Discussion
Hi Everyone,
Just after a quick answer (if one can exist in PH!). I notice that a lot of the parts I need for my car are no longer available. I am talking mainly trim, seals, and such like (not engines and doors etc). What is the legality of producing a part that the manufacturers no longer sell (or even list)?
Regards
CL1
Just after a quick answer (if one can exist in PH!). I notice that a lot of the parts I need for my car are no longer available. I am talking mainly trim, seals, and such like (not engines and doors etc). What is the legality of producing a part that the manufacturers no longer sell (or even list)?
Regards
CL1
This is a good question – as you know reverse engineering carries complications.
For the part to be truly backward compatible it has to look, fit and function just like the old one did. A mate is looking at getting some sills scanned in for his classic car as the new ones are horrendously expensive- 600 euro each expensive! For a sill!
If the manufacturer no longer exists, then who is going to sue you for copying the part? Unless some other legal entity exists which has ownership of the part, say they still have the drawings in a drawer somewhere. I looked at this when I had a Jensen.
If the manufacturer still exists but they won’t supply the part, like going to Ford for a Corsair wing, then would Ford complain if you copied the part? Ford don’t complain about the number of panels made for MK2 Escorts. Its probably in their interest to see Mk2s sliding around winning rallies anyway.
Lots of manufacturers have their parts copied now, and I’m not aware of them complaining, maybe they do, visit the Euro Car Parts site for confirmation.
I think the issue would be if you said, “this is a Ford part”, rather than “this is a part made by XYZ, it is equivalent to Ford part number 123456789 and it fits a Focus.”
For the part to be truly backward compatible it has to look, fit and function just like the old one did. A mate is looking at getting some sills scanned in for his classic car as the new ones are horrendously expensive- 600 euro each expensive! For a sill!
If the manufacturer no longer exists, then who is going to sue you for copying the part? Unless some other legal entity exists which has ownership of the part, say they still have the drawings in a drawer somewhere. I looked at this when I had a Jensen.
If the manufacturer still exists but they won’t supply the part, like going to Ford for a Corsair wing, then would Ford complain if you copied the part? Ford don’t complain about the number of panels made for MK2 Escorts. Its probably in their interest to see Mk2s sliding around winning rallies anyway.
Lots of manufacturers have their parts copied now, and I’m not aware of them complaining, maybe they do, visit the Euro Car Parts site for confirmation.
I think the issue would be if you said, “this is a Ford part”, rather than “this is a part made by XYZ, it is equivalent to Ford part number 123456789 and it fits a Focus.”
Unless the part is covered by a specific patent, there is no law against copying it and making your own version of it.
What you cannot do, ever, is sell it as a genuine, OEM part, or use OEM branding.
So you can say, this "Widget, fits a Datsun Insult", but you are on thin ice saying "Datsun Insult widget", or using Datsun branding, or using their part number to imply yours is the same.
Some things are easily reverse engineered, others not.
What you cannot do, ever, is sell it as a genuine, OEM part, or use OEM branding.
So you can say, this "Widget, fits a Datsun Insult", but you are on thin ice saying "Datsun Insult widget", or using Datsun branding, or using their part number to imply yours is the same.
Some things are easily reverse engineered, others not.
Our club used to remanufacture some parts that were no longer available, and the main thing that concerned anyone was product liability, I don't recall there was ever any discussion about whether the original manufacturer would have a problem with it. Maybe someone had informally asked a contact there, or maybe we had a good relationship with them - some of the original moulds for some items were donated to the club, for example.
I would imagine there might be an issue if the remanufactured part contains the manufacturers logo, though that might be different depending on whether you're re-making a badge (which would have to contain their logo) or using the logo as part of a moulding or stamping to suggest an original product.
I would imagine there might be an issue if the remanufactured part contains the manufacturers logo, though that might be different depending on whether you're re-making a badge (which would have to contain their logo) or using the logo as part of a moulding or stamping to suggest an original product.
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