Building or Defending an Aftermarket Position: A Practitioner's Guide to Design Filings, Repair Doctrine, Software Locks, and Parts Distribution
By Casey Scott McKay ·
This guide builds an aftermarket position from either side, using the same analysis run in the same order. It starts by classifying the part, because the classification determines which regime governs and most of the work disappears once it is fixed. It then runs the repair and exhaustion analysis that disposes of most patent assertions, the component design patent question that is the manufacturer's strongest United States tool, and the software authentication question that decides the commercial outcome regardless of the doctrine. The second half covers information provenance, marketing and refurbishment disclosure, warranty and antitrust exposure, right to repair compliance, and a demand letter triage that separates the two assertions worth taking seriously.
IP and Technology > General IP | Guide | Published 10 April 2025 - Updated 4 June 2025 | Casey Scott McKay - marksy.us
Summary. This guide builds an aftermarket position from either side, using the same analysis run in the same order. It starts by classifying the part, because the classification determines which regime governs and most of the work disappears once it is fixed. It then runs the repair and exhaustion analysis that disposes of most patent assertions, the component design patent question that is the manufacturer's strongest United States tool, and the software authentication question that decides the commercial outcome regardless of the doctrine. The second half covers information provenance, marketing and refurbishment disclosure, warranty and antitrust exposure, right to repair compliance, and a demand letter triage that separates the two assertions worth taking seriously.
Keywords: aftermarket strategy · part classification · component design patents · LKQ obviousness · repair doctrine analysis · exhaustion after Impression Products · section 117 service copy · parts pairing · circumvention analysis · triennial exemptions · trafficking gap · service documentation · trade secret provenance · nominative reference · refurbished disclosure · warranty conditioning · antitrust exposure · right to repair compliance · distribution controls · demand letter triage
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