2007 Minnesota Statutes

604.03 USEFUL LIFE OF PRODUCT.
    Subdivision 1. Expiration as defense. In any action for the recovery of damages for personal
injury, death or property damage arising out of the manufacture, sale, use or consumption of a
product, it is a defense to a claim against a designer, manufacturer, distributor or seller of the
product or a part thereof, that the injury was sustained following the expiration of the ordinary
useful life of the product.
    Subd. 2. Determination. The useful life of a product is not necessarily the life inherent in
the product, but is the period during which with reasonable safety the product should be useful
to the user. This period shall be determined by reference to the experience of users of similar
products, taking into account present conditions and past developments, including but not limited
to (1) wear and tear or deterioration from natural causes, (2) the progress of the art, economic
changes, inventions and developments within the industry, (3) the climatic and other local
conditions peculiar to the user, (4) the policy of the user and similar users as to repairs, renewals
and replacements, (5) the useful life as stated by the designer, manufacturer, distributor, or seller
of the product in brochures or pamphlets furnished with the product or in a notice attached to the
product, and (6) any modification of the product by the user.
History: 1978 c 738 s 9