Opinion ID: 1709
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Claims Regarding the Pharos Release Date

Text: PhotoMedex asserts that Defendants knowingly misrepresented in March 2003 that the Pharos laser would be available that summer, within just a few months. Defendants admit they did not ship the first Pharos until September 2004, more than a year later, but argue that they were delayed in part by having to defend against PhotoMedex's multiple lawsuits. The district court interpreted the predictions of the Pharos's release date to be mere statements of opinion regarding future events, which are generally not actionable. See Bayview Hunters Point Cmty. Advocates v. Metro. Trans. Comm'n., 366 F.3d 692, 698 (9th Cir.2004) ([P]redictions as to future events are ordinarily non-actionable expressions of opinion under basic principles of the tort of fraudulent misrepresentation. (internal quotation marks omitted)); see also Coastal Abstract Serv., Inc. v. First Am. Title Ins. Co., 173 F.3d 725, 731 (9th Cir.1999) (Statements of opinion are not generally actionable under the Lanham Act.); Richard P. v. Vista Del Mar Child Care Serv., 106 Cal.App.3d 860, 165 Cal.Rptr. 370, 373 (1980) (noting that ordinarily predictions as to future events are deemed expressions of opinion, and thus not actionable). There is, however, a well-established exceptionif the speaker has knowledge of facts not warranting the opinion. Id., 165 Cal.Rptr. at 373. An honest or sincere statement of belief about a future event is not actionable, but a statement known at that time by the speaker to be false, or a statement by a speaker who lacks a good faith belief in the truth of the statement, may constitute an actionable misrepresentation. See id.; see also Harris v. United States, 48 F.2d 771, 781 (9th Cir.1931) (holding defendant's misrepresentation that a stock purchase was a good investment was actionable fraud rather than a mere expression of opinion or statement of a future event where the buyers have no independent knowledge of any of the facts with relation to the [investment]) In this instance, Defendants may be liable for misrepresentation if they said that the Pharos would be available in August 2003 but knew that it would not or could not actually be available until a substantially later date. Typically, [w]hether a statement is nonactionable opinion or actionable misrepresentation of fact is a question of fact for the jury. Furla v. Jon Douglas Co., 65 Cal.App.4th 1069, 76 Cal.Rptr.2d 911, 918 (1998). The district court determined PhotoMedex offer[ed] no evidence of malfeasance surrounding Defendants' [release] estimation on which a jury could find for it. Our review of the evidence, which on summary judgment must be viewed in favor of the non-moving party, in this case PhotoMedex, indicates otherwise. Irwin informed FDA officials that Phase II was started in March 2003, at which time [Ra Medical] developed a design plan. PhotoMedex's expert opined that: In my experience, to move a medical laser from the beginning of design Phase II to production would typically require 12 to 18 months, assuming that the Phase I work was complete and well-documented. My review of the documentation generated before March 2003 shows no evidence ... that the Phase I work was complete and well-documented. Ra Medical's documentation primarily shows only rudimentary documentation of internal laser research and development. It is therefore my opinion that Ra Medical would have found it impossible to bring the Pharos laser through the remaining design Phases II, III and IV, the preproduction phase and enter production by either the `summer' or August of 2003. It is also my opinion that it was unreasonable and misleading for the Defendants to project the estimated delivery date of the Pharos laser for any time in 2003, but would have been reasonable for the Defendants to project their estimated delivery date of the Pharos laser to be sometime in the latter half of 2004. Ra Medical did, in fact, ship its first laser in September 2004.... It is also my opinion that a person with experience in medical device development and manufacturing, specifically the development and manufacture of excimer lasers, would and should know the reasonable timetable for completion and shipment of a new excimer laser product. We conclude that this evidence suffices to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Defendants intentionally misrepresented the Pharos's release date. The potential motivation for and harm from such a misrepresentation is obvious. By telling prospective purchasers that the Pharos would be available soon, Defendants might have persuaded them not to buy PhotoMedex's device, which was already available, leaving them open to consider and possibly purchase Defendants' competing product later. Accord Newcal Indus., 513 F.3d at 1053-54 (reversing dismissal of Lanham Act claims involving a copier machine lessor's statement that its contract terms were limited to 60 months, holding whether the lessor knew at the time that it would extend the contractual terms was a factual question). Accordingly, we vacate summary judgment for the claims based on Defendants' statements that the Pharos would be available in the summer of 2003 and remand those claims for further proceedings.