Article 11

An economic operator as referred to in Article 8 shall not be liable for damage caused by a defective product if that economic operator proves any of the following: (a) in the case of a manufacturer or importer, that it did not place the product on the market or put it into service; (b) in the case of a distributor, that it did not make the product available on the market; (c) that it is probable that the defectiveness that caused the damage did not exist at the time the product was placed on the market, put into service or, in the case of a distributor, made available on the market, or that that defectiveness came into being after that moment; (d) that the defectiveness that caused the damage is due to compliance of the product with legal requirements; (e) that the objective state of scientific and technical knowledge at the time the product was placed on the market or put into service or during the period in which the product was within the manufacturer’s control was not such that the defectiveness could be discovered; (f) in the case of a manufacturer of a defective component, as referred to in Article 8(1), first subparagraph, point (b), that the defectiveness of the product in which that component has been integrated is attributable to the design of that product or to the instructions given by the manufacturer of that product to the manufacturer of that component; (g) in the case of a person that modifies a product as referred to in Article 8(2), that the defectiveness that caused the damage is related to a part of the product not affected by the modification.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, point (c), an economic operator shall not be exempted from liability where the defectiveness of a product is due to any of the following, provided that it is within the manufacturer’s control: (a) a related service; (b) software, including software updates or upgrades; (c) a lack of software updates or upgrades necessary to maintain safety; (d) a substantial modification of the product.