Rasmussen v. Apple Inc.

27 F. Supp. 3d 1027, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35352, 2014 WL 1047091
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedMarch 14, 2014
DocketNo. C-13-4923 EMC
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 27 F. Supp. 3d 1027 (Rasmussen v. Apple Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rasmussen v. Apple Inc., 27 F. Supp. 3d 1027, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35352, 2014 WL 1047091 (N.D. Cal. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS

(Docket No. 22)

EDWARD M. CHEN, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Corbin Rasmussen brings the instant action alleging that Apple’s 27-inch [1030]*1030iMac computers suffer from a defect which causes the screen to “dim” permanently, affecting the usefulness of the computer. Plaintiff asserts two causes of action on behalf of a proposed class consisting of all individuals who have purchased a 27-inch iMac — a California ^Legal Remedies Act claim, Cal. Civ.Code § 1750, and a California Unfair Competition Law claim, Cal. Bus. & Prof.Code § 17200, et seq. Plaintiff argues that Apple’s advertising trumpeted the high quality nature of the screen and of the “long productive life” of Mac computers more generally while knowing that the 27-inch model of iMac suffered from a defect which made the eventual failure of the display highly likely. Plaintiff argues that this failure to disclose the defect violates both the CLRA and UCL. Apple has moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim. For the following reason, the Court GRANTS Apple’s motion to dismiss, but with leave to amend.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff purchased a 27-inch iMac computer on August 3, 2011 for* $2,259.00. Amended Complaint (“Compl.”) ¶ 32 (Docket No. 19). An iMac is an “all-in-one” computer which integrates the computer’s screen, processor, hard drive, and other hardware into “one machine or ‘uni-body enclosure.’ ” Id. ¶ 1, 11. The iMac model at issue in this case has a “LED-Backlit display! ] with a 16:9 aspect ratio.” Id. ¶ 12.

Plaintiff asserts that he purchased the 27 inch iMac because of its “big and bold display” which he believed would be “ideal for playing [¶] movies and television shows” and for running his music composition program. Id. ¶ 31 Before he purchased the computer, he alleges that he did “extensive research” by viewing Apple’s “promotional videos” touting the display and by “frequently visiting Apple’s website to research the iMac and other computers” and reading “the descriptions and specifications for the 27-inch iMac” between May 2011 and August 2011. Id. ¶ 29, 30. However, after approximately 18 months — in December 2012 — half of Plaintiffs iMac’s screen went dim, “diminishing the useful screen size to approximately fifty-percent.” Id. ¶ 33. Plaintiff contacted Apple, but Apple’s customer service told him that because his iMac was out of warranty, any repair to the screen would cost him more than $500 — an amount Plaintiff, as a music teacher, could not afford. Id. ¶ 34-35. Consequently, his use of his iMac is severely limited given the dimmed screen. Id. ¶ 35.

Plaintiff alleges that when Apple launched the new iMac models with “LED-Backlit” displays, Apple’s marketing and advertising focused on the display. Specifically, Plaintiff in his complaint points to the following:

• In late 2009, Jonathan I’ve — Apple’s Senior Vice President of Design-touted the iMac’s display by noting that the iMac was “dominated by this incredible new 16:9 display.... You are just completely consumed by that image. There is not a detail there that doesn’t need to be there.... Everything is about the display, therefore everything is about your content.” Id. ¶ 13 (emphasis in original).
• In a seven-minute long video discussing the new machine, Apple stated “The first thing you’re going to be just blown away with is the display .... There is a lot more screen real estate there. And with some [sic] many more picture elements there is just so much more that you can really do with that display [¶]... ] For the 27 inch we went [1031]*1031further than 1080p, we added seventy-eight percent more pixels to take it well beyond HD. Pixel density like this just doesn’t exist in other desktop computers. With that many pixels you are seeing great detail in photos, you’re seeing razor sharp text, and of course viewing [¶] content with tremendous clarity.” Id. ¶ 14 (emphasis in original).
• The video stated the “LED technology has the advantage of coming on to full brightness the moment you turn them on and it has uniform brightness across the entire screen” and describes the screen as “a very premium class display technology. What you get out of that is very good color consistency and very good display performance.” Id. ¶ 15.
• Apple’s '.'website advertised the Mac’s “big, beautiful displays” and claimed that the screen was “instantly on and uniformly bright” and stated a “Mac is designed for a long productive life” and that Apple designers and engineers “spend countless hours ensuring that each Mac is precisely built — inside and out. From the down-to-the-micron fit of each internal component to the finish of the enclosure.” Id. ¶¶ 16, 20, 21.
• Finally, in bold letters on Apple’s website, Apple lauded Macs in general by stated “It’s designed to be a better computer. When you buy a computer, you want it to last. And a Mac will. That’s because a Mac is designed and built to be as reliable as it is beautiful” and, thus, “only quality components and materials will do.” Id. ¶ 22 (emphasis in original).

Accordingly, Plaintiff alleges that Apple made “claims to superior quality and representations about the Mac’s display.” Id. ¶ 21.

However, at the same time Apple was touting the superior qualities of the Mac's display and the Mac’s dependability more generally, Plaintiff alleges Apple was aware of a latent defect with those same screens. Specifically, Plaintiff claims that beginning in 2010, Apple began to receive so many complaints (alleged to be “several hundred or thousands”) about the 27-inch Mac’s display that a technology news website designated the machines “iLemons.” .Id. ¶¶ 24, 25. This defect is alleged to cause the screen to dim or darken. Id. ¶¶ 2, 27. Despite the growing number of complaints “Apple has refused to publicly acknowledge the screen dimming defect and has failed to stand behind its representations and products and offer a fix for impacted consumers.” Id. ¶ 27.

Plaintiff alleges that the defect in the Mac's display “may manifest itself both inside and outside of Apple’s limited one-year period.” Id. ¶ 25. Further, Plaintiff argues that contrary to Apple’s representations regarding liability, the average person keeps their computer for three years, and would thus reasonably expect a computer to last at least three years. Id. ¶ 23.

Plaintiff has asserted two causes of action — one for a violation of California’s unfair competition law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200, et seq., and one for violation of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 1750, et seq. Both claims are rooted in Plaintiffs claim that Apple’s representations and advertisements regarding the 27-inch Mac’s quality, build, and display were false and misleading.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
27 F. Supp. 3d 1027, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35352, 2014 WL 1047091, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rasmussen-v-apple-inc-cand-2014.