Straight Talks: New players, new rules - IP disruption in the automobile industry
On May 15, 2025, the Maine Joint Committee on Housing and Economic Development voted to allow the full Maine legislature to consider an amendment that would narrow the scope of the state's Right to Repair law. The law, which...more
More than four years after an industry trade association first filed its challenge to a November 2020 ballot initiative in Massachusetts, a federal judge issued an order in Alliance for Automotive Innovation v. Campbell...more
On Friday, January 31, 2025, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (“Auto Innovators”), a trade association representing manufacturers in the auto industry, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Maine seeking to enjoin...more
The Automotive Right to Repair Working Group convened by the Maine Attorney General will review proposed legislation that would substantially amend provisions of the Maine Right to Repair Law concerning access to mechanical...more
On Tuesday, November 26, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) released a staff report examining the duration of software support commitments by manufacturers of 184 connected devices, ranging from “smart” phones to...more
The Maine Attorney General’s Office recently announced that it has convened an 11-person working group of industry stakeholders to develop recommendations for legislation to establish an entity with rulemaking and enforcement...more
Trade associations representing independent repair facilities have become strong advocates for expanding right to repair laws to increase member access to vehicle telematics data. These efforts have created uncertainty for...more
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade association representing U.S. automakers and other manufacturers, announced on July 11, 2023 that it had entered into an agreement with trade associations representing...more
On June 1, 2023, the Massachusetts Attorney General published the Massachusetts Vehicle Telematics System Notice that new car dealers in Massachusetts must now provide to purchasers of model year 2022 or later vehicles if...more
On March 8, 2022, the Massachusetts federal court in Alliance for Automotive Innovation v. Healy issued a procedural order informing the parties that the court would need another month to issue a decision on a challenge...more
Massachusetts federal district court judge Douglas Woodlock did not mince words during an hour-long hearing on Thursday, December 3, urging lawyers for the Alliance for Automotive Innovation and Massachusetts Attorney General...more
With the effective date looming for changes to Massachusetts law that will require automobile manufacturers to make significant changes to telematics systems, a trade association representing OEMs on Tuesday, December 1,...more
Massachusetts voters on November 3, 2020 overwhelmingly approved Question One, a ballot initiative amending the state’s Right to Repair Law. Beginning with “model year 2022,” manufacturers who use a telematics system in their...more
On November 3, 2020, Massachusetts voters will go to the polls for the second time in less than a decade to consider a “Right to Repair” ballot initiative. Question One would amend Massachusetts law to force auto...more