Like all areas of the law, product liability litigation has evolved over the years. Consumers can file a product liability lawsuit against any individual or organization that can be placed along the chain of manufacture for a product that has caused physical harm or monetary damage. Entities found along the chain of manufacture might range from a small company responsible for contributing component parts to an individual retail store owner selling the product. In the past, product liability lawsuits generally involved tangible assets such as real estate or material goods. However, the definition has been extended to include intangibles, such as natural resources, and natural assets, such as livestock and pets.
While all product liability lawsuits involve a product that has in some way malfunctioned, the grounds for litigation can vary. There are three primary methods of proving that a product is defective. Design defects imply that the product is innately defective. Manufacturing defects, meanwhile, refer to an individual or group of products that have malfunctioned as the result of some abnormality in the manufacturing process. Defects in marketing encompass instances of false advertising and breach of warranty.