I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2813

To provide small businesses certain protections from litigation excesses and 

to limit the product liability of nonmanufacturer product sellers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2003

Mr. CHABOT (for himself, Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky, Mr. GOODE, Mr. PENCE, 

Mr. BURR, and Mr. KELLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To provide small businesses certain protections from litigation excesses and to limit the product liability of nonmanufacturer product sellers.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Small Business Liability Reform Act of 2003’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
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TITLE I—SMALL BUSINESS LAWSUIT ABUSE PROTECTION 

Sec. 101. Findings. 

Sec. 102. Definitions. 

Sec. 103. Limitation on punitive damages for small businesses. 

Sec. 104. Limitation on joint and several liability for noneconomic loss for 

small businesses. 

Sec. 105. Exceptions to limitations on liability. 

Sec. 106. Preemption and election of State nonapplicability. 

TITLE II—PRODUCT SELLER FAIR TREATMENT 

Sec. 201. Findings; purposes. 

Sec. 202. Definitions. 

Sec. 203. Applicability; preemption. 

Sec. 204. Liability rules applicable to product sellers, renters, and lessors. 

Sec. 205. Federal cause of action precluded. 

TITLE III—EFFECTIVE DATE 

Sec. 301. Effective date.

1 TITLE I—SMALL BUSINESS 

2 LAWSUIT ABUSE PROTECTION 

3 SEC. 101. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds that—

5 (1) the United States civil justice system is in6 efficient, unpredictable, unfair, costly, and impedes 

7 competitiveness in the marketplace for goods, serv8 ices, business, and employees; 

9 (2) the defects in the United States civil justice 

10 system have a direct and undesirable effect on inter11 state commerce by decreasing the availability of 

12 goods and services in commerce; 

13 (3) there is a need to restore rationality, cer14 tainty, and fairness to the legal system; 

15 (4) the spiralling costs of litigation and the 

16 magnitude and unpredictability of punitive damage 
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1 awards and noneconomic damage awards have con2 tinued unabated for at least the past 30 years; 

3 (5) the Supreme Court of the United States has 

4 recognized that a punitive damage award can be un5 constitutional if the award is grossly excessive in re6 lation to the legitimate interest of the government in 

7 the punishment and deterrence of unlawful conduct; 

8 (6) just as punitive damage awards can be 

9 grossly excessive, so can it be grossly excessive in 

10 some circumstances for a party to be held respon11 sible under the doctrine of joint and several liability 

12 for damages that party did not cause; 

13 (7) as a result of joint and several liability, en14 tities including small businesses are often brought 

15 into litigation despite the fact that their conduct 

16 may have little or nothing to do with the accident 

17 or transaction giving rise to the lawsuit, and may 

18 therefore face increased and unjust costs due to the 

19 possibility or result of unfair and disproportionate 

20 damage awards; 

21 (8) the costs imposed by the civil justice system 

22 on small businesses are particularly acute, since 

23 small businesses often lack the resources to bear 

24 those costs and to challenge unwarranted lawsuits; 
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1 (9) due to high liability costs and unwarranted 

2 litigation costs, small businesses face higher costs in 

3 purchasing insurance through interstate insurance 

4 markets to cover their activities; 

5 (10) liability reform for small businesses will 

6 promote the free flow of goods and services, lessen 

7 burdens on interstate commerce, and decrease liti8 giousness; and 

9 (11) legislation to address these concerns is an 

10 appropriate exercise of the powers of Congress under 

11 clauses 3, 9, and 18 of section 8 of article I of the 

12 Constitution of the United States, and the 14th 

13 amendment to the Constitution of the United States. 

14 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this title: 

16 (1) CRIME OF VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘crime of 

17 violence’’ has the same meaning as in section 16 of 

18 title 18, United States Code. 

