A decision in favor of GM regarding design patents and aftermarket parts was just overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., which handles patent and trademark cases as well as a range of other specialized legal topics.
The decision will make it notably more difficult for GM and other OEMs to defend patents on vehicle parts, and possibly expanding the opportunities for third-party component makers to produce replacement parts, according to an article from Automotive News.Â
2020 Chevrolet Equinox Showing Front Fender Area
The Federal Circuit sided with GM last year when the automaker threatened to launch an infringement suit against aftermarket parts and accessories company LKQ Corporation. LKQ had a licensing agreement with The General to produce replacement front fenders for the 2018 through 2020 Chevy Equinox crossover.
This agreement expired, but LKQ’s lawyers argued it should be able to continue producing the component because it is nearly identical to the front fender of the 2010 Hyundai Tucson and another patented fender labeled “Lian.” They argued this makes the fender an “obvious” design that is ineligible for patent protection.
2010 Hyundai Tucson Showing Front Fender Area
Now, the Circuit has sided with LKQ in a unanimous decision that sets a fresh precedent for auto part design patents. The Rosen-Durling test, used until now to determine if a component is ineligible for design patent protection, has been discarded. Previous products now only need to be similar, not identical, to invalidate design patents.
LKQ general counsel Matthew McKay said the Rosen-Durling test enabled big automakers “to seize monopolies for designs of repair parts that were only trivially different from what came before.” He added that the new ruling “is a critical first step to ensuring consumers have a range of safe, quality options when making vehicle repairs.”
The new ruling won’t eliminate patent infringement suits for aftermarket repair and replacement parts, whether by GM or other automakers. It will, however, make it easier for component manufacturers to defend against such suits, with the looser utility-patent standards now applied to design patents as well.
The decision is part of a widespread initiative to boost competitiveness in the auto parts space to give vehicle owners a wider selection of available repair parts and potentially lowered component prices thanks to competition.
Last year, in a similar vein, California Republican Congressman Daniel Issa advanced a bill calling for the design patent term on collision repair components to be slashed from the current 14 years to 2.5 years.
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Comment
Good.
Maybe aftermarket companies will now be free to build critical replacement components, like modules.
Loss of a module in an older vehicle could render it unusable.
Without replacements, the owner has no other choice than to part out or scrap the vehicle.
Additionally, the law dictating how many years automakers need to make replacement parts available needs to be lengthened.
It’s 10 years now. But people are keeping cars a LOT longer than 10 years nowadays. Replacement parts should be available for no less than 20 years.