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Santa Clara CAA Hosts Parts Program Talk with Honda, Acura and Toyota Representatives by Ed Attanasio
Representatives from American Honda, Acura and Toyota were the featured speakers at Santa Clara California Auto Body Association’s meeting, held on FebruFrom left: George Turk, Fixed Operations Marketing ary 15 at the Three Flames Manager for Honda California Zones; Joe Stearns, restaurant in San Jose, Calif. With Assistant Zone Manager for Parts & Services more than 50 chapter members in Operations for the Acura Division; Toyota Wholesale attendance, George Turk, Fixed Development Consultant Ruben De Loera; and Terry Operations Marketing Manager Banks, Dealer Operations Consultant for Toyota. Turk and De Loera spoke about their respective for Honda’s California Zones, automaker parts programs. spoke first about CollisionLink, an OE Parts Ordering system devised and maintained by OEConnecSee Parts Presentation, Page 12
U.S. House Judiciary Members Introduce Auto Parts Bill, Aims to Limit Parts Patent Protection
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 component part that is claimed in See PARTS bill, Page 26
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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
VOL. 30 ISSUE 3 MARCH 2012
AASP/New Jersey to Kick Off 35th Annual NORTHEAST Trade Show in Secaucus, NJ The Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of New Jersey (AASP/NJ) will hold their 35th annual NORTHEAST™ trade show March 9, 10 and 11 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center of Secaucus, NJ. The association announced the educational seminar schedule as well as a list of booth exhibitors. The weekend will start on March 9, with a Leadership Forum held by SCRS and the AASP/NJ. The East Coast Resolution Forum welcomes representatives from national and local automotive repair associations on March 9 at 1 p.m. The forum will go until 5 p.m. and will invite association leaders to discuss updates on their organizations’ activities as well as share industry news with their peers. The meeting provides associations from across the country with a chance to network and learn from other associations.
Then at 6pm, Mark Olson of VeriFacts starts the NORTHEAST™ seminars with "Shop Differentiation: How to Make Your Shop Stand Out, followed by Future Cure’s Tom Beck presenting Drying Waterborne: What You Need to Know NOW." Larry Montanez III of P&L Consultants / IACDA will also be on hand March 9 from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., discussing OEM Repair Procedures vs. Repair Standards in the first of a two-part series. Kristen Felder and Elizabeth Blackman of CollisionHub will close out March 9’s seminars with SOS: A Social Media Intervention. For a full schedule of the weekend's seminars please see www.autobodynews.com. Then an after hours a Vendor Appreciation after party will be held from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. “There isn’t anywhere within 500 See NORTHEAST, Page 18
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 companies offering electronic parts locat-
ing 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 said insurers pay for use of their Ron Reichen, systems as those Oregon Shop that said they are Owner, said funded by parts carriers’ reported vendors; two of return rates don’t appear to match up the companies with those reported said shops pay for by vendors the systems. “I would argue that shops pay for all of them, because having nine disparate parts systems, some of which may be mandated by their insurance See CIC Report, Page 10
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