Critical Medical Infrastructure Right-to-Repair Act of 2020
Latest action · Aug 7, 2020 Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedAug 7, 2020
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Critical Medical Infrastructure Right-to-Repair Act of 2020
This bill removes certain intellectual property-related restrictions on repairing or maintaining critical medical infrastructure (i.e., a device or product used to provide medical services).
During the declared COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) emergency, it shall not be copyright infringement for an owner or licensee of service materials (such as manuals or computer diagnostic software) to copy such materials if (1) the copying is incidental to the repair or maintenance of critical medical infrastructure, and (2) such repair or maintenance is in response to the emergency.
Similarly, during the emergency, the prohibition against circumventing technology to control access to a work (or trafficking in circumvention tools) shall not apply to an owner or licensee of critical medical infrastructure if the circumvention is done to repair or maintain critical medical infrastructure in response to the emergency.
During the emergency, it shall also not be design patent infringement if the owner or licensee of critical medical infrastructure fabricates a patented part on a noncommercial basis in order to repair or maintain the infrastructure in response to the emergency.
The bill also nullifies any contract provision that restricts the ability of the owner or licensee of critical medical infrastructure to repair or maintain such infrastructure in response to the emergency.
The manufacturer of critical medical infrastructure shall (1) offer for sale on reasonable terms any tool or information for servicing or repairing such infrastructure, and (2) provide information for making such tools to aftermarket tool manufacturers. The Federal Trade Commission shall have the authority to enforce these requirements.
Cosponsors 2
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Aug 7, 2020 to Nov 20, 2020, with 1 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-CA | Jerry McNerney | Original | Aug 7, 2020 |
| D-OR | Suzanne Bonamici | Nov 20, 2020 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Aug 7, 2020Introduced in House
- Aug 7, 2020Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 4473 | Critical Medical Infrastructure Right-to-Repair Act of 2020 | Related bill | Aug 6, 2020 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Commerce.
- Cardiovascular and respiratory health
- Commerce
- Congressional oversight
- Contracts and agency
- Emergency medical services and trauma care
- Government studies and investigations
- Health facilities and institutions
- Health personnel
- Health technology, devices, supplies
- Infectious and parasitic diseases
- Intellectual property
- Manufacturing
- Trade secrets and economic espionage
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Aug 7, 2020Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.