Establishes immunity from liability for certain designers, manufacturers, sellers, and lessors of products

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Establishes immunity from liability for certain designers, manufacturers, sellers, and lessors of products

The following summaries of this bill are available: Print All Summaries Introduced Print SB 1234 - This act specifies that, in any civil action for personal injury, death, or property damage caused by a product, the plaintiff shall prove that the defendant designed, manufactured, sold, or leased the actual product that caused the injury.

What This Bill Does

• The following summaries of this bill are available: Print All Summaries Introduced Print SB 1234 - This act specifies that, in any civil action for personal injury, death, or property damage caused by a product, the plaintiff shall prove that the defendant designed, manufactured, sold, or leased the actual product that caused the injury.
• Designers, manufacturers, sellers, or lessors of products not identified as having been used, ingested, or encountered by an injured party will not be held liable for any alleged injury.
• A person or business entity whose design is copied or otherwise used by a manufacturer without the designer's express authorization shall not be subject to liability for personal injury, death, or property damage, even if the use of the design is foreseeable.
• This act is identical to HCS/HB 918 (2025) and is substantially similar to SB 552 (2025), a provision in SB 669 (2022), in SB 1243 (2022), in HB 2367 (2022), in HCS/SCS/SB 119 (2021), SB 350 (2021), HCS/HB 782 (2021), and in the perfected HCS/HB 922 (2021).

Limits and Unknowns

• This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Official Summary Text

The following summaries of this bill are available:

Print All Summaries

Introduced

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SB 1234 - This act specifies that, in any civil action for personal injury, death, or property damage caused by a product, the plaintiff shall prove that the defendant designed, manufactured, sold, or leased the actual product that caused the injury. Designers, manufacturers, sellers, or lessors of products not identified as having been used, ingested, or encountered by an injured party will not be held liable for any alleged injury. A person or business entity whose design is copied or otherwise used by a manufacturer without the designer's express authorization shall not be subject to liability for personal injury, death, or property damage, even if the use of the design is foreseeable.

This act is identical to HCS/HB 918 (2025) and is substantially similar to SB 552 (2025), a provision in SB 669 (2022), in SB 1243 (2022), in HB 2367 (2022), in HCS/SCS/SB 119 (2021), SB 350 (2021), HCS/HB 782 (2021), and in the perfected HCS/HB 922 (2021).
KATIE O'BRIEN

Current Bill Text

SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1234
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR TRENT.
3365S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To amend chapter 537, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to civil actions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 537, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto 1
one new section, to be known as section 537.767, to read as 2
follows:3
537.767. 1. In any civil action for personal injury, 1
death, or property damage caused by a product, regardless of 2
the type of claims alleged or the theory of liability 3
asserted, the plaintiff shall prove, among other elements, 4
that the defendant designed, manufactured, sold, or leased 5
the particular product the use of which is alleged to have 6
caused the injury on which the claim is based, and not a 7
similar or equivalent product. Designers, manufacturers, 8
sellers, or lessors of products not identified as having 9
been used, ingested, or encountered by an allegedly injured 10
party shall not be held liable for any alleged injury. A 11
person, firm, corporation, association, partnership, or 12
other legal or business entity whose design is copied or 13
otherwise used by a manufacturer without the designer's 14
express authorization shall not be subject to liability for 15
personal injury, death, or property damage caused by the 16
manufacturer's product, even if the use of the design was 17
foreseeable. 18
SB 1234 2
2. This section shall not alter or affect any other 19
provision of law, including those provisions relating to 20
mislabeling, fraud, and deceptive merchandising practices 21
and those provisions that apply to successor entities, 22
distributors, component manufacturers, or manufacturers who 23
use component parts in assembling products for sale as 24
complete units or those provisions that apply to the 25
operation of a contract, including a licensing agreement. 26
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