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Product liability claims generally must meet four elements for strict liability to apply: The plaintiff must be a merchant. This means someone who routinely deals in goods of the type at issue. The product must be defective. No changes. The plaintiff must be using the product in a foreseeable manner.

In general, an injured party must prove that the product was defective or dangerous at the time when it left the possession or control of the defendant. The seller is not liable for injuries caused by parties' mishandling or other actions that make the product harmful at the time it was consumed by the purchaser.

What is the statute of limitations for product liability claims in NJ? The statute of limitations is generally two years from the date or injury or discovery of the injury.

If the test for strict liability is met, the manufacturer can be held liable even if they were not negligent. In general, for strict product liability, someone has to show that: The product had a defect. The defect made the product unreasonably dangerous.

THREE THEORIES OF PRODUCT LIABILITY In most jurisdictions a person injured by a product may base his or her recovery of damages on one (or more) of four different legal theories: (1) negligence, (2) breach of warranty, and (3) strict tort liability.

Therefore, one avenue open to a defendant in a product liability case is to argue that the harm suffered by the plaintiff was a result of using the product in an unexpected and unforeseeable way. Thus, misuse can serve as a defense against liability.

N.J. Stat. § 2A:58C-2 A manufacturer or seller of a product shall be liable in a product liability action only if the claimant proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the product causing the harm was not reasonably fit, suitable or safe for its intended purpose because it: a.

Here are some of the most common defenses that may challenge a product liability claim: Contributory negligence. Assumption of risk. Unrelated injury. Altered product. Product liability waiver.

Defendants in product liability cases frequently assert the defense that the use of the product by the plaintiff was “abnormal” or a “misuse” of the product. The argument is that the damages were caused by the user's negligent use of the product and not by any defect in the product.