Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, STATE UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES—W.D. Tex.: Texas state law claims against Apple for allegedly defective laptops dismissed, (Nov 1, 2013)
Law Firms Mentioned:Morrison & Foerster LLP | Rosales Law Firm
Organizations Mentioned:Apple | Apple, Inc. | Morrison & Foerster, LLP
By Jody Coultas, J.D.
Apple laptop purchasers failed to state a Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) claim against Apple, Inc. for allegedly misrepresenting the quality of its laptops and failing to disclose a defect, the federal district court in Austin has held (Deburro v. Apple, Inc., October 31, 2013, Sparks, S.).
The purchasers filed a DTPA putative class action alleging two of Apple’s laptop computer models contained faulty motherboards, referred to by Apple as “logic boards.” The defective logic boards allegedly resulted in USB ports not functioning, or in the laptop itself being rendered unusable. The named plaintiffs both paid roughly $310.00 for replacement logic boards.
Apple’s motion to dismiss the DTPA claim was granted by the court. The DTPA prohibits, among other things, (1) representing a good has characteristics or benefits it does not have; (2) representing a good is of a particular quality when it is not; (3) advertising a good “with intent not to sell [it] as advertised,” and (4) failing to disclose known information about a good with intent to induce a consumer into a transaction they otherwise would not have entered into. The purchasers failed to plead any specific representations made by Apple about its logic boards. The representations alleged were also irrelevant because they dealt with aspects of the product not challenged in the suit, or were simple puffery. The purchasers also failed to plead reliance as neither purchaser claimed to see any of the representations prior to purchasing a laptop. Furthermore, the purchaser’s acknowledgement that Apple did not know about the defective logic board until at least 2010. Therefore, they could not state DTPA claims based on a failure to disclose the defect.
The court also held that the purchasers failed to plead a viable common law fraud claim, breach of warranty claims, negligence, and equitable relief claims.
The case is No. A-13-CA-784-SS.
Attorneys: Omar W. Rosales (Rosales Law Firm) for David R. Deburro. Keith Mason Henneke (Morrison & Foerster LLP) for Apple, Inc.
Companies: Apple, Inc.
Cases: StateUnfairTradePractices TexasNews