19 (2) DRUG.—The term ‘‘drug’’ means any con20 trolled substance (as defined in section 102 of the 

21 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)) that 

22 was not legally prescribed for use by the defendant 

23 or that was taken by the defendant other than in 

24 accordance with the terms of a lawfully issued pre25 scription. 
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1 (3) ECONOMIC LOSS.—The term ‘‘economic 

2 loss’’ means any pecuniary loss resulting from harm 

3 (including the loss of earnings or other benefits re4 lated to employment, medical expense loss, replace5 ment services loss, loss due to death, burial costs, 

6 and loss of business or employment opportunities) to 

7 the extent recovery for such loss is allowed under ap8 plicable State law. 

9 (4) HARM.—The term ‘‘harm’’ means any phys10 ical injury, illness, disease, or death or damage to 

11 property. 

12 (5) INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM.—The term 

13 ‘‘international terrorism’’ has the same meaning as 

14 in section 2331 of title 18, United States Code. 

15 (6) NONECONOMIC LOSS.—The term ‘‘non16 economic loss’’ means loss for physical or emotional 

17 pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, 

18 mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of 

19 life, loss of society and companionship, loss of con20 sortium (other than loss of domestic service), injury

21 to reputation, or any other nonpecuniary loss of any 

22 kind or nature. 

23 (7) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means any 

24 individual, corporation, company, association, firm, 
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1 partnership, society, joint stock company, or any 

2 other entity (including any governmental entity). 

3 (8) PUNITIVE DAMAGES.—The term ‘‘punitive 

4 damages’’ means damages awarded against any per5 son or entity to punish or deter such person, entity, 

6 or others from engaging in similar behavior in the 

7 future. Such term does not include any civil pen8 alties, fines, or treble damages that are assessed or 

9 enforced by an agency of State or Federal govern10 ment pursuant to a State or Federal statute. 

11 (9) SMALL BUSINESS.—

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘small busi13 ness’’ means any unincorporated business, or 

14 any partnership, corporation, association, unit 

15 of local government, or organization that has 

16 fewer than 25 full-time employees as deter17 mined on the date the civil action involving the 

18 small business is filed. 

19 (B) CALCULATION OF NUMBER OF EM20 PLOYEES.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), 

21 the number of employees of a subsidiary of a 

22 wholly owned corporation includes the employ23 ees of— 

24 (i) a parent corporation; and 
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1 (ii) any other subsidiary corporation 

2 of that parent corporation. 

3 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

4 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

5 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, 

6 Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Is7 lands, any other territory or possession of the 

8 United States, or any political subdivision of any 

9 such State, commonwealth, territory, or possession. 

10 SEC. 103. LIMITATION ON PUNITIVE DAMAGES FOR SMALL 

11 BUSINESSES. 

12 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Except as provided in section 

13 105, in any civil action against a small business, punitive 

14 damages may, to the extent permitted by applicable Fed15 eral or State law, be awarded against the small business 

16 only if the claimant establishes by clear and convincing 

17 evidence that conduct carried out by that defendant with 

18 a conscious, flagrant indifference to the rights or safety 

19 of others was the proximate cause of the harm that is the 

20 subject of the action. 

21 (b) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT.—In any civil action 

22 against a small business, punitive damages awarded 

23 against a small business shall not exceed the lesser of—

24 (1) three times the total amount awarded to the 

25 claimant for economic and noneconomic losses; or 
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1 (2) $250,000, 

2 except that the court may make this subsection inappli3 cable if the court finds that the plaintiff established by 

4 clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted 

5 with specific intent to cause the type of harm for which 

6 the action was brought. 

7 (c) APPLICATION BY THE COURT.—The limitation 

8 prescribed by this section shall be applied by the court 

9 and shall not be disclosed to the jury. 

10 SEC. 104. LIMITATION ON JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY 

11 FOR NONECONOMIC LOSS FOR SMALL BUSI12 NESSES. 

13 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Except as provided in section 

14 105, in any civil action against a small business, the liabil15 ity of each defendant that is a small business, or the agent 

16 of a small business, for noneconomic loss shall be deter17 mined in accordance with subsection (b). 

18 (b) AMOUNT OF LIABILITY.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—In any civil action described 

20 in subsection (a)—

21 (A) each defendant described in that sub22 section shall be liable only for the amount of 

23 noneconomic loss allocated to that defendant in 

24 direct proportion to the percentage of responsi25 bility of that defendant (determined in accord-
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1 ance with paragraph (2)) for the harm to the 

2 claimant with respect to which that defendant 

3 is liable; and 

4 (B) the court shall render a separate judg5 ment against each defendant described in that 

6 subsection in an amount determined under sub7 paragraph (A). 

