RELATED STORIES
Ford Motor Co. has asked a panel of judges to uphold a ban on imports of parts for the Ford F-150 truck that were found to violate the company’s design patents.
A lawyer for Ford told a panel of judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit last week that American jobs will be lost from plants in Michigan and Indiana if the imports are allowed. LKQ Corp.'s Keystone Automotive Industries unit is seeking to overturn the International Trade Commission (ITC) ruling to block the importation of certain parts on the model year 2004 to 2007 F-150s.
But Ford introduced the F-150 and its parts years before filing design patents, according to an attorney for the parts maker. That put those parts in the public domain, he said.
The Quality Parts Coalition (QPC) said Ford and other automakers are patenting the designs to eliminate aftermarket parts competition and secure a monopoly on collision replacement parts. U.S. vehicle owners would pay as much as 60 percent less for replacement parts if the aftermarket import parts were allowed, according to Eileen Sottile, executive director of QPC and a vice president of Keystone.
Ford has a second complaint pending before the ITC, which seeks to block imports of replacement parts for its Mustang. Ford said LKQ and other companies copied its patented designs on the performance car.
In Dec. 2005, Ford filed a complaint with the ITC, alleging that certain collision parts manufacturers and distributors had infringed on 14 parts for the Ford F-150. In June 2006, the ITC issued a general exclusion order on seven of those 14 parts, effectively eliminating the use of anything but Ford parts on the Ford F-150.
Since 2005, the number of design patents (granted to those who invent a new, original and ornamental design for an article of manufacture) held by the car companies has more than doubled. Design patents now account for about 20 percent to 25 percent of the total U.S. patents awarded to those manufacturers, according to QPC.
In the 110th Congress, California Rep. Zoe Lofgren introduced H.R. 5638, a “repair clause” that struck a balance between protecting intellectual property and ensuring free competition by creating a limited design patent exception for collision repair parts. Seven co-sponsors joined Rep. Lofgren.
The European Union is in the process of adopting a similar design directive.
