What's in a name? Possibly, strict liability as an apparent manufacturer

In Lou v. Otis Elevator Co, the Massachusetts Appeals Court held that a trademark licensor who participates substantially in the design, manufacture, or distribution of a licensee's products may be held strictly liable for product defects, even if the licensor was not an actual link in the dist...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Defense counsel journal 2011-07, Vol.78 (3), p.355
Main Author: Higgins, Erin K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agreements
Cooperation
Defects
Elevators & escalators
Evidence
Laws, regulations and rules
Licenses
Manufacturers
Manufacturing
Product quality
Products liability
State court decisions
Strict liability
Supreme Court decisions
Torts
Trademark licenses
Trademarks
Trials
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Summary:In Lou v. Otis Elevator Co, the Massachusetts Appeals Court held that a trademark licensor who participates substantially in the design, manufacture, or distribution of a licensee's products may be held strictly liable for product defects, even if the licensor was not an actual link in the distribution chain. In its decision, the court recognized that no prior reported Massachusetts case had applied the apparent manufacturer doctrine to a non-seller. In sum, the existing case law as to whether a trademark licensor has anticipated substantially in the design, manufacture or distribution of its licensed products, resulting in strict liability for injuries caused by those products, is somewhat inconsistent and can be difficult to reconcile. Thus, the best advice for trademark licensors may be to require that the product label clearly identifies the licensee as the manufacturer of the product, under license to the licensor.
ISSN:0895-0016
2376-3906