R Street Applauds Introduction of the Critical Medical Infrastructure Right-to-Repair Act
This bill would enable trained technicians to access the tools and information necessary to maintain and repair critical medical infrastructure during the COVID-19 emergency. This includes protection from intellectual property lawsuits for certain repair activities, allowing fabrication of patented parts on a non-commercial basis for repairs, invalidating contract provisions that prevent servicing of critical medical infrastructure and requiring manufacturers to provide reasonable access to the tools and information needed for these and similar activities.
According to R Street Distinguished Senior Fellow Mike Godwin: “This carefully crafted bill allows technical personnel to lawfully repair medical infrastructure and equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic, while also ensuring patent holders control commercial use of their intellectual property per their statutorily defined rights.”
