Association.[1] This model legislation would require manufacturers of digital electronic equipment[2] to make available to any independent repair provider, or to the owner of digital electronic equipment manufactured by or on behalf of, or sold by, the manufacturer, on fair and reasonable terms, documentation, parts, and tools, inclusive of any updates to information or embedded software. A manufacturer would only need to make parts available to independent repair providers and owners if the part was available to the manufacturer’s authorized repair networks.
The model legislation also requires a manufacturer to make available to the owner and to independent repair providers, on fair and reasonable terms, any special documentation, tools, and parts needed to reset an electronic security lock or other security-related function when equipment has been disabled during the course of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair.[3]
The model legislation explicitly states that it should not be construed to require a manufacturer to divulge a trade secret to an owner or an independent service provider except as necessary to provide, on fair and reasonable terms, documentation, parts, and tools. The model further states that the legislation should not be construed to require a manufacturer or an authorized repair provider to give to an owner or independent repair provider access to information, other than documentation, that is provided by the manufacturer to an authorized repair provider.[4]
- 2.The European Approach
The European Union has adopted a number of regulations aimed at increasing consumer repair options in the home appliance industry, which went into effect on March 1, 2021. Unlike the model state legislation, which would require a manufacturer to make available to individuals and independent repair shops those parts that the manufacturer provides to its authorized repair network, the EU prescribes the types of parts and time period during which the parts must be made available:
- Refrigerators for a minimum of seven years (ten years for door gaskets)[5];
- ↑ In this report we analyze the version of the Repair Association’s model right to repair legislation existing at the time of the Workshop. Model State Right-to-Repair Law, www.repair.org (saved Nov. 18, 2019).
- ↑ The model legislation defines “digital electronic equipment” to mean “any product that depends for its functioning, in whole or in part, on digital electronics embedded in or attached to the product.”
- ↑ The model legislation would require a manufacturer to make documentation, parts and tools available “to any independent repair provider, or to the owner,” while any special documentation, tools, and parts needed to reset an electronic security lock or other security-related function must be provided to the “owner and to independent repair providers.” Thus, a manufacturer could satisfy the first requirement by providing documentation, tools and parts to independent repair providers, while refusing to provide these items to owners.
- ↑ The model legislation would not apply to manufacturers of automobiles, but it would apply to all other products, whether for consumer or business use.
- ↑ Commission Regulation, (EU) 2019/2019 laying down eco-design requirements for refrigerating appliances pursuant to Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 643/2009 (European Union), https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32019R2019&from=EN.
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