8 (2) PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSIBILITY.—For 

9 purposes of determining the amount of noneconomic 

10 loss allocated to a defendant under this section, the 

11 trier of fact shall determine the percentage of re12 sponsibility of each person responsible for the harm 

13 to the claimant, regardless of whether or not the 

14 person is a party to the action. 

15 SEC. 105. EXCEPTIONS TO LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY. 

16 The limitations on liability under sections 103 and 

17 104 do not apply—

18 (1) to any defendant whose misconduct—

19 (A) constitutes— 

20 (i) a crime of violence; or 

21 (ii) an act of international terrorism; 

22 (B) results in liability for damages relating 

23 to the injury to, destruction of, loss of, or loss 

24 of use of, natural resources described in—
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1 (i) section 1002(b)(2)(A) of the Oil 

2 Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 

3 2702(b)(2)(A)); or 

4 (ii) section 107(a)(4)(C) of the Com5 prehensive Environmental Response, Com6 pensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 

7 U.S.C. 9607(a)(4)(C)); 

8 (C) involves— 

9 (i) a sexual offense, as defined by ap10 plicable State law; or 

11 (ii) a violation of a Federal or State 

12 civil rights law; 

13 (D) occurred at the time the defendant 

14 was under the influence (as determined under 

15 applicable State law) of intoxicating alcohol or 

16 a drug, and the fact that the defendant was 

17 under the influence was the cause of any harm 

18 alleged by the plaintiff in the subject action; or 

19 (2) to any cause of action which is brought 

20 under the provisions of title 31, United States Code, 

21 relating to false claims (31 U.S.C. 3729–3733) or to

22 any other cause of action brought by the United 

23 States relating to fraud or false statements. 
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1 SEC. 106. PREEMPTION AND ELECTION OF STATE NON2 APPLICABILITY. 

3 (a) PREEMPTION.—Subject to subsection (b), this 

4 title preempts the laws of any State to the extent that 

5 State laws are inconsistent with this title. 

6 (b) ELECTION OF STATE REGARDING NONAPPLICA7 BILITY.—This title does not apply to any action in a State 

8 court against a small business in which all parties are citi9 zens of the State, if the State enacts a statute—

10 (1) citing the authority of this subsection; 

11 (2) declaring the election of such State that this 

12 title does not apply as of a date certain to such ac13 tions in the State; and 

14 (3) containing no other provision. 

15 TITLE II—PRODUCT SELLER 

16 FAIR TREATMENT 

17 SEC. 201. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

18 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

19 (1) although damage awards in product liability 

20 actions may encourage the production of safer prod21 ucts, they may also have a direct effect on interstate 

22 commerce and consumers of the United States by in23 creasing the cost of, and decreasing the availability 

24 of, products; 

25 (2) some of the rules of law governing product 

26 liability actions are inconsistent within and among 
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1 the States, resulting in differences in State laws that 

2 may be inequitable with respect to plaintiffs and de3 fendants and may impose burdens on interstate com4 merce; 

5 (3) product liability awards may jeopardize the 

6 financial well-being of individuals and industries, 

7 particularly the small businesses of the United 

8 States; 

9 (4) because the product liability laws of a State 

10 may have adverse effects on consumers and busi11 nesses in many other States, it is appropriate for the 

12 Federal Government to enact national, uniform 

13 product liability laws that preempt State laws; and 

14 (5) under clause 3 of section 8 of article I of 

15 the United States Constitution, it is the constitu16 tional role of the Federal Government to remove 

17 barriers to interstate commerce. 

18 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title, based on 

19 the powers of the United States under clause 3 of section 

20 8 of article I of the United States Constitution, are to 

21 promote the free flow of goods and services and lessen the 

22 burdens on interstate commerce, by—

23 (1) establishing certain uniform legal principles 

24 of product liability that provide a fair balance among 
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1 the interests of all parties in the chain of production, 

2 distribution, and use of products; and 

3 (2) reducing the unacceptable costs and delays 

4 in product liability actions caused by excessive litiga5 tion that harms both plaintiffs and defendants. 

