SEC. 2. EXCEPTION FROM INFRINGEMENT FOR CERTAIN 
COMPONENT PARTS OF MOTOR VEHICLES. 
Section 271 of title 35, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(j)(1) In this subsection— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘component part’— 
‘‘(i) means a component part of the exte-
rior of a motor vehicle only, such as a hood, 
fender, tail light, side mirror, or quarter panel; 
and 
‘‘(ii) does not include an inflatable re-
straint system or other component part located 
in the interior of a motor vehicle; 
‘‘(B) the term ‘make’ includes any testing of an 
article of manufacture; 
‘‘(C) the term ‘motor vehicle’ has the meaning 
given the term in section 32101(7) of title 49; and 
‘‘(D) the term ‘offer to sell’ includes any mar-
keting of an article of manufacture to prospective 
purchasers or users and any pre-sale distribution of 
the article of manufacture. 
‘‘(2) With respect to a design patent that claims a 
component part of a motor vehicle as originally manufac-
tured— 
‘‘(A) it shall not be an act of infringement of 
the design patent to make or offer to sell within the 
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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 
the design patent if the purpose of the article of 
manufacture is for the repair of a motor vehicle so 
as to restore the motor vehicle to the appearance of 
the motor vehicle as originally manufactured; and 
‘‘(B) after the expiration of a period of 30 
months beginning on the first day on which any 
such component part is first offered to the public for 
sale as part of a motor vehicle in any country, it 
shall not be an act of infringement of the design 
patent to use or sell within the United States any 
article of manufacture that is similar or the same in 
appearance to the component part that is claimed in 
the design patent if the purpose of the article of 
manufacture is for the repair of a motor vehicle so 
as to restore the motor vehicle to the appearance of 
the motor vehicle as originally manufactured.’’. 
SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 
Section 289 of title 35, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in the first undesignated paragraph, by 
striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Whoever’’; 
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(2) in the second undesignated paragraph, by 
striking ‘‘Nothing’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(c) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER REMEDIES.—Noth-
ing’’; and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (a), as so des-
ignated, the following: 
‘‘(b) INAPPLICABILITY.—This section shall not apply 
to an act described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection 
(a) if that act would not be considered an act of infringe-
ment under section 271(j)’’. 
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 
upon the expiration of the 90-day period beginning on the 
date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply to any 
patent issued, or application for patent filed, before, on, 
or after that effective date. 
Æ 
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