The ‘Right to Repair’ in the European Union: Considerations from an EU Intellectual Property Perspective
Year: 2025
Type: other
Abstract: 1. The image of a broken smartphone may be more familiar to some than to others. What both types of people have in common is that they would like to have a fully functional phone again. The owner has the option of contacting either the (distribution network of the) Original Equipment Manufacturer (“OEM”), or an independent maintenance and repair service provider. If the owner feels competent enough, they may try to apply a Do It Yourself (“DIY”) method. In order to effectively repair the device, the chosen repairer will need two things. First, access to commodities necessary for repair are required, such as: (1) fitting spare parts or the relevant instructions on how to reproduce such spare parts and (2) diagnostic and repair tools, all of which may fall under an OEM's (or third-parties’) exclusive design, patent or copyright rights; (3) repair manuals, information and/or repair instructions, which may constitute copyright-protected works; and (4) where applicable, the software underlying a particular product and updates to that software, which may also be subject to copyright or patent protection. Second, it will need the legal means to carry out such activities without risk of infringement and therefore prosecution (collectively referred to as “essential repair commodities”). For repair and maintenance providers operating within an OEM's network, access to such essential repair commodities will be obvious. To the contrary, for independent providers, the abovementioned Intellectual Property Rights (“IPRs”) can be used as a tool to curtail independent repair.
Authors: Manon Vanderhaeghe, Jozefien Vanherpe
Language: English
Topic: Intellectual Property Law
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6987084440
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