The LPLA includes a manufacturer’s test enumerated in Louisiana Revised Statutes §9-2800.53(1). Under the law, a manufacturer is someone who produces a product, as well as someone who exercises control over some characteristic of the product. Someone who incorporates into the product apart made by another manufacturer can also be considered a manufacturer of the product.
Louisiana’s products liability statute renders product sellers liable for injuries in a products liability claim when they label a product as their own or in some other way hold themselves publicly as the manufacturer, even if the seller has not altered the product in any way. This is because the statute was written to protect consumers who are induced to buy a certain manufacturer’s label.
A seller can also be deemed a manufacturer who is in the business of importing or distributing products made abroad by a non-U.S. entity. A seasoned Assumption Parish products liability lawyer could perform the due diligence needed to make these determinations in support of a claim.