§ 147.009.Manufacturer's Duty to Indemnify

A savings provision protecting the innocent seller in the supply chain.

The chapter does not relieve a manufacturer from the obligation, if any, to indemnify a seller for losses arising out of a product liability action for property damage under the products liability chapter — subject to any defenses the manufacturer could have asserted at the time the action was filed.

The indemnity it preserves is a substantial protection. A manufacturer must indemnify a seller for losses arising out of a products liability action, including court costs, reasonable expenses, reasonable attorney’s fees, and any reasonable damages — except where the seller’s own conduct caused the loss.

The concern is obvious in a date failure claim. A retailer who sold software it did not write, or a distributor who moved a chip it did not design, had no way to know about a defect and no ability to fix it. Leaving that party exposed while protecting the manufacturer would be the wrong way round.

Note the confinement to property damage. Personal injury claims are outside this chapter altogether under the applicability provision, so the indemnity preserved here is the one that matters within the chapter’s field.

"If any" is careful drafting. The section preserves whatever duty exists rather than creating one, and the products liability provision has its own conditions and exclusions.

The closing words preserve the manufacturer’s position: whatever defences it could have asserted when the action was filed survive, so the indemnity is not enlarged by this section.