A product is a manufactured good. For example, a car, a swimming pool, toys, vaccines or medicine are examples of a product. It does not include services, like having blood drawn or being waited on in a restaurant. However, what is defined as a "product" is a decision that is left up to the courts and should be discussed with an attorney before going further.

A defective product is when a maker of a product puts that product on the market with defects and those defects cause injuries to a human being. The defect can come from the way the product was made (manufactured outside the specifications) called a "manufacture defect" or from the design of the product, called a "design defect".

A manufacture defect is a defect that is caused when a product comes out differently than other products just like it and this difference causes injuries to someone. For example, a car made on an assembly line is supposed to be exactly the same as any other car that comes off that line. If the seat belt in one of the cars is not properly attached and someone gets into that car and is injured in a car crashes, if the seat belt doesn't hold them in their seat and they fly through the windshield, then that seat belt had a manufacture design defect.

In order to bring a lawsuit under defective products liability law for a manufacture product defect you must prove that your product malfunctioned:

• The product was defective
• The defect caused the injury
• The product was used in a reasonably foreseeable manner when the injury occurred

A product design defect is a defect that is common to all the products of a particular kind. For example, if you buy a car that has the gas tank too close to the trunk and in a rear-end accident it blows up in flames, the design defect is the gas tank being too close to the trunk and it is that way in all cars that were made by that company.

In products liability, to prove a product design defect it must fall into one of two categories:

• Structural Defect
• Lack of safety features

Did you have a warranty? A warranty is a guarantee on the product you purchased from a seller. There are two types of warranties:

• Implied Product Warranty
• Express Product Warranty

An implied product warranty is a warranty that is not written down or spoken, but that guarantees that the product you purchased will do what you expect it to do because that's what its purpose is. For example, if you buy a car from a dealer, you expect the steering wheel to work without the dealer telling you that it will work because the wheel is necessary for a car to be a car

An express product warranty, on the other hand, comes in three forms:

1. The dealer can make a statement of fact about the product. For instance, if he says, "the windshield on this car is shatterproof". If while driving, the glass is hit by a pebble and shatters, causing injury to your eyes, then the warranty given to you is invalid and you may be able to sue for damages.
2. The dealer gives a description of the product. If the dealer says the product will have a wire connected to it that prevents it from overheating and the wire doesn't do that, then the warranty is invalid and you may sue for damages.
3. The dealer may also use a sample or a model to show what your product may look like and what it can do. If the dealer shows you a tire that can withstand fire and tells you that the one you are purchasing is exactly the same and when you take it home it doesn't withstand fire, then the warranty is invalid and you may be able to sue.

However, even if you have an express warranty or an implied warranty you may not be able to sue. If the dealer tells you that the steering wheel on the car doesn't work and you purchase it anyway, you cannot sue if the car doesn't work because of the steering wheel. The dealer's statement is called a "disclaimer". Once the dealer states a disclaimer and you decide to purchase it anyway, you may not be able to sue.

Disclaimers may also limit the amount and kind of damages you may be able to collect if you sign something saying that you sign away those rights. In some cases, a disclaimer may be against the law and invalid.

You cannot bring a lawsuit if you and someone else bought the same product and theirs malfunctions and yours doesn't. For example, if you turn on the news and hear a story about someone with the same lawn mower as you, and that person's mower has run over their foot because the handle wasn't manufactured properly and broke off. You cannot sue if your mower still works properly and the handle is still attached and hasn't injured you.

Under Texas product liability law a Product Liability lawsuit may be brought if a defective product causes injury to a person, on the basis that the manufacturer or the seller of that product may be liable for the damages caused by the defective product.

Do you need to talk to a personal injury lawyer regarding a product defect or a product warranty? If so, call me now to ensure you know all your options.