The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has unplugged a speculative class action filed against Apple by lawyers claiming iPod music players are defective by posing an unreasonable risk of hearing loss to its users.
The court ruled that the plaintiffs -- a California man and a Louisiana man -- lacked standing to assert a claim under California's Unfair Competition Law (UCL) because they "do not claim that they suffered or imminently would suffer hearing loss from use of their iPods."
"To have standing under California's UCL, as amended by California's Proposition 64, plaintiffs must establish that they (1) suffered an injury in fact and (2) lost money or property as a result of the unfair competition," states the opinion, written by Judge David R. Thompson.
"Although the plaintiffs allege that Apple has sold more than 100 million iPods, they do not claim that they, or anyone else, have suffered or are substantially certain to suffer hearing loss from using an iPod. As discussed above, as a result of this omission, the plaintiffs fail to state an implied warranty claim, and they have no standing to assert a UCL claim," he wrote. "The plaintiffs' alleged injury in fact is premised on the loss of a 'safety' benefit that was not part of the bargain to begin with."
Read the opinion here: Birdsong v. Apple Inc.pdf