Bill Would Okay Overseas Car Part Sales In U.S.

WASHINGTON--The American Insurance Association voiced support today for legislation clarifying patent law to allow foreign aftermarket auto parts manufacturers to sell their products in the United States.

The legislation, introduced by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., on March 14 before Congress left on a two-week recess, would reverse an August 2007 ruling by the International Trade Commission upholding a Ford Motor Co. patent protecting seven exterior parts of the F150 pickup truck, the largest selling vehicle in America, from generic foreign imports.

The ITC ruled that seven of the 10 Ford patents were valid and infringed, thus allowing Ford to block the importation of aftermarket parts from overseas manufacturers.

"Aftermarket parts are good because they foster competition in the automotive parts industry, and competition means lower prices and greater choice for consumers," said David Snyder, AIA vice president and assistant general counsel.

"This legislation is a step toward preserving competition, which affects not only prices but also the availability of supply, consumer choice, innovation and, ultimately, the vitality of the economy," Mr. Snyder argued.

The bill was filed as part of a two-pronged attack on the ITC ruling. A federal suit was filed last October by the aftermarket parts distributor who wanted to sell exterior parts for the F-150.

This bill would help reverse the ITC ruling that sought to ban the importation of competitive parts," Mr. Snyder said. "Because of aftermarket parts, average consumer savings can range from 34 percent to 83 percent."

A spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers in Washington, D.C., said the trade group has not seen the bill and cannot take a position on it.

But the spokesman cited a letter sent to the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Feb. 14, as well as testimony that day by Carl Olsen, director of Ark Design, Detroit, Mich., at a hearing that day on the issue.

"Industrial design protection for the auto industry protects numerous high-paying design and manufacturing jobs and also the automobile industry's huge investment in the United States; is consistent with the underlying policy goals of U.S. intellectual property law; and mirrors the intellectual property rights protection provided to auto manufacturers in Brazil, France, Germany, Japan and other countries," Mr. Olson testified.