I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1707 
To amend title 35, United States Code, to provide for an exception from 
infringement for certain component parts of motor vehicles. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 22, 2023 
Mr. ISSA (for himself, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. LEE of Florida, 
Ms. JACKSON LEE, and Ms. PEREZ) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 35, United States Code, to provide for an 
exception from infringement for certain component parts 
of motor vehicles. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Save Money on Auto 
Repair Transportation Act’’ or the ‘‘SMART Act’’. 
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: 
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‘‘(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 
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 
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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’’; 
(2) in the second undesignated paragraph, by 
striking ‘‘Nothing’’ and inserting the following: 
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