MGMT 311 STUDY GUIDE 2026 EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔what are the 3 types of product liability types? - ✔✔1. manufacturing
2. design
3. inadequate warnings
✔✔manufacturing defects - ✔✔occurs when a product departs from its intended design
even though all possible care was exercised in the preparation and marketing of the
product
- quality control
- testimonies
✔✔design defects - ✔✔occurs when a product is manufactured according to the
manufacturer's standards, but the product injures a user due to its unsafe design
- prove there was an alternate design available but didn't adopt it
- the design caused the product to be unreasonably safe
- risk utility analysis
consumer expectation test
✔✔inadequate warnings - ✔✔liability based on foreseeability that proper
instructions/labels would have made the product safe to use
- seller has to warn users of foreseeable risks
- lack of warning must be proximate cause
✔✔content of warnings - ✔✔courts apply a "reasonableness" test to determine if the
warnings adequately alert consumers to the product's risks
✔✔what is a defense to inadequate warnings? - ✔✔obvious risks
✔✔what are 2 other applications to strict product liability? - ✔✔1. injury to bystanders of
the product
2. applies to suppliers of component parts
✔✔what are the defenses to product liability? - ✔✔- preemption
- assumption of risk
- product misuse
- comparative negligence (fault)
- commonly known dangers
- knowledgeable user
- statutes of limitations and repose
- defendant has no basis for the lawsuit
✔✔preemption - ✔✔an injured party may not be able to sue for a defective product if
the product is subject to comprehensive federal regulatory schemes
,✔✔assumption of risk - ✔✔- plaintiff knew the risk caused by the product defect
- consent
✔✔product misuse - ✔✔plaintiff uses a product in a way it was not intended to be used
✔✔comparative negligence (fault) - ✔✔- plaintiffs own negligence contributed toward
the injury
- only defense that doesn't completely eliminate defendants liability but dissolves their
damages
✔✔commonly known dangers - ✔✔the dangers associated with certain products (such
as matches and sharp knives) are so commonly known, manufacturers need not warn
users of those dangers
✔✔knowledgeable user - ✔✔a danger so commonly known by particular users of the
product that the defendant had no duty to warn plaintiff
✔✔statutes of limitations and repose - ✔✔- a statute exists that requires a plaintiff to
start the lawsuit within a certain period of time and if the plaintiff waits too long and
misses the deadline the plaintiff wins (2-4 years)
- repose: outer time limits in product liability where the plaintiff must file the lawsuit
within 12 years of purchase
✔✔toll - ✔✔applies to statute of limitations where the time period of filing the lawsuit
may be suspended until the injury is discovered or should have discovered it
✔✔trademark - ✔✔a symbol, word, or words legally registered or established by use as
representing a company or product (source indicator)
✔✔statutory protection of trademarks - ✔✔- at the federal level
- lanham Trademark Act (1946) creates incentives for companies to invest & prevents
unjust enrichment of companies who infringe
✔✔trademark dilution - ✔✔using someone's trademark in such a way so as to reduce
the value of the trademark's significance, reputation, and goodwill, even if the public is
not confused by the use
✔✔dilution act - ✔✔in 1995 the act was passed & allowed trademark owners to bring
suits to federal courts for trademark dilution
✔✔trademark dilution revision act (TDRA) - ✔✔under the TDRA, to state a claim for
trademark dilution, a plaintiff must prove the following:
1. The plaintiff owns a famous mark that is distinctive.
, 2. The defendant has begun using a mark in commerce that allegedly is diluting the
famous mark.
3. The similarity between the defendant's mark and the famous mark gives rise to an
association between the marks.
4. The association is likely to impair the distinctiveness of the famous mark or harm its
reputation.
