If your use of a product has led to you sustaining an injury, then you could be in a position in which you can successfully file a defective product claim against either the retailer, manufacturer, or another party involved in the distribution of the product. When it comes to proving liability in these cases, there are four major theories which are applied to determine legal responsibility. By studying and understanding them, you will have a much easier time assessing whether you have a case like this on your hands or not. It should also be noted that these theories can work in tandem on certain cases.

An express guarantee or warranty was violated by the defect

Warranties and guarantees can be communicated to the consumers in various ways, such as:

• via the packing or label of the product
• through the instructions and other paperwork included in the packaging
• via marketing materials displayed at the location of purchase
• through commercials and other forms of advertising

All of these could be considered express warranty and could those provide basis for a defective product claim. Your Personal Injury Lawyer in Mississauga will be able to help you at every step of the way and ensure that they can maximize the claim amount.

Implied warranty was breached by the product’s defect

While express warranties stem directly from the people in the distributing chain of the product, the implied warranty originates from the law itself. Specifically, from state laws which have been implemented to ensure certain standards of safety to all consumers. State laws, as the name would suggest, differ from state to state, but there are still two main sub-categories to implied warranties which apply to all states:

The implied warranty of merchantability promises to all consumers that the product they are purchasing is capable of fulfilling its intended purpose, aka you are given what you paid for (i.e. the sunscreen you bought protects you from sunburn, or the underwater camera you bought actually functions under water).

The implied warranty of a product being capable to serve a specific purpose is like an additional layer to the concept of merchantability. Let’s say you enter an electronics store and ask for an underwater video camera that will be able to withstand certain amounts of pressure so you can bring it along on your next diving adventure. You give the store clerk all the facts, they recommend you a camera, you purchase it, bring it along on your travels, and the camera ends up getting damaged from the water pressure. In that case, you may be able to file a product defect claim on the basis of breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose.