Product Liability Law Research Articles

The Consumer Education and ADR in the Product Liability Law

The Consumer Education and ADR in the Product Liability Law

Product Liability Law for Consumers

Product Liability Law for Consumers

Document Management for Counterplan of Product Liability Law

Document Management for Counterplan of Product Liability Law

A Study on the Product Liability Law in an Developed countries and Risk Management of Korean Export Firms

A Study on the Product Liability Law in an Developed countries and Risk Management of Korean Export Firms

Approach to certification according to EN ISO 9002 in the field of non-destructive testing

Quality (Q), quality management (QM), and certification, etc., are terms which can be found increasingly in everyday language, written texts and standards. In addition, customers, authorities and insurers require ever more detailed documentation of quality activities. Many companies are forced to deal with these aspects due to the increasing demands for minimizing risks contained in product liability laws and regulations, for maintaining competitiveness, and for reasons of advertising. This substantial outside pressure forces an ever bigger number of companies, as well as departments, to consider seriously the introduction of a quality system, and this has been the case for the non-destructive testing department of an Austrian company. The approach leading to the certification of this company department is described, and consisted basically of the following steps: analysis of the intitial situation, initial procedures leading to an external pre-audit, subsequent phase of corrections of nonconformities, fi...

Product liability and failure analysis

The importance of an understanding of the basics of product liability law by failure analysts and by those involved in the design and manufacture of products is discussed. The development of product liability law is reviewed, including the principles of negligence, strict liability and implied warranty, and express warranty and misrepresentation. This is done primarily in the context of the USA and Canada, although reference is made to the situation in other countries. The nature of a defect is discussed, the two types being a production defect and a design defect. The establishment of a product liability case is outlined, and some discussion is given of failure analysis to determine the presence of a defect in actual cases.

Liability prevention techniques for a world marketplace

A fatigue failure, its causes and its remedies may be identified, but their relative importance is usually assessed by the use of extrinsic value systems. The failure may be evaluated by comparing it to the anticipated, expected, specified or needed performance. This may be done by peer specialists, other company engineers, by the customer or by the ultimate user of a product. Their value systems help determine whether a failure is tolerable or unacceptable. In addition, societal value systems may be incorporated into legal rules, government regulations and product liability laws that may be used to evaluate a particular failure. These societal value systems may have severe penalties attached to violations and may be applied in unfamiliar foreign countries. Thus, to properly `evaluate' failures, the engineering specialist must now `understand' potential product liability implications, on a worldwide basis, and his own technical value system may be transformed in the learning process. Some of the more important basic legal concepts that should be clearly understood are foreseeability, reasonableness and due care. In terms of risk, there are legal aspects, derivative engineering aspects and supplemental risk concepts. Central to this understanding are various risk concepts relating to techniques for the estimation of a failure's capacity to do harm, the type of risk data utilized for a particular analytic purpose, the method selected for risk assessment and risk categorization, and variations legally required in risk analysis by engineers and scientists. The concepts relating to risk have been defined and elaborated to such an extent that they are a fundamental means of communicating the relative meaning of a failure in the context of the real world marketplace. The legal aspects of failure analysis are extremely important in formulating design engineering criteria as well as marketing strategies. Such concepts should be considered in the perspective of current perturbations and transitional forces effecting the cost of noncompliance. Liability prevention is increasingly a professional obligation and a personal responsibility of engineering specialists.

Recent Developments in the Indiana Law of Product Liability

Recent Developments in the Indiana Law of Product Liability

Ergonomic Methodology for Designing Safety Products : A Discussion about"Normal Use" Specified in the Law of Product Liability

Ergonomic Methodology for Designing Safety Products : A Discussion about"Normal Use" Specified in the Law of Product Liability

Limited Liability and Imperfect Information—On the Existence of Safety Equilibria Under Products Liability Law

In the literature on the economics of tort law the Cournot-Nash equilibrium concept has been undisputed. In particular, the existence of a Cournot-Nash safety equilibrium has been taken for granted, given the usual convexity assumptions. In this paper a simple model of strict liability with the defence of contributory negligence is considered. Liability is assumed to be limited. It is shown that for a certain range of liability limits no Cournot-Nash safety equilibrium in pure strategies exists. A mixed strategy equilibrium exists but it turns out to be suboptimal.

