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iPhone battery lawsuit dismissed

Apple is off the hook after a judge rules the company provided sufficient disclosure on the iPhone's package that the battery could not be replaced by the user.

Tom Krazit Former Staff writer, CNET News
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.
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Removing the iPhone's battery (the big white thing) is not a trivial process, but a judge has ruled that Apple warned people ahead of time. TechRepublic

Apple won't have to deal with a lawsuit filed over the iPhone battery.

Bloomberg reports that a judge in Chicago has dismissed Jose Trujillo's lawsuit against Apple claiming the company deceived him regarding the user replaceable status of the iPhone battery. The judge simply read the packaging on the iPhone, which described the battery has having "limited recharge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced by Apple service provider," and ruled that was sufficient warning prior to purchase that the battery had to be replaced by Apple or a third party.

Trujillo's lawsuit never seemed to have much of a chance--the original complaint completely misrepresented key facts, such as the expected life of the battery--but he was probably hoping to cash in by linking his case to a successful one over the iPod's battery. However, the case isn't completely dead yet. AT&T still has to work out some sort of deal after the judge ruled that Trujillo was not aware prior to purchase that any dispute between himself and AT&T would have to be worked out through arbitration, not the court system.