Deere & Company, which does business as John Deere, makes agricultural equipment. This antitrust class action concerns what the complaint alleges is a monopoly on the repair services for this equipment. According to the complaint, the computerized engine control units (ECUs) now built into the equipment require specific tools and software that Deere has not made accessible to independent repair shops or owners who would like to do their own repairs. Deere dealers are also forbidden from giving others access to these tools and software, the complaint says, allowing them to make “supracompetitive profits” for these services.
The class for this action is all persons and entities living in the US who, between March 8, 2018 and the present, bought Deere repair services for Deere tractors from John Deere or its authorized dealers or technicians.
The complaint calls Deere “indisputably the biggest player in agricultural machinery markets in the United States.” The equipment now comes with ECUs that require the use of proprietary tools and software to complete repairs.
“For example,” the complaint alleges, “an owner of a Tractor may be able to replace the transmission on their equipment, but that Tractor will not operate unless proprietary John Deere Software ‘approves’ the newly-installed part.” Thus even when skilled people make repairs, if they do not have software that can recognize the repair, the machine will not operate.
The complaint alleges, “Deere has deliberately made this necessary Software unavailable to individual owners and independent repair shops. Instead, Deere makes the full Software available only to Deere dealerships and technicians, who are not permitted by Deere to sell it.”
Does this matter that much, the complaint asks? Yes, says the complaint: “Deere’s business for its Repair Services is three to six times more profitable than its sales of original equipment.”
According to the complaint, “a trade group representing Deere” promised in 2018 to make the needed software and tools available by January 2021[.]” However, the complaint claims that Deere has not kept this promise, in effect creating a tying arrangement for its equipment with its limited repair services.
This tying arrangement, the complaint alleges, has required Deere equipment owners to pay more for repairs: “Prices in the Repair Services Market exceeded the amount they would have paid if the prices had been determined by a competitive market.”
The complaint asserts, “Deere’s illegal monopoly of the Deere Repair Services Market should be enjoined and dismantled, and [repair customers] should be reimbursed by Deere for the amount they overpaid for Deere Repair Services.”
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Antitrust
Most Recent Case Event
John Deere Monopoly on Repair Services Antitrust Complaint
March 24, 2022
Deere & Company, which does business as John Deere, makes agricultural equipment. This antitrust class action concerns what the complaint alleges is a monopoly on the repair services for this equipment. According to the complaint, the computerized engine control units (ECUs) now built into the equipment require specific tools and software that Deere has not made accessible to independent repair shops or owners who would like to do their own repairs. Deere dealers are also forbidden from giving others access to these tools and software, the complaint says, allowing them to make “supracompetitive profits” for these services.
John Deere Monopoly on Repair Services Antitrust ComplaintCase Event History
John Deere Monopoly on Repair Services Antitrust Complaint
March 24, 2022
Deere & Company, which does business as John Deere, makes agricultural equipment. This antitrust class action concerns what the complaint alleges is a monopoly on the repair services for this equipment. According to the complaint, the computerized engine control units (ECUs) now built into the equipment require specific tools and software that Deere has not made accessible to independent repair shops or owners who would like to do their own repairs. Deere dealers are also forbidden from giving others access to these tools and software, the complaint says, allowing them to make “supracompetitive profits” for these services.
John Deere Monopoly on Repair Services Antitrust Complaint