6 SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this title: 

8 (1) ALCOHOL PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘alcohol 

9 product’’ includes any product that contains not less 

than 1 10 ⁄2 of 1 percent of alcohol by volume and is in11 tended for human consumption. 

12 (2) CLAIMANT.—The term ‘‘claimant’’ means 

13 any person who brings an action covered by this title 

14 and any person on whose behalf such an action is 

15 brought. If such an action is brought through or on 

16 behalf of an estate, the term includes the claimant’s 

17 decedent. If such an action is brought through or on 

18 behalf of a minor or incompetent, the term includes 

19 the claimant’s legal guardian. 

20 (3) COMMERCIAL LOSS.—The term ‘‘commercial 

21 loss’’ means—

22 (A) any loss or damage solely to a product 

23 itself; 

24 (B) loss relating to a dispute over the 

25 value of a product; or 
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1 (C) consequential economic loss, the recov2 ery of which is governed by applicable State 

3 commercial or contract laws that are similar to 

4 the Uniform Commercial Code. 

5 (4) COMPENSATORY DAMAGES.—The term 

6 ‘‘compensatory damages’’ means damages awarded 

7 for economic and noneconomic losses. 

8 (5) DRAM-SHOP.—The term ‘‘dram-shop’’ 

9 means a drinking establishment where alcoholic bev10 erages are sold to be consumed on the premises. 

11 (6) ECONOMIC LOSS.—The term ‘‘economic 

12 loss’’ means any pecuniary loss resulting from harm 

13 (including the loss of earnings or other benefits re14 lated to employment, medical expense loss, replace15 ment services loss, loss due to death, burial costs, 

16 and loss of business or employment opportunities) 

17 to the extent recovery for that loss is allowed under 

18 applicable State law. 

19 (7) HARM.—The term ‘‘harm’’ means any phys20 ical injury, illness, disease, or death or damage to 

21 property caused by a product. The term does not in22 clude commercial loss. 

23 (8) MANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘manufac24 turer’’ means—

25 (A) any person who—
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1 (i) is engaged in a business to 

2 produce, create, make, or construct any 

3 product (or component part of a product); 

4 and 

5 (ii)(I) designs or formulates the prod6 uct (or component part of the product); or 

7 (II) has engaged another person to 

8 design or formulate the product (or compo9 nent part of the product); 

10 (B) a product seller, but only with respect 

11 to those aspects of a product (or component 

12 part of a product) that are created or affected 

13 when, before placing the product in the stream 

14 of commerce, the product seller— 

15 (i) produces, creates, makes, con16 structs and designs, or formulates an as17 pect of the product (or component part of 

18 the product) made by another person; or 

19 (ii) has engaged another person to de20 sign or formulate an aspect of the product

21 (or component part of the product) made 

22 by another person; or 

23 (C) any product seller not described in 

24 subparagraph (B) that holds itself out as a 

25 manufacturer to the user of the product. 
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1 (9) NONECONOMIC LOSS.—The term ‘‘non2 economic loss’’ means loss for physical or emotional 

3 pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, 

4 mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of 

5 life, loss of society and companionship, loss of con6 sortium (other than loss of domestic service), injury 

7 to reputation, or any other nonpecuniary loss of any 

8 kind or nature. 

9 (10) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means any 

10 individual, corporation, company, association, firm, 

11 partnership, society, joint stock company, or any 

12 other entity (including any governmental entity). 

13 (11) PRODUCT.—

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘product’’ 

15 means any object, substance, mixture, or raw 

16 material in a gaseous, liquid, or solid state 

17 that—

18 (i) is capable of delivery itself or as an 

19 assembled whole, in a mixed or combined 

20 state, or as a component part or ingre21 dient; 

22 (ii) is produced for introduction into 

23 trade or commerce; 

24 (iii) has intrinsic economic value; and 
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1 (iv) is intended for sale or lease to 

2 persons for commercial or personal use. 