The developmennt of the new product and the product liability law

The developmennt of the new product and the product liability law

High School Consumer Education Incorporating the Product Liability Law and Development of Teaching Material

High School Consumer Education Incorporating the Product Liability Law and Development of Teaching Material

The Battle Over Product Liability Law Reform

No abstract available.

An Unhappy Return to Confusion in the Common Law of Products Liability - Denny v. Ford Motor Company Should Be Overturned

An Unhappy Return to Confusion in the Common Law of Products Liability - Denny v. Ford Motor Company Should Be Overturned

Product liability law and injury prevention in Asia and the Pacific

The policy that lies behind product liability laws-laws that relate to loss or damage caused by products-is to encourage the prevention of loss or damage caused by something wrong with products, and if that cannot be achieved, to compensate those who have suffered the loss or damage. The legal methods used for this purpose are generally based on two types of law: —those prescribing norms of behaviour or quality standards with which products must comply, or: —those prescribing the conditions under which compensation is to be paid: how much, and by whom, to the injured party. Some Asia-Pacific countries now have laws that prescribe product standards. The policy question in relation to such laws is ‘What is the most effective and efficient way of setting appropriate standards for safety and enforcing them?’ Different laws require different answers. If the law provides for compensation the policy questions are about the selection of a party best able to avoid the risk of loss, and the most effective and efficient way of transferring the loss from that person to the injured party. The question translates as ‘Who should pay the cost of the loss when a defective product produces loss or damage to a person’? Until recently, only one Asia-Pacific country-the USA-had a developed system of product liability laws, but now several other countries have changed their laws relating to product liability. The paper discusses a number of characteristics of these laws. Many are modelled on principles established in the European Union, and may be less than effective in meeting desirable policy objectives. The globalisation of trade is also an important factor, and may make the laws less than optimally effective.

Ergonomic and product safety research in Japan.

With increased trading between continents with different cultures, laws and expectations, it is essential to attempt to harmonise various aspects of consumer safety provision. Free trade is essential but not at the cost of consumer safety. Europe has had product liability laws for some considerable time, but in Japan the enacting legislation was only passed in July 1995. As wel I as legislative differences there are also considerable variations in many aspects of Japanese life, expectations and indeed physical and psychological characteristics, and the Japanese are making considerable efforts to measure and document these. This paper describes the results of an inventory of the research activities that are being undertaken in the field of ergonomics and product safety research as well as in more fundamental investigations into the human characteristics and the safety of Japanese consumers. A number of Research Centres were visited and information was collected about others.

Recent Developments in the Law of Product Liability in Japan

Recent Developments in the Law of Product Liability in Japan

Recent Developments in the Indiana Law of Product Liability

Although the Indiana courts issued few product liability decisions during this survey period (October 1996 to October 1997), the courts clarified the definition of a user or consumer, established further guidelines for the proof of causation and product identification, addressed the issue of disclaimers in the context of strict product liability, and considered a number of important defenses to product liability claims.

Exporting to the USA: product liability and how to avoid it

US product-liability laws are a major concern for many exporters. Seen from a UK perspective, certain US laws can seem draconian both in terms of the events for which manufacturers are held liable and the compensation awarded. This article explains what liability exporters to the USA face and how to minimise the risks involved.

Product Liability and Private International Law: Jurisdiction in International Product Liability Litigation

The aim of this article is to identify and analyse the means by which jurisdiction can be established in an Australian court against a foreign manufacturer/designer and/or assembler in a product liability action brought under the tort of negligence and Part VA of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Commonwealth).