Autobody News March 2012 Southwest Edition by Autobody News

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U.S. House Judiciary Members Introduce Auto Parts Bill, Aims to Limit Parts Patent Protection The Promoting Automotive Repair, Trade and Sales (PARTS) Act, a new bill introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives, proposes to reduce the patent period car companies have on their collision repair parts from 14 years to 2.5 years (30 months). H.R. 3889 was introduced on Feb. 2 by Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) to the House Judiciary Committee. A similar bill is currently being prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill would amend title 35 of current U.S. design patent law whereby automotive manufacturers may enforce

their design patents on collision repair parts against alternative suppliers. Both members serve on the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet. Lofgren introduced auto parts patent legislation in the last Congress. The new subsection reads as follows: “It shall not be an act of infringement of such design patent to make or offer to sell within the United States, or import into the United States, any article of manufacture that is similar or the same in appearance to the See PARTS Bill, Page 32

Van Tuyl Charity Super Bowl Weekend Includes Flag Football Tournament/Trade Show Highlights by Ed Attanasio

There are three sacred things dear to the hearts of Texans: 1) Football 2) NASCAR and 3) Bass fishing. And although there wasn’t any car racing or angling during the Van Tuyl Team #1 took the crown, while Van Tuyl Team #2 finished recent Super Bowl third. Sherwin-Williams (in white jerseys at the far right) battled V.T. weekend, there was a Team #1 in the final, but ended up losing by a score of 5-3 other Super Bowl, 20 flag football lot of football and all of it was done teams competed in the Van Tuyl Texas-style. On Saturday, February 4, one Group’s Super Bowl of Flag Football tournament followed by a trade day before the New England Patriots met the New York Giants in that See Van Tuyl, Page 16

VOL. 30 ISSUE 3 MARCH 2012

State Farm’s Testing of Parts Ordering System Among News, Discussion at CIC Meeting by John Yoswick

Speaking at the January Collision Industry Conference (CIC) in Palm Springs, State Farm’s George Avery said that PartsTrader, the electronic parts ordering system the insurer expects it will eventually require its Select Service shops to use, is currently being tested at one repair facility and soon will be at another location. He declined to identify the shops, saying that it is too early in the testing “to put those folks under the microscope and ask, ‘What do you think of the new system?’” The announcement was just one of the parts-related issues discussed at CIC. The CIC “Parts and Materials Committee” shared the results of a preliminary survey of 11 of the com-

panies offering electronic parts locating and procurement systems to the industry. Committee member Mary Lou Lubrano of Car-Part.com reported, for example, that about the same number of those companies Ron Reichen, said insurers pay Oregon Shop for use of their Owner, said systems as those carriers’ reported that said they are return rates don’t appear to match up funded by parts with those reported vendors; two of by vendors the companies said shops pay for the systems. “I would argue that shops pay for all of them, because having nine disSee CIC Report, Page 12

Texas DOT Pushes Teen Click It or Ticket to More than 750,000 Teens at Over 700 Schools Appropriately enough for Valentine’s Day, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is calling on teens to love their lives and buckle up with the launch of the Teen Click It or Ticket campaign. This year, TxDOT is partnering with more than 700 high schools and community colleges statewide to reach more than 750,000 Texas students with the important message that buckling up can save your life. Teenagers are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers. In Texas, the use of seat belts saved an estimated 1,425 lives in 2010. At the same time, nearly half of the 291 teen drivers and occupants of passenger vehicles, ages 16–20, killed in motor vehicle crashes were not wearing their safety belts at the time of the crash. The Teen Click It or Ticket campaign, in its second year statewide, aims to increase seat belt usage among teenage drivers, age

16–20, across the state. “A few seconds—that’s all it takes to buckle up. In that same amount of time, you can lose your life in an accident because you weren’t wearing your seat belt,” said Carol T. Rawson, P.E., TxDOT’s traffic operations division director. “TxDOT is committed to educating teens about the deadly effects of not wearing a seat belt, and this campaign says to every teen: ‘If you love your life, buckle up.’” As part of the campaign, TxDOT has distributed kits, including banners, lawn signs, posters and window decals, to high schools and community colleges around the state. These materials reinforce the importance of buckling up. Additionally, TxDOT officials will be visiting high traffic locations throughout the month with a wrecked truck from which two teens wearing their seatbelts emerged after See Texas Seat Belts, Page 23

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