Product liability based on a breach of warranty theory is a form of absolute or strict liability, and negligence need not be established. Injury or damages, a defective product and proximate causation are required elements of a breach of warranty action. A warranty may be said to be a promise by a manufacturer or a seller to stand behind a product. It is a statement about the integrity of the product and about the warrantor's commitment to correct problems if and when the product fails. The law recognizes two basic kinds of warranties: express and implied.
Express warranties are explicitly offered by manufacturers or sellers to their customers in the course of a sales transaction, amounting to promises and statements made about their products or about their commitment to remedy the defects and malfunctions that some customers may experience.
Implied warranties are unspoken, unwritten promises, created by state law, that go from a seller to his or her customer. Implied warranties are based on the common-law principle of "fair value for money spent." The two types of implied warranties that occur in consumer product transactions are the implied warranty of merchantability and the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose.
