come with it s own 12/12 warranty…but LKQ says no. Now the 3rd engine is shot and they wont replace it because they say the original 12/12 warranty on the FIRST engine has expired…..and they dont care that they sent me 3 defective engines and all the stress ive gone through in just over a year caused by their shady dealings….anyone know how i can sue them?
I am dealing with the exact same problem. Have been waiting forthe third engine. Its been 18 months. First two engines never made it out if the shop. The customer service is absolutely terrible. I wish there was a way to start a class action against this company.
hey jesse…..i really do hope something can be done to hold lkq responsible.