diagnostics to the consumer so they can fix the cable. You’re lucky if it works, but you know that going in.[1]
The type of price—wholesale or retail—would also need to be considered when setting a threshold for repair rights. The MMWA’s threshold is based on the cost paid by the consumer, while California’s Song-Beverly Act’s threshold is based on the wholesale price to the retailer. If a threshold is based on consumers’ expectations regarding repairability, the threshold should reflect the cost paid by the consumer. Moreover, consumers would have no insight into the wholesale price of a product. Therefore, they would have no way of knowing whether they had a right to repair the item if the threshold were based on the wholesale price. On the other hand, the retail price may not be within the manufacturers’ vision, resulting in some manufacturers being unexpectedly subject to repair requirements if a retailer sells their product at a price higher than the established threshold.
Determining the appropriate duration for repair rights presents similar challenges. Consumers likely expect different types of products to be more durable than other types of products. Moreover, some products, because of how they are intended to be used, may not last as long as other products. The appropriate duration for repair rights will likely vary based on the type of product.[2]
The model right to repair legislation avoids the issues of a price threshold and duration requirement by limiting a manufacturer’s obligations to providing individuals or independent repair shops with access to the same information and parts that the manufacturer provides to its authorized repair networks. This approach has the benefit of letting manufacturers determine which, if any, of their parts should be repairable. Yet, it could incentivize manufacturers to stop offering to repair products, making it more difficult for consumers to have their products fixed.[3] Self-regulatory or legislative bodies interested in expanding consumer repair choices will need to determine whether the model’s approach or a more price and duration-prescriptive approach is appropriate.
As discussed above, IP rights play a valuable role in encouraging and rewarding innovation. Several different governmental entities and laws grant and regulate IP rights. For example, the USPTO grants patent and trademark registrations and the US Copyright Office, an arm of the Library of Congress, registers copyrights. In addition, both state and federal law govern trade secrets. Accordingly, any action taken by industry or regulators to enable
- ↑ Transcript, at 41.
- ↑ We believe that the CTA’s Walter Alcorn has identified a central consideration for determining appropriate price and duration thresholds: At what price point do consumers view a product as single use and disposable versus a product that they anticipate should be repairable? Likewise, as to the appropriate duration for repair rights, how long do consumers expect the product to last? While individuals may have different views on these issues, self-regulatory or legislative bodies can strive to create thresholds based on the views of reasonable consumers.
- ↑ On the other hand, requiring manufacturers to maintain a stock of replacement parts for a specific duration could possibly chill innovation. For instance, such a requirement could cause some manufacturers to limit the number of new models in order to limit the number of repair parts that must be maintained.
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