3 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘product’’ 

4 does not include—

5 (i) tissue, organs, blood, and blood 

6 products used for therapeutic or medical 

7 purposes, except to the extent that such 

8 tissue, organs, blood, and blood products 

9 (or the provision thereof) are subject, 

10 under applicable State law, to a standard 

11 of liability other than negligence; or 

12 (ii) electricity, water delivered by a 

13 utility, natural gas, or steam. 

14 (12) PRODUCT LIABILITY ACTION.—

15 (A) GENERAL RULE.—Except as provided 

16 in subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘product liabil17 ity action’’ means a civil action brought on any 

18 theory for a claim for any physical injury, ill19 ness, disease, death, or damage to property that 

20 is caused by a product. 

21 (B) The following claims are not included 

22 in the term ‘‘product liability action’’: 

23 (i) NEGLIGENT ENTRUSTMENT.—A 

24 claim for negligent entrustment. 
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1 (ii) NEGLIGENCE PER SE.—A claim 

2 brought under a theory of negligence per 

3 se. 

4 (iii) DRAM-SHOP.—A claim brought 

5 under a theory of dram-shop or third-party 

6 liability arising out of the sale or providing 

7 of an alcoholic product to an intoxicated 

8 person or minor. 

9 (13) PRODUCT SELLER.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘product sell11 er’’ means a person who in the course of a busi12 ness conducted for that purpose—

13 (i) sells, distributes, rents, leases, pre14 pares, blends, packages, labels, or other15 wise is involved in placing a product in the 

16 stream of commerce; or 

17 (ii) installs, repairs, refurbishes, re18 conditions, or maintains the harm-causing 

19 aspect of the product. 

20 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘product sell21 er’’ does not include—

22 (i) a seller or lessor of real property; 

23 (ii) a provider of professional services 

24 in any case in which the sale or use of a 

25 product is incidental to the transaction and 
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1 the essence of the transaction is the fur2 nishing of judgment, skill, or services; or 

3 (iii) any person who—

4 (I) acts in only a financial capac5 ity with respect to the sale of a prod6 uct; or 

7 (II) leases a product under a 

8 lease arrangement in which the lessor 

9 does not initially select the leased 

10 product and does not during the lease 

11 term ordinarily control the daily oper12 ations and maintenance of the prod13 uct. 

14 (14) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

15 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

16 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, 

17 Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Is18 lands, any other territory or possession of the 

19 United States, or any political subdivision of any 

20 such State, commonwealth, territory, or possession. 

21 SEC. 203. APPLICABILITY; PREEMPTION. 

22 (a) APPLICABILITY.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para24 graph (2), this title governs any product liability ac25 tion brought in any Federal or State court. 
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1 (2) ACTIONS FOR COMMERCIAL LOSS.—A civil 

2 action brought for commercial loss shall be governed 

3 only by applicable State commercial or contract laws 

4 that are similar to the Uniform Commercial Code. 

5 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAW.—This title su6 persedes a State law only to the extent that the State law 

7 applies to an issue covered by this title. Any issue that 

8 is not governed by this title, including any standard of 

9 liability applicable to a manufacturer, shall be governed 

10 by any applicable Federal or State law. 

11 (c) EFFECT ON OTHER LAW.—Nothing in this title 

12 shall be construed to—

13 (1) waive or affect any defense of sovereign im14 munity asserted by any State under any State law; 

15 (2) supersede or alter any Federal law; 

16 (3) waive or affect any defense of sovereign im17 munity asserted by the United States; 

18 (4) affect the applicability of any provision of 

19 chapter 97 of title 28, United States Code;

20 (5) preempt State choice-of-law rules with re21 spect to claims brought by a foreign nation or a cit22 izen of a foreign nation; 

23 (6) affect the right of any court to transfer 

24 venue or to apply the law of a foreign nation or to 

25 dismiss a claim of a foreign nation or of a citizen 
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1 of a foreign nation on the ground of inconvenient 

2 forum; or 

3 (7) supersede or modify any statutory or com4 mon law, including any law providing for an action 

5 to abate a nuisance, that authorizes a person to in6 stitute an action for civil damages or civil penalties, 

