What are the differences between design defect and manufacturing defect claims?

Design defect and manufacturing defect claims are two common types of product liability claims in California. Generally, product liability claims arise when a product is deemed dangerous or defective and causes harm to a consumer. Design defect claims are based on the notion that the defect was present in the design of the product before it was manufactured and is inherent in each unit. This means that the product was created with a dangerous or defective design and all units made with that design are prone to the same defect. For example, if a chair was designed without armrests, and someone tips over and injures themselves, that would be a design defect claim. On the other hand, manufacturing defect claims occur when a mistake was made during the manufacturing process that made a product more dangerous or defective than it was intended to be. For example, if a chair was designed with armrests, but the manufacturer cut the wrong size armrests that were too weak, and someone tips over and injures themselves, that would be a manufacturing defect claim. In California, the basic legal requirements for both design defect claims and manufacturing defect claims are the same. To make a claim, the plaintiff must show that the product was dangerous or defective, the product caused harm to the plaintiff, and the plaintiff used the product as intended. However, in a design defect claim, the plaintiff must also show that the defect existed in the design and all units made with that design are defective. Whereas in a manufacturing defect claim, the plaintiff must show that the defect was introduced through an error during the manufacturing process and only some of the units are defective.

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What are the differences between design defect and manufacturing defect claims?

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