Opinion ID: 1291406
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Product Liability

Text: The plaintiffs asserted a manufacturing defect in either the GE extension cord or Fletcher lamp cord caused the fire. In Wright v. Brooke Group, Ltd., 652 N.W.2d 159 (Iowa 2002), the Supreme Court of Iowa adopted the Product Restatement, which provides a product contains a manufacturing defect when the product departs from its intended design even though all possible care was exercised in the preparation and marketing of the product. Id. at 178; Restatement (Third) of Torts: Product Liability § 2(a) (1998). [A] manufacturing defect is a departure from a product unit's design specifications. Id. § 2 cmt. c; see also Parish v. Icon Health & Fitness, Inc., 719 N.W.2d 540, 545 (Iowa 2006) (noting, in adopting the Product Restatement, the Supreme Court of Iowa also adopted the associated commentary). A departure from the intended design of a product cannot be determined without knowing the actual intended design of the product. Thus, under Iowa law, an essential element of any manufacturing defect claim is the intended design of the product. See Wright, 652 N.W.2d at 178-79 (citing [a] manufacturing defect exists only where an item is substandard when compared to other identical units off of the assembly line (quoting In re Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Implants Prods. Liab. Litig., 97 F.3d 1050, 1054 n. 4 (8th Cir.1996))). Here, the plaintiffs never offered any evidence showing (1) the intended design of either the extension or lamp cords or (2) how the manufacturing of these cords departed from the intended product designs. Therefore, the plaintiffs failed to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of essential elements of the manufacturing defect claims. The district court properly granted summary judgment on the plaintiffs' product liability claims.