Warranties for your goods and services can be either express orimplied. Express warranties are those made in writing or directlygiven by you to your customer or client. Examples of expresswarranties are “Parts and labor warranted for 90 days on movingparts.”
Implied warranties aren’t expressly stated but can be derivedfrom advertisements and literature. Examples are “You’ll never haveto paint again if you use this product” or “Use this rust-freecompound to save time and money.” The implication is that no rustwill form on the item and that you’ll never have to redo yourproject.
From a business owner’s point of view, it’s important to makesure that the person writing your advertising or brochures doesn’tinadvertently give a warranty that you can’t pay for. Breaches ofwarranties usually mean that you have to give the cost of theproduct back or at least replace or repair it. This can be verycostly.
And when it comes to a written contract between your businessand a customer, depending on the contract, you almost certainlywill want to include some representation and warranties, andwarranty waivers. There are many variations on warranties dependingon the type of transaction. Typically, warranty waiver languagewill waive the following warranties usually implied into sales ofgoods under state law:
Merchantability. This warranty means the product willoperate as it’s expected to. For example, a toaster will toastbread.
Fitness for a particular purpose. This warranty means theitem will work for something in particular. For example, if you’reseeking fishing line that holds 1,000 pounds, then the productinformation should state that it will hold that amount.
Noninfringement. This kind of warranty relates primarilyto intellectual property matters. Basically, it means that theitems contain only original work or that the creator has obtainedall the necessary licenses so that no third party’s rights will beinfringed.
Title. This warranty means the seller has good title tothe item.
