Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc., 505 U.S. 504, 22 (1992)

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Cite as: 505 U. S. 504 (1992)

Opinion of Stevens, J.

testing or research practices or other actions unrelated to advertising or promotion.

Breach of Express Warranty

Petitioner's claim for breach of an express warranty arises under N. J. Stat. Ann. § 12A:2-313(1)(a) (West 1962), which provides:

"Any affirmation of fact or promise made by the seller to the buyer which relates to the goods and becomes part of the basis of the bargain creates an express warranty that the goods shall conform to the affirmation or promise." Petitioner's evidence of an express warranty consists largely of statements made in respondents' advertising. See 893 F. 2d, at 574, 576; 683 F. Supp. 1487, 1497 (NJ 1988). Applying the Court of Appeals' ruling that Congress pre-empted "damage[s] actions . . . that challenge . . . the propriety of a party's actions with respect to the advertising and promotion of cigarettes," 789 F. 2d, at 187, the District Court ruled that this claim "inevitably brings into question [respondents'] advertising and promotional activities, and is therefore preempted" after 1965. 649 F. Supp., at 675. As demonstrated above, however, the 1969 Act does not sweep so broadly: The appropriate inquiry is not whether a claim challenges the "propriety" of advertising and promotion, but whether the claim would require the imposition under state law of a requirement or prohibition based on smoking and health with respect to advertising or promotion.

A manufacturer's liability for breach of an express warranty derives from, and is measured by, the terms of that warranty. Accordingly, the "requirement[s]" imposed by an express warranty claim are not "imposed under State law," but rather imposed by the warrantor.23 If, for example, a

23 Thus it is that express warranty claims are said to sound in contract rather than in tort. Compare Black's Law Dictionary 1489 (6th ed. 1990) (defining "tort": "There must always be a violation of some duty . . . and

525

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