Legal News

A California iPhone owner has filing a class action lawsuit against Apple over the smartphones cracked glass screen. Donald LeBuhn claims the glass on the Apple iPhone 4 is defective, in that the glass housing can break in the course of "reasonable use," the Los Angeles Times reports.

According to the lawsuit, LeBuhn's daughter dropped his phone from a height of 3 feet, which allegedly caused the glass to crack the screen which completely shattered. This despite the fact that LeBuhn says he had a protective bumper case on it.

The lawsuit contends that Apple has made persistent claims in its advertising that the phone was strong and durable. Specifically, Apple called the iPhone 4, "ultradurable," "30 times harder than plastic," and "the same kind used in the windshields of helicopters and high-speed trains," the Los Angeles Times reports.

Blogs and other online communities have been discussing problems with the iPhone 4 since its release. The first buzz was created by problems with the antenna, dubbed "Antennagate" by the local tech geek community.

The glass issue has now been dubbed "Glassgate." (Seriously, must we end the name of ever minor conflict "gate?" When will it eventually end?) The glass issue seemed to draw less attention than the antenna, but has received plenty of discussion online as well.

You can read the iPhone 4 lawsuit yourself. It will certainly be an interesting case to watch. Apple is likely to claim that its phone is durable but that it is obvious that a glass item can break if dropped. However, LeBuhn will likely argue that a mobile phone, by nature, is likely to experience at least small drops and bumps. If the iPhone 4 cannot handle such normal wear and tear, then it is not living up to the legally required warranty.

Related Resources:

• iPhone 4 Class Action Lawsuit after ?Glass Gate? (Slashdot)
• Paul Allen Sues Apple, eBay, Facebook, Google, Netflix... (FindLaw's Courtside)
• Apple Challenging $625M Fine for Patent Infringement (FindLaw's Decided)