Anyone who files a products liability case in court is basically saying that a product manufacturer should be held for property damage or product liability if the consumer incurred damage due to a product defect. The consumer may also file a suit if a product manufacturer has made false claims about any of their products. The defendant, however, can counter the plaintiff's claims in the product liability case.
To understand product liability laws, you need to know about contract and tort laws. Tort laws are civil offenses. These are recognized as grounds for a lawsuit. The main objective of a tort law is to give relief to the consumer for damages that the defendant has incurred. A breach of contract, on the other hand, leads to a breach of contract law. The nature of contract law can be complicated and the person filing the product liability case may file different claims including negligence, the breaking of warranty laws and fraud.
There is a background to the evolution of product liability laws. The courts in England had come up with the doctrine of caveat emptor which means let the consumer know of the challenges and defects. With time, there has been a change in the definition of caveat emptor law in England. In the U.S., however, the earlier definition prevailed.
Earlier in the U.S., the courts had ordained that there must have been an exclusive contract with the consumer in order to file a products liability case. It may be mentioned here that during the period, the manufacturer had started depending on retailers to sell their products.