John Deere Settles Agriculture Right-to-Repair Antitrust Lawsuit for $99M
Company still faces a similar lawuit for the right to repair construction and forestry equipment.
While the July 8 settlement only covers agricultural equipment from John Deere, Inc., a nearly identical right-to-repair antitrust action has been brought against its construction and forestry division that makes products such as this John Deere Excavator by Chicago landscaping contractor Christy Webber, Inc.
Deere & Co., the parent company of John Deere, Inc., reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission, four Midwestern states and Arizona to settle an antitrust lawsuit against the farm equipment manufacturer July 8 that gives agricultural equipment customers the right to repair their own John Deere tractors and other farm equipment.
The FTC’s settlement—entered by both parties July 8 in federal court in the northern district of Illinois in Chicago—requires Deere to provide farmers and independent repair providers with the same equipment repair resources, including applicable software capabilities for the next 10 years and under the supervision of the FTC and the five states. Currently, the company only provides these resources to authorized Deere dealers.
The settlement also orders that Deere must instruct its dealers not to discriminate or retaliate against customers who repair their own equipment. A nearly identical right-to-repair lawsuit was brought against the company and its construction and forestry division earlier this year by a prominent Chicago landscaping contractor.
"Today’s settlement enables farmers to do what they’ve done for generations—fix their own tractors and other farm equipment—without having to pay an authorized John Deere dealer to do it for them," said FTC Bureau of Competition Director Daniel Guarnera. "The settlement with Deere will help lower costs for American farmers."
Deere has been embroiled in the fight about providing codes, software updates and other information necessary to repair their own machines with customers since the last decade with The Repair Association and other right-to-repair groups challenging the manufacturer's legal language on what voids warranties as well as protection of error codes and software updates in the increasingly technologically advanced machines.
"After years of fighting for the right to repair, this order gives farmers real hope. But promises on paper must become tools in farmers' hands, and we will be watching implementation every step of the way," said Willie Cade, a farmer and founder of the Electronics Reuse Conference, a right-to-repair advocate. Cade's grandfather, Theo Brown, was a famed John Deere engineer who pioneered and patented the first manure spreader in 1915.
John Deere did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the settlement but final approval of the settlement is generally seen as a positive thing for the parallel antitrust lawsuit into the company's construction and forestry products.
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