Press Releases

Press Release : iPod Nano Litigation - International

Plaintiffs allege the iPod Nano is defective in design, allowing excessive scratching of the screen to occur during normal usage.

November 04, 2005

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Consumers from the United Kingdom and Mexico filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple Computer, Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, claiming the new iPod Nano is defectively designed allowing the screen to quickly become scratched with normal use.

According to the complaint the world's largest manufacturer of portable music players knew of the iPod Nano’s design flaw but chose to ignore them in an effort to speed the product to market.

According to the suit, the defect is a result of a much thinner layer of resin used in designing the Nano that does not provide adequate protection from scratching.

This suit follows a similar class-action case filed on October 19, 2005 against Apple Computers on behalf of iPod Nano users in the United States.

Steve Berman, lead attorney on both cases, attributes the second suit to the large number of international requests to be included in the class-action. “Apple’s iPod Nano has sold in record numbers around the world, just as it did in the US,” said Berman, “It seems that wherever the Nano is sold, problems with the defective design soon follow.”

According to Berman, “The far-reaching response also reveals that this is not just a small problem or a bad batch of Nanos, but a defect in the overall design that should have been rectified prior to the release.”

Named plaintiff, Ben Jennings of the United Kingdom, purchased a Nano in September and was extremely cautious with the screen. Despite his efforts to protect the Nano, within a week the screen was so marred with scratches it became hard to read. “If I had known the truth about the problem, I never would have purchased a Nano,” said Jennings.

According to Berman, residents outside the US are able to ask the court for help since Apple is headquartered in the United States

The suit seeks to represent and recover money lost for all those who live outside of the United States who purchased an iPod Nano.

Mark Firmani
2505 2nd Avenue
Suite 700
Seattle, WA 98121
Phone: 206.443.9357
E-mail: Mark Firmani