Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Apple off the hook on lawsuit over iPhone batteries

Apple Inc. won't have to face a lawsuit launched by an Illinois resident in July 2007 over the limited life of batteries on its iPhone.

Jose Trujillo sued Apple, accusing it of consumer fraud, claiming it didn't immediately tell customers about the limited battery life, or about the fact it would cost $86 to have the battery replaced.

However, on Thursday, U.S. Judge Mathew F. Kennelly dismissed the suit without trial at Apple's request.

Apple disclosed on the outside of the iPhone package that the battery has "limited recharge cycles, and may eventually need to be replaced by an Apple service provider," Kennelly wrote in his judgment.

"Under the circumstances, no reasonable jury could find that deception had occurred," he wrote.

AT&T Inc., the largest U.S. telephone company and the exclusive iPhone service provider, is still a defendant in the suit.

On Sept. 22, Kennelly denied Dallas-based AT&T's motion to compel arbitration, as it said the service agreement demanded, and to dismiss the suit.

Kennelly said that at the time Trujillo bought an iPhone, he "did not have access to a paper copy of any documents explaining or referencing … the terms of service, including in particular the arbitration requirement.''

The judge has scheduled a hearing for AT&T Sept. 29.




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