The Three Main Types of Product Defects

For more than seven years, Anastacio Mindiola has been working as an attorney at his own practice in Houston, Texas. Anastacio “Trae” Mindiola represents clients involved in civil cases such as mass torts, insurance claims, and product liability claims.

In product liability claims, design defects, manufacturing defects, or marketing defects may be deemed liable by courts for injuries. A design defect is a mistake in a product's design that makes the product inherently dangerous. For example, top-heavy cars that have a high risk of tipping over are defectively designed. 

All products with design defects are dangerous to consumers even if the products are perfectly made by the manufacturers. In the event of a design defect, the engineers and designers are generally held liable for resulting injuries.

Products that are designed safely but manufactured incorrectly are said to have a manufacturing defect. Manufacturing defects, which are introduced when the product is being made, do not apply to an entire product line. 

To make a manufacturing injury claim, the injury must be caused by a manufacturing defect that made the product reasonably unsafe. Product manufacturers are liable for manufacturing defects.

Marketing defects apply to incorrectly labeled products. This includes problems with the instructions and with product warnings written to protect consumers from a possibly unsafe aspect of the product. Distributors, manufacturers, and retailers may be held liable for marketing defects since they all are responsible for the proper labeling of products.