Medimatch, Inc. v. Lucent Technologies Inc

In Medimatch, Inc. v. Lucent Technologies Inc. (N.D.Cal. 2000) 120 F. Supp. 2d 842, the defendant sold telephone equipment to the plaintiff but failed to disclose that the equipment was not "Y2K-compliant." The plaintiff sued for consumer fraud, among other claims, and the defendant filed a motion for summary judgment on the ground of the statute of limitations. The defendant argued that it had disclosed the "Y2K" defects on their Web site, and the plaintiff was therefore on inquiry notice. (Id. at p. 853.) The court rejected the argument. The court noted that the statute of limitations "becomes a mixed question of law and fact when resolution requires determining constructive notice." (Id. at p. 853, fn. 7.) The court held, "Even assuming a detailed early posting of the Y2K defects, the Court cannot say as a matter of law that plaintiffs should have discovered the information on the web site through the exercise of reasonable diligence. ... These plaintiffs are not in the technology field and had no reason to be checking the web sites of the manufacturers of their office equipment. ... At this stage of the proceedings, the Court is unable to find, as a matter of law, that plaintiffs should have been aware that their telephone equipment may have contained Y2K defects earlier than the dates upon which they were notified by Lucent." (Id. at p. 853.) The court specifically rejected the argument that a "web site posting was tantamount to the traditional practice of national publication through the print media." (Id. at p. 853, fn. 6.)