7 cleanup costs, injunctions, restitution, cost recovery, 

8 punitive damages, or any other form of relief, for re9 mediation of the environment (as defined in section 

10 101(8) of the Comprehensive Environmental Re11 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 

12 U.S.C. 9601(8))). 

13 SEC. 204. LIABILITY RULES APPLICABLE TO PRODUCT 

14 SELLERS, RENTERS, AND LESSORS. 

15 (a) GENERAL RULE.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—In any product liability ac17 tion covered under this title, a product seller other 

18 than a manufacturer shall be liable to a claimant 

19 only if the claimant establishes that—

20 (A)(i) the product that allegedly caused the 

21 harm that is the subject of the complaint was 

22 sold, rented, or leased by the product seller; 

23 (ii) the product seller failed to exercise rea24 sonable care with respect to the product; and 
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1 (iii) the failure to exercise reasonable care 

2 was a proximate cause of the harm to the 

3 claimant; 

4 (B)(i) the product seller made an express 

5 warranty applicable to the product that alleg6 edly caused the harm that is the subject of the 

7 complaint, independent of any express warranty 

8 made by a manufacturer as to the same prod9 uct; 

10 (ii) the product failed to conform to the 

11 warranty; and 

12 (iii) the failure of the product to conform 

13 to the warranty caused the harm to the claim14 ant; or 

15 (C)(i) the product seller engaged in inten16 tional wrongdoing, as determined under applica17 ble State law; and 

18 (ii) the intentional wrongdoing caused the 

19 harm that is the subject of the complaint. 

20 (2) REASONABLE OPPORTUNITY FOR INSPEC21 TION.—For purposes of paragraph (1)(A)(ii), a 

22 product seller shall not be considered to have failed 

23 to exercise reasonable care with respect to a product 

24 based upon an alleged failure to inspect the product, 

25 if—
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1 (A) the failure occurred because there was 

2 no reasonable opportunity to inspect the prod3 uct; or 

4 (B) the inspection, in the exercise of rea5 sonable care, would not have revealed the as6 pect of the product that allegedly caused the 

7 claimant’s harm. 

8 (b) SPECIAL RULE.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—A product seller shall be 

10 deemed to be liable as a manufacturer of a product 

11 for harm caused by the product, if—

12 (A) the manufacturer is not subject to 

13 service of process under the laws of any State 

14 in which the action may be brought; or 

15 (B) the court determines that the claimant 

16 is or would be unable to enforce a judgment 

17 against the manufacturer. 

18 (2) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—For purposes 

19 of this subsection only, the statute of limitations ap20 plicable to claims asserting liability of a product sell21 er as a manufacturer shall be tolled from the date 

22 of the filing of a complaint against the manufacturer 

23 to the date that judgment is entered against the 

24 manufacturer. 

25 (c) RENTED OR LEASED PRODUCTS.—
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1 (1) DEFINITION.—For purposes of paragraph 

2 (2), and for determining the applicability of this title 

3 to any person subject to that paragraph, the term 

4 ‘‘product liability action’’ means a civil action 

5 brought on any theory for harm caused by a product 

6 or product use. 

7 (2) LIABILITY.—Notwithstanding any other 

8 provision of law, any person engaged in the business 

9 of renting or leasing a product (other than a person 

10 excluded from the definition of product seller under 

11 section 202(13)(B)) shall be subject to liability in a 

12 product liability action under subsection (a), but any 

13 person engaged in the business of renting or leasing 

14 a product shall not be liable to a claimant for the 

15 tortious act of another solely by reason of ownership 

16 of that product. 

17 SEC. 205. FEDERAL CAUSE OF ACTION PRECLUDED. 

18 The district courts of the United States shall not 

19 have jurisdiction under this title based on section 1331 

20 or 1337 of title 28, United States Code. 

21 TITLE III—EFFECTIVE DATE 

22 SEC. 301. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

23 This Act shall take effect with respect to any civil 

24 action commenced after the date of the enactment of this 
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1 Act without regard to whether the harm that is the subject 

2 of the action occurred before such date.

Æ