In brief, what this means in practice is as follows:
Competition Law - Keeping Markets Open
- Competition law is there to stop big companies from unfairly shutting smaller businesses out.
- A manufacturer cannot usually insist that customers buy only their spare parts, if doing so would block fair competition - however, this is complicated and nuanced.
- For example, if a big brand used its size to stop anyone else making or selling compatible spares, this could be challenged as anti-competitive behaviour.
Intellectual Property (IP) Law – Protecting Brands and Designs
- At the same time, brand owners have rights over their names, logos, and some product designs.
- You must not use the brand’s logo or packaging unless you are selling genuine branded parts.
- Some spare parts may be protected by a patent or registered design (especially if the part is unusual or newly developed). If so, you cannot copy them.
- Many common spare parts are not protected, meaning it is legal to make and sell compatible alternatives - as long as you clearly say they are “compatible with” rather than “official” parts.
England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland all follow the same basic rules on competition law and intellectual property law. There can be small differences in how courts handle cases (because Scotland has its own legal system), but for day-to-day business selling spare parts, the same principles apply across the whole UK.
A Recent Example
A recent case shows how competition law can protect independent businesses. In this case a small independent company Eurospares (ES) which resells genuine Porsche spare parts, argued that Porsche had stopped its own exclusive importer of new Porsche vehicles and Porsche parts into the UK from supplying parts to them. Porsche said its dealer rules only allowed sales to garages and end customers, not resellers like ES.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal disagreed with Porsche’s position at this preliminary stage in proceedings, and granted ES an interim injunction. This means Porsche had to keep supplying parts to ES until the full case is heard. The Tribunal felt that cutting ES off would cause serious and lasting harm to its business, while Porsche would not suffer major harm if supply continued. It’s important to note that this is an interim decision, with a full hearing to follow, but it’s interesting nevertheless.
So the key takeaways for spare-parts suppliers are as follows:
- You can compete fairly in the market, even against big brands, as long as you respect the other party’s intellectual property rights. However, as always, you need to be extremely careful.
- If a manufacturer tries to unfairly block you from the supply chain, competition law may offer protection.
- You should always take legal advice with regard to this complex area of the law. No two cases are ever exactly the same, and as such, there are no black and white answers.