The Kush Report

 

 Discussing Liability for a New Product [28:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today on The Kush Report podcast we have a special guest to discuss the issues of product liability, particularly as it pertains to the process of bringing Kush Support to market. Our guest is Charlotte trial attorney, Jim Chandler.

Jim starts out by detailing the basic principal of product design or manufacture liability in which the burden of proof is on the person who is bringing to case to show negligence of the design and/or manufacturing process.

He also specifically recommends that early in the process, any entity planning on bringing a product to market should extensively research and acquire liability insurance.  Jim clearly states during the podcast that an inventor should carefully look for insurance beyond just the broker, but to get straight to the source of the plan.  Make sure to read what the exclusions to the policy are so that you know what the policy does not cover.

An interesting fact in the State of North Carolina is that six years from the date of sale, the statute of limitations (of statute of repose) expires and all rights to any claims for injury are lost. He actually details an accident that occurred in 1997 which occurred 6 years and 4 days after the sale, and the case was completely lost.

As the Kush Support was going through the early development stages, Jim had to look at anything inherent in the design or in the possible usage, with the intention of developing a warranty for the product.  His advice is to state the obvious facts about how to use the product and how to specifically maintain the product, which goes a long way to protect against the claim from someone who says they were not told how to use the product.

We point out that a common challenge for inventors is to reign in the enthusiasm for completing all of the stages of development before all of the legal hurdles have been cleared, and in the case of Kush Support coming to market there had to be a number of contractual points to be negotiated before charging ahead.  In fact, a simple element such as jurisdiction should be clarified and reviewed before executing an agreement.

In summary, the best approach to take while considering developing a product is to work closely with someone who has experience in legal and insurance matters to ensure protection against possible future harm.  At Kush Support, it was very much a top of mind awareness.

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