After a slew of patent violation charges filed against Taiwanese aftermarket auto parts manufacturers, industry leaders and legislators are calling for a “right to repair” clause to be added to the Patent Act (專利法).
Speaking at a legislative hearing yesterday, makers of automotive lighting and other aftermarket auto parts said such a clause is necessary to “create an open and fair environment” for Taiwan’s 3,400 aftermarket auto parts makers, including 52 publicly traded companies such as Depo Auto Parts Industry Co (帝寶工業).
Depo has since 2019 been in a legal dispute with German automaker Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz AG, which claims that Depo’s aftermarket automotive lights infringe on one of its design patents.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
“We advocate an amendment to the law that balances the rights of the automakers, while also protecting Taiwanese makers,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) said. “There should be a time limit, after which the ‘right to repair’ returns to consumers.”
The aftermarket auto parts market is worth about NT$20 million in sales a year and concerns the livelihoods of 150,000 Taiwanese families, Hu Shan Autoparts Inc (虎山實業) chief executive officer Y.C. Chen (陳映志) said.
“A fair amendment to the law would create a competitive market and prevent automakers from monopolizing the after-sales repair business,” Chen said.
Taiwan dominates the non-glass aftermarket auto parts market, with 90 percent of aftermarket rear bumpers and 70 percent of aftermarket automotive lighting worldwide made in Taiwan, he said.
The “right to repair” laws currently protect replacement parts in Europe and the US, although they are frequently challenged in court.
“Taiwan’s aftermarket parts manufacturers put a lot of effort into making parts that are even better than the original manufacturers,” the Central News Agency quoted an industry insider as saying. “As a leading nation in the aftermarket auto parts market, we should follow the lead of the US and the EU in upholding the right to repair.”
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