Opinion ID: 622977
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Unfair Competition Law

Text: Under the UCL, any person or entity that has engaged, is engaging or threatens to engage in unfair competition may be enjoined in any court of competent jurisdiction. Cal. Bus. & Prof.Code §§ 17201, 17203. Unfair competition includes any unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice and unfair, deceptive, untrue or misleading advertising. Cal. Bus. & Prof.Code § 17200. The California Supreme Court has held that the UCL's coverage is sweeping, embracing anything that can properly be called a business practice and that at the same time is forbidden by law. Cel-Tech Commc'ns, Inc. v. L.A. Cellular Tel. Co., 20 Cal.4th 163, 180, 83 Cal.Rptr.2d 548, 973 P.2d 527 (1999) (internal quotations and citation omitted). The UCL borrows violations of other laws and treats them as unlawful practices that the unfair competition law makes independently actionable. Id. (internal quotations and citation omitted). Further, the UCL creates three varieties of unfair competitionacts or practices which are unlawful, or unfair, or fraudulent. Id. Plaintiffs allege that HP's omission violates the CLRA and California's common law fraud and deceit statutes. Cal. Civ.Code §§ 1572(3), 1709, 1710. While the complaint asserts a claim under the unlawful, unfair and fraudulent prongs of the UCL, Plaintiffs' opening brief only discusses the unlawful prong. Their allegations concerning the remaining prongs are thus waived, but we consider them for the sake of completeness. See Eberle v. Anaheim, 901 F.2d 814, 818 (9th Cir.1990) (holding that the court could not consider an issue that appellant failed to raise in his opening brief).