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Product Liability
Product liability is the legal responsibility of manufacturers and sellers to buyers, users, and bystanders for damages or injuries suffered because of defects in goods. Product liability can occur at any point along the chain of production and distribution. In turn, this means that the manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer can all possibly be held responsible for injury caused by a product.
Injury Causing Defects
- Design Defects: Flaw in a product’s design which makes the product inherently dangerous.
- Manufacturing Defects: A flaw in the manufacturing process causes the product to be defective.
- Marketing Defect: A product lacks appropriate warnings or instructions for proper use.
Types of Product Liability Cases
Strict Liability: A plaintiff is allowed to fully recover from an injury caused by a product without having to prove any misconduct by the defendant. The plaintiff must only prove that the injury was caused by a defective product manufactured or sold by the defendant. This is the most common of all product liability cases.
Breach of Warranty: Negligent failure by the defendant to warn the plaintiff of the dangers of the product. Types of Breach of Warranty include:
- Breach of seller’s express warranty
- Breach of implied warranty
- Breach of warranty of fitness of a product for a particular use. In this case the defendant knew of the intended use of the product by the buyer, who relied on the knowledge of the product by the defendant, who displayed that the product could be safely used in the manner intended by the buyer.
Negligence: The plaintiff must establish:
- A relationship existed between the manufacturer and the plaintiff and that the manufacturer owed the plaintiff a duty of care
- A breach of the duty of care
- Relationship causing injury to the plaintiff
It is more difficult for a plaintiff to recover under a theory of negligence.