1793.03.
(a) (1) Every manufacturer of an electronic or appliance product with a wholesale price to the retailer of not less than fifty dollars ($50) and not more than ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents ($99.99), shall make available to owners of the product, service and repair facilities, and service dealers, sufficient service literature, at no charge, and functional parts and tools, inclusive of any updates, on fair and reasonable terms, to effect the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a product for at least three years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the three-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.(2) For products with a wholesale price to the retailer of not less than fifty dollars ($50) and not more than ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents ($99.99), that contains an electronic security lock or other security-related function, the manufacturer shall also make available to owners of the product, service and repair facilities, and service dealers, on fair and reasonable terms, any documentation, tools, software and parts needed to disable the lock or function, and to reset the lock or function when disabled, during the course of the inspection, diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a product for at least three years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the three-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.
(b) (1) Every manufacturer of an electronic or appliance product with a wholesale price to the retailer of one hundred dollars ($100) or more, shall make available to owners of the product, service and repair facilities, and service dealers sufficient service literature, at no charge, and functional parts and tools, inclusive of any updates, on fair and reasonable terms, to effect the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a product for at least seven years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the seven-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.
(2) For products with a wholesale price to the retailer of one hundred dollars ($100) or more, that contain an electronic security lock or other security-related function, the manufacturer shall also make available to owners of the
product, service and repair facilities, and service dealers, on fair and reasonable terms, any documentation, tools, software and parts needed to disable the lock or function, and to reset the lock or function when disabled, during the course of the inspection, diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a product for at least seven years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the seven-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.
(c) This section does not require a manufacturer to divulge a trade secret, except as may be necessary to provide service literature, documentation, tools, software, and parts on fair and reasonable terms.
(d) This section shall not be
construed to require the distribution of a product’s source code.
(e) A service and repair facility or service dealer that is not an authorized facility or dealer of a manufacturer shall provide a written notice to any customer seeking repair of an electronic or appliance product before the repair facility or service dealer repairs the product that contains the following information:
(1) The service and repair facility or service dealer is not a manufacturer authorized or affiliated service dealer for the product.
(2) The consumer may wish to review the terms and conditions of any warranty for the equipment, as repairs not performed by a designated authorized repair provider could potentially affect the warranty.
(3) Warranties for consumer products are
governed by the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (Chapter 50 (commencing with Section 2301) of Title 15 of the United States Code), which gives consumers rights and protections that apply over any conflicting provisions in the warranty.
(4) Under Magnuson-Moss, a warranty cannot require that maintenance and repairs be performed only by an authorized repair provider.
(5) Under Magnuson-Moss, if damage to equipment is shown to be caused by faulty nonbrand equipment or by faulty repair of a nonauthorized repair provider, that damage may not be covered by the warranty, but the warranty may otherwise remain in effect.
(d)
(f) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Electronic or appliance product” or “product” means a product described in subdivision (h), (i), (j), or (k) of Section 9801 of the Business and Professions Code.
(2) (A) “Fair and reasonable terms” means at costs and terms that are equivalent to the most favorable cost and terms under which the manufacturer offers the part, tool, or documentation to an authorized service dealer, or to itself, if it does not have authorized service dealers, accounting for any discount, rebate, convenient and timely means of delivery, means of enabling fully restored and updated functionality, rights of use, or other incentive or preference the manufacturer offers to an authorized service dealer, or any
additional cost, burden, or impediment the manufacturer imposes on an owner or independent service and repair facility or independent service dealer.
(B) For documentation, including any relevant updates, “fair and reasonable terms” also means at no charge, except that, when the documentation is requested in physical printed form, a charge may be included for the reasonable actual costs of preparing and sending the copy.
(3) “Service dealers” has the same meaning as defined in Section 9801 of the Business and Professions Code.
(4) “Trade secret” has the same meaning as set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 3426.1 of this code, or paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) of Section 499c of the Penal
Code.