Product Liability Warranties 01 01 2021 BUSA 2106 1 Product Liability Warranties When products are defective or don t work as expected Product Liability Claims OR Warranty Claims can result Product Liability claims usually come when the something is wrong with a product defect which causes some injury to the consumer Warranty claims usually come when the product just doesn t work the way it should as warranted and the consumer didn t get what he she expected 01 01 2021 BUSA 2106 2 Product Liability Three 3 Types of Defects in Products which can cause injury 1 Manufacturing Defect Occur during the manufacturing process Involve poor materials or workmanship 2 Design Defect Product design itself is inherently dangerous defective Defective no matter how manufactured Product fails to satisfy ordinary consumer expectations of what constitutes a safe product Risks of product as designed outweigh its benefits any safer alternative designs 3 Marketing Defect a k a Failure to Warn Product carries inherent nonobvious dangers which could be mitigated through adequate warnings Dangers are present regardless of manufacture or design 01 01 2021 BUSA 2106 3 Product Liability Claims are based on one or both of the following theories 1 Negligence Defendant was negligent in design manufacture or marketing of the product had a duty to make safe products and breached resulting in a defect The defect causes injury Manufacturers distributors and retailers can be liable Still can be tough to establish breach if an entire industry operates under lax standards 2 Strict Liability Irrelevant whether negligence involved in making designing marketing the product avoids issues with industry custom If a product is defective and that defect causes injury Manufacturers distributors and retailers are liable In GA only manufacturers can be strictly liable NOTE In all cases the product must be new property when first sold AND not substantially altered modified 01 01 2021 BUSA 2106 4 Product Warranties NOTE To sue on a product warranty claim you must have PRIVITY of CONTRACT you bought it from THEM with the person company you sue 1 Express warranty Oral or written agreement Subject to contract rules such as conditions precedent 2 Implied warranty of merchantability In all sales of goods it is implied that the seller of goods merchant warrants promises that the goods are fit for their intended purpose i e they are what seller claims them to be and will do what buyer expects Can be expressly disclaimed or if sale is as is or with all faults 3 Implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose Buyer must rely upon expertise of seller to recommend particular product to be used for particular purpose Seller must know buyer is relying upon seller s expertise Can also be expressly disclaimed 01 01 2021 BUSA 2106 5
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