John Deere has to face the FTC’s right-to-repair lawsuit

John Deere volition person to combat the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit, which accuses the institution of expanding repair costs by making farmers usage its web of authorized dealers to hole their equipment, arsenic reported earlier by Reuters. In a ruling connected Monday, Illinois US District Court Judge Iain D. Johnston rejected John Deere’s effort to get the lawsuit tossed out.

The FTC and respective states, including Illinois, Minnesota, Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin, sued John Deere successful January, claiming the institution has spent “decades” limiting the quality of farmers and autarkic repair shops to hole their equipment.

The suit brings up the specialized bundle John Deere uses to repair its equipment, which is lone disposable to authorized dealers, “forcing farmers to solely trust connected much costly authorized dealers for captious repairs.” The FTC besides accuses John Deere of maintaining monopoly powerfulness implicit definite repairs of its equipment.

In his ruling, Judge Johnston rejected John Deere’s challenges to the FTC’s law structure, on with arguments that the government’s monopolization claims are “insufficient.” Judge Johnston is handling a abstracted class enactment suit filed against John Deere by farmers arsenic well, which helium alludes to successful his decision.

“Sequels truthful seldom bushed their originals that adjacent the acclaimed Steve Martin couldn’t bash it connected 3 tries. See Cheaper by the Dozen II, Pink Panther II, Father of the Bride II, ” Johnston writes. “Rebooting its earlier production, Deere sought to defy the odds. To beryllium sure, similar astir each sequels, Deere edited the dialog and formed immoderate caller characters, giving cameos to seasoned stars similar Humphrey’s Executor. But yet the crippled felt predictable, the publication derivative. Deere I received a thumbs-down, and Deere II fares nary better.”

John Deere didn’t instantly respond to a petition for comment.