Lawsuit!: Reducing the Risk of Product Liability for Manufacturers

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Product Warranties

Many manufacturers think the only thing they do or supply that relates to warranty, is the actual warranty or limited warranty form or contract clause provided at the time of contract or sale. What they do not realize are the potential liabilities they could face related to Implied or express warranties.

An express warranty is a promise, ancillary to an underlying sales agreement, which is included in the written or oral terms of the sales agreement, under which the promisor assures the quality or performance of the goods sold. An express warranty can be created by the seller by any affirmation of fact or promise made by the seller to the buyer that relates to the goods and becomes part of the basis of the sale, or description of the goods that is made part of the basis of the sale, or sample or model that the whole of the goods shall conform to the sample or model, can all create an express warranty. This can sometimes become the case when competitors of the same type of product are both trying to make the sale, but the sales person for one of the competing companies exaggerates the expected performance of the product, which then becomes the basis of the sale and the reason why the buyer chose that product over the other similar product. Regardless of what the written warranty states, this affirmation of fact or promise made by the seller becomes part or the agreement.

An implied warranty arises when something is sold by the seller for a purpose that the seller ...