The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: A Potent New Weapon in the Aftermarket Wars

For more than a century, original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs") have sought, with only limited success, the aid of the courts to enforce restrictions against competitors' sales of products designed to complement or replace components of their proprietary technologies. At stake in each of these cases was a lucrative aftermarket for products directed to the OEM's patented technology and a "razor-and-blades" business model by which the OEM strove to attain a large installed user base for its equipment in hopes of "locking-in" customers to that aftermarket.

9 minute read September 02, 2004 at 08:24 AM
By
Paul Dennis Connuck
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: A Potent New Weapon in the Aftermarket Wars

For more than a century, original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) have sought, with only limited success, the aid of the courts to enforce restrictions against competitors' sales of products designed to complement or replace components of their proprietary technologies.

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