A more thorough explanation:

Products liability refers to the legal responsibility of anyone involved in the manufacturing and distribution of a product for any harm caused by that product. This includes the manufacturer of component parts, the assembling manufacturer, the wholesaler, and the retail store owner. If a product has a defect that causes harm to a consumer or someone who uses the product, it can be the subject of a products liability lawsuit.

Products liability can apply to a wide range of products, including tangible personal property, intangibles like gas, naturals like pets, real estate like houses, and even writings like navigational charts. Products liability is mainly derived from torts law.

For a commercial seller of a defective product, the following elements must be present:

• The defendant sold a product that the plaintiff used
• The defendant is the commercial seller of such a product
• The plaintiff suffered an injury
• When the defendant sold the item, the item was defective
• The defect was an actual and proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury

Products liability claims can be based on negligence, strict liability, or breach of warranty of fitness. The type of claim will depend on the jurisdiction where the claim is based, as there is no federal products liability law. The lack of uniformity has led to the publication of the Model Uniform Products Liability Act (MUPLA) to encourage uniform procedures for products liability tort.

There are three types of product defects that can incur liability in manufacturers and suppliers:

• Design Defects: These are inherent and exist before the product is manufactured. While the item might serve its purpose well, it can be unreasonably dangerous to use due to a design flaw.
• Manufacturing Defects: These occur during the construction or production of the item. Only a few out of many products of the same type are flawed in this case.
• Defects in Marketing: These deal with improper instructions and failures to warn consumers of latent dangers in the product.

Products Liability is generally considered a strict liability offense. This means that a defendant is liable when the plaintiff proves that the product is defective, regardless of the defendant's intent. It is irrelevant whether the manufacturer or supplier exercised great care; if there is a defect in the product that causes harm, they will be liable for it.

Even when a product is defective due to a design flaw, some courts will use one of two tests to find that the defendant has no liability:

• Risk-Utility Test: The defendant is not liable for a design defect if evidence shows that the product’s utility outweighs its inherent risk of harm.
• Consumer Expectation Test: A reasonable consumer would find the product defective when using the product in a reasonable manner. If a reasonable consumer would not find the product to be defective even when using it in a reasonable manner, then the defendant is not liable, even if the product's design flaw resulted in injury.

Products liability cases can involve defendants and plaintiffs from a large number of jurisdictions, due to the number of steps required in the creation of a product and the resulting large number of people who use a given product. Due to the large number of people who may be involved in products liability cases, plaintiffs often forum shop to find judges sympathetic to products liability claims. In Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California (2017), the Supreme Court limited the forum-shopping ability of plaintiffs in products liability cases.