The tightening of liability laws in the United States in recent decades has had positive and negative effects on those who make new products. “Strict liability” means that if a consumer is injured by a defective product, they can sue the manufacturer even if they bought it from a retailer. An implied warranty moves along the purchasing chain with all consumer products, and the defect in the item proves the manufacturer to be negligent, even if the person wasn’t using the product as intended. It’s probably not surprising that consumers approve of such protection, since defective or badly designed products, such as water purification systems and filters, could result in dire consequences.

But one early result of the stricter laws was whole lines of consumer products being removed from the market. Some companies hired product liability professional legal counsel, hoping to avoid complying with tightening regulations. One of their arguments was that judgments shouldn’t be made based on scientific information that wasn’t even known about when the products were made. They also claimed the laws removed incentive even to develop new products.

As a result of the liability pressures on manufacturers of new products, many other companies took what was perhaps a more responsible route. Rather than decreasing or altogether ceasing new product research and innovation, they increased these activities. They actually spent more time researching how to produce better quality products, rather than seeking legal ways to avoid responsibility for producing those of lower quality.

Both manufacturers and retailers may argue that applying strict liability to new products puts no responsibility on the consumer to use products correctly, and it prevents growth in the market. But others might point out that if something protects people from injury due to defective products, then that’s not a bad thing. If strict liability has prevented badly designed or defective items from entering the market, and encouraged companies to produce better products, then strict liability may have resulted in a net gain in society.

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