1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182 
EU plans to relax rules on replica components
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
k PROPOSED liberalisation of uropean Union (EU) design ights legislation, allowing parts manufacturers to sell copies of parts made by vehicle manufacturers icross the EU, has been accepted ly the European Parliament's egal affairs committee.
The committee explains: "The Directive will allow suppliers to produce motor vehicle components which are identical to the original parts without infringing design protection."
Only where parts change the outside appearance of vehicles would design rights protection continue. The committee wants a five-year transitional period before this liberalisation kicks in.
Britain already allows replica spare parts to be used for repairs, but this is much harder to do in Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic. Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden, which still enforce design protection legislation for vehicle components.
Belgium,Hungary,Ireland,Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain already allow the manufacture and sale of replica components, while Greek law protects designs for five years.