The “Right to Repair” has come to encompass a variety of concerns ranging from farmers wishing to change the oil on their tractors to innovative companies trying to maintain proprietary intellectual property against concerted foreign piracy. In May of 2021, the FTC announced its intention to prioritize enforcement of related competition laws to restrict manufacturers’ ability to limit consumers’ ability to repair the manufacturer’s products. Many states are currently considering legislation to increase consumers’ ability to repair the products they buy. At issue are competing interests in protecting proprietary IP, fostering competition, boosting consumer rights, and fighting environmentally harmful disposable consumption culture. The program will discuss the scope of the issues, the proposed legislative and administrative approaches and other potential policies strategies for parties to use to navigate this developing area.

Key topics to be discussed:

• FTC actions to counter “anticompetitive” strategies by Manufacturers
• Legislative attempts to increase consumer rights
• Conflict between proprietary IP rights and consumer demands
• Policy considerations and strategies

Date / Time: August 21, 2023

Closed-captioning available