✔✔trademark registration - ✔✔May be registered with state or federal government if:
1) it is currently in commerce; or
2) applicant intends to put it into commerce within six months
✔✔registration renewal - ✔✔- renewable between 5th & 6th year after initial registration
- every 10 years after that
✔✔trademark infringement - ✔✔- unauthorized use of another's mark
- the holder may recover damages and other remedies from the infringer
- intent is not necessary
✔✔what is the most common remedy to infringement? - ✔✔injunction
✔✔distinctiveness of the mark - ✔✔a trademark must be sufficiently distinctive to
enable consumers to identify the manufacturer of the goods easily and to distinguish
between those goods and competing products
- strong marks
- secondary meaning
- generic terms
✔✔strong marks - ✔✔fanciful, arbitrary, or suggestive trademarks that are usually
unrelated to the nature of the product or service
- most distinctive
- facial & arbitrary: google & dutch boy (have nothing to do with the product itself)
- suggestive: describe something about a products nature without describing the
product directly
✔✔secondary meaning - ✔✔- descriptive/geographic terms & personal names that
acquire meaning over time (CalvinKlein)
- depends on how much the brand is advertised, the market for the products, & the
number of sales
- only gains protection when it has acquired secondary meaning
✔✔generic terms - ✔✔- refer to an entire class of terms (bicycle & computer)
- have NO secondary meaning even if they acquire secondary meaning
- just bc a trademark name becomes common doesn't mean it's now generic
ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔what are the 3 types of product liability types? - ✔✔1. manufacturing
2. design
3. inadequate warnings
✔✔manufacturing defects - ✔✔occurs when a product departs from its intended design
even though all possible care was exercised in the preparation and marketing of the
product
- quality control
- testimonies
✔✔design defects - ✔✔occurs when a product is manufactured according to the
manufacturer's standards, but the product injures a user due to its unsafe design
- prove there was an alternate design available but didn't adopt it
- the design caused the product to be unreasonably safe
- risk utility analysis
consumer expectation test
✔✔inadequate warnings - ✔✔liability based on foreseeability that proper
instructions/labels would have made the product safe to use
- seller has to warn users of foreseeable risks
- lack of warning must be proximate cause
✔✔content of warnings - ✔✔courts apply a "reasonableness" test to determine if the
warnings adequately alert consumers to the product's risks
✔✔what is a defense to inadequate warnings? - ✔✔obvious risks
✔✔what are 2 other applications to strict product liability? - ✔✔1. injury to bystanders of
the product
2. applies to suppliers of component parts
✔✔what are the defenses to product liability? - ✔✔- preemption
- assumption of risk
- product misuse
- comparative negligence (fault)
- commonly known dangers
- knowledgeable user
- statutes of limitations and repose
- defendant has no basis for the lawsuit
✔✔preemption - ✔✔an injured party may not be able to sue for a defective product if
the product is subject to comprehensive federal regulatory schemes
,✔✔assumption of risk - ✔✔- plaintiff knew the risk caused by the product defect
- consent
✔✔product misuse - ✔✔plaintiff uses a product in a way it was not intended to be used
✔✔comparative negligence (fault) - ✔✔- plaintiffs own negligence contributed toward
the injury
- only defense that doesn't completely eliminate defendants liability but dissolves their
damages
✔✔commonly known dangers - ✔✔the dangers associated with certain products (such
as matches and sharp knives) are so commonly known, manufacturers need not warn
users of those dangers
✔✔knowledgeable user - ✔✔a danger so commonly known by particular users of the
product that the defendant had no duty to warn plaintiff
✔✔statutes of limitations and repose - ✔✔- a statute exists that requires a plaintiff to
start the lawsuit within a certain period of time and if the plaintiff waits too long and
misses the deadline the plaintiff wins (2-4 years)
- repose: outer time limits in product liability where the plaintiff must file the lawsuit
within 12 years of purchase
✔✔toll - ✔✔applies to statute of limitations where the time period of filing the lawsuit
may be suspended until the injury is discovered or should have discovered it
✔✔trademark - ✔✔a symbol, word, or words legally registered or established by use as
representing a company or product (source indicator)
✔✔statutory protection of trademarks - ✔✔- at the federal level
- lanham Trademark Act (1946) creates incentives for companies to invest & prevents
unjust enrichment of companies who infringe
✔✔trademark dilution - ✔✔using someone's trademark in such a way so as to reduce
the value of the trademark's significance, reputation, and goodwill, even if the public is
not confused by the use
✔✔dilution act - ✔✔in 1995 the act was passed & allowed trademark owners to bring
suits to federal courts for trademark dilution
✔✔trademark dilution revision act (TDRA) - ✔✔under the TDRA, to state a claim for
trademark dilution, a plaintiff must prove the following:
1. The plaintiff owns a famous mark that is distinctive.
, 2. The defendant has begun using a mark in commerce that allegedly is diluting the
famous mark.
3. The similarity between the defendant's mark and the famous mark gives rise to an
association between the marks.
4. The association is likely to impair the distinctiveness of the famous mark or harm its
reputation.
✔✔trademark registration - ✔✔May be registered with state or federal government if:
1) it is currently in commerce; or
2) applicant intends to put it into commerce within six months
✔✔registration renewal - ✔✔- renewable between 5th & 6th year after initial registration
- every 10 years after that
✔✔trademark infringement - ✔✔- unauthorized use of another's mark
- the holder may recover damages and other remedies from the infringer
- intent is not necessary
✔✔what is the most common remedy to infringement? - ✔✔injunction
✔✔distinctiveness of the mark - ✔✔a trademark must be sufficiently distinctive to
enable consumers to identify the manufacturer of the goods easily and to distinguish
between those goods and competing products
- strong marks
- secondary meaning
- generic terms
✔✔strong marks - ✔✔fanciful, arbitrary, or suggestive trademarks that are usually
unrelated to the nature of the product or service
- most distinctive
- facial & arbitrary: google & dutch boy (have nothing to do with the product itself)
- suggestive: describe something about a products nature without describing the
product directly
✔✔secondary meaning - ✔✔- descriptive/geographic terms & personal names that
acquire meaning over time (CalvinKlein)
- depends on how much the brand is advertised, the market for the products, & the
number of sales
- only gains protection when it has acquired secondary meaning
✔✔generic terms - ✔✔- refer to an entire class of terms (bicycle & computer)
- have NO secondary meaning even if they acquire secondary meaning
- just bc a trademark name becomes common doesn't mean it's now generic
