I have a hard time thinking of a product where the repair is inhibited by IP issues. Can you give a specific example?
I tend to buy and repair scientific and lab equipment and repair it. I also do/try for consumer stuff sometimes, it’s usually not economical.
Tried to repair a microwave for example, but couldn’t find a replacement magnetron. That part isn’t covered by patents, it’s just not available... if there was more interest, I think there would be more stripped parts on eBay too.
Companies legally prohibit 3rd party repair as it affects their IP. There are a lot of companies that void all warranties if you try a 3rd party / DIY repair. I've had first-hand experiences with Apple and Samsung in India. There are lots of other companies, see - https://repair.org/industries/main/
Coming back to your situation, a magnetron might not be patented but that could just be one of the many components that renders a microwave non-functional and a lot of those other components might be patented. A microwave repair shop cannot possibly be profitable if it only fixes magnetron issues. It would want to fix most, if not all, issues with customers' microwaves. But it can't as companies legally prohibit 3rd party repairs. Sure, people still reverse engineer and fix things by themselves but these laws are major blockers for 3rd party repair markets to flourish. Despite the laws, there are pockets where this still occurs (e.g. China). And should the ban on 3rd party repair be lifted, it's going to be a different ball game and opportunities could bring us a lot more big businesses like iFixit.
It seems totally reasonable for 3rd party repair to void warranties. 3rd party repair will be of varying quality and it doesn’t seem logical to make the vendor liable.
It's not that simple. The point is vendors empowering 3rd party repair shops with knowledge and tools than monopolizing repair market which leads to higher repair costs, lower product lifespans, forced product upgrades, etc. - basically everything right to repair associations are fighting for.
I guess intellection property protection to me means IP law (patents etc).
But if DRM was meant I can see how there are cases where this could be a problem (I don’t think it is yet a very common problem however, or one that prevents the majority of goods from being repaired).
It's a combination. And as more and more goods transition from purely mechanical/electrical through electronical to software-defined, this problem is going to get even worse.
I tend to buy and repair scientific and lab equipment and repair it. I also do/try for consumer stuff sometimes, it’s usually not economical.
Tried to repair a microwave for example, but couldn’t find a replacement magnetron. That part isn’t covered by patents, it’s just not available... if there was more interest, I think there would be more stripped parts on eBay too.