This latest fight over right-to repair is taking place in your local McDonald's. It could determine how franchise owners can fix their constantly-broken McFlurry machines.AdvertisementYou're likely to remember the agony of not getting the frosty treat you want because the McFlurry machine has broken again. According to McFlurry's May lawsuit against the company, McFlurry is known for its broken machines. They are inherently fragile and must withstand cold temperatures as well as heat cycles.Taylor is an especially egregious distributor that is a perfect example for the business model right-to repair advocates want to abolish. sell businesses a persnickety device that is likely to fail, prevent them understanding the cause, and then take a healthy share of the distributors' profit from the repairs. This scam is so well-known that Kytch, a company that makes a diagnostic tool to assist McDonald's franchise owners in fixing their McFlurry machines, was created.A temporary restraining orders was recently issued by a judge against Taylor. This order came after Kytch, who had filed a complaint alleging that Taylor had obtained a Kytch Solution Devices in order to learn its trade secrets. According to the complaint, Taylor told McDonald's and its franchisees that Kytch machines were dangerous and that Taylor was working on his own version.These men did a great job of frightening all our customers and investors. We hope the public will support our case for justice, right-to-repair and humanity, Kytch cofounder Jeremy Olson told Motherboard. Some loyal customers are still with us. Although they are a small number, they are still loyal to us.The court ordered Taylor to hand over all of its Kytch Solution devices within 24 hours. According to the court document, defendants must not use, disclose, copy, or make available any information including formulas, patterns, compilations, programs, devices, methods, techniques, or processes that they have obtained.Motherboard spoke with Melissa Nelson, co-founder of Kytch. She said that they are hopeful that the truth will prevail. It is disgusting that these lengths were taken in order to steal our trade secrets, destroy the business, and prevent modernizing kitchens. Kytch is only one example of the larger right-to-repair movement. Our case demonstrates that it is past time to end the shady business practices which result in hundreds of millions of dollars in unnecessary repairs by certified technicians.
