Product liability refers to a claim or lawsuit against a manufacturer or seller of a product for the recovery of damages related to personal injury, death, or property damage claimed to be caused by a defective product.

The claim or lawsuit may be based on the legal theories of strict tort liability, strict products liability, negligence, misrepresentation, breach of express or implied warranty, or any other theory or combination of theories.

Product liability claims may be made against the manufacturer of component parts, an assembling manufacturer, the wholesaler, and the retailer. And product liability claims may be made by the consumer who purchased the product or by someone else who borrowed or used the product.

Product liability laws vary from state to state, and product liability claims may be based on the state’s court opinions (also known as case law or common law) or on the state’s statutes—which are usually the version of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) adopted by the state.

For example, under a state’s version of Article 2 of the UCC (dealing with sales of goods) there are implied warranties of merchantability and of fitness of the goods for a particular purpose included in every sale of goods. In some states these warranties may be waived by agreement, but in other states they may not be waived. See U.C.C. §2-314 and U.C.C. §2-315.

And under a strict liability theory of products liability, the amount of care or precaution taken by the manufacturer is not relevant—the manufacturer will be liable for the harm result from the defective product.

To prevail on a products liability claim, the claimant or plaintiff must prove the product:

• was defective in its design (a design defect) because there was a safer alternative design for the product;

• was defective in its manufacture (a manufacturing defect) because its production departed from the intended design, was significantly or materially different from the other products of the same design, did not work as intended, and was more dangerous to the consumer than expected; or

• was defective in its marketing (a marketing defect) because the product’s advertising and instructions for use were inadequate or failed to warn consumers of hidden (latent) dangers in the product.

In Washington State, product liability is governed by both the Washington Product Liability Act (WPLA) and relevant sections of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) as adopted by the state. The WPLA allows individuals to bring claims against manufacturers, sellers, or other entities in the distribution chain for injuries, death, or property damage caused by defective products. Claims can be based on design defects, manufacturing defects, or marketing defects, including failure to warn. Under the WPLA, strict liability can be imposed, meaning the manufacturer may be held liable regardless of the level of care they exercised if the product is found to be defective and caused harm. Additionally, under Washington's version of the UCC, there are implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose that accompany the sale of goods, which can also form the basis of a product liability claim. These warranties can sometimes be waived, but the conditions for waiver are strictly interpreted. To succeed in a product liability claim in Washington, the claimant must prove that the product was defective in one of the aforementioned ways and that this defect caused the harm experienced.