Nano No-No? Apple Hit With Lawsuit

A class-action lawsuit has been filed in a California court accusing Apple of knowing that its new iPod nano portable music player could be easily damaged by normal use.

The complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., by a Seattle law firm on behalf of a California man, alleges that the nano scratches easily.

"As a result of Defendant's defectively designed product, these Nanos scratch excessively during normal usage, rendering the screen unreadable," the filing read.

The lawsuit asks for a class-action determination, damages that include the cost of the nano, punitive damages, attorney's fees, and if the judge agrees that this is a class-action, part of Apple's profits on the nano.

Nano buyers were quick off the mark to raise Cain about the device, complaining on Apple Computer's own support forum that their iPods were marred after just days of use. A few days later, Apple agreed to replace a limited number of nanos that had defective screens, but refused to deal with scratched devices.

"Although it was clear that the Nano was defective, with fierce competition in the digital music industry, Apple decided not to delay the release of the defectively designed Nano, but to pass the cost of replacing the defective product along to class members," the lawsuit read. "Moreover, rather than admit the design flaw when consumers began to express widespread complaints about the screen's propensity to scratch easily and excessively (and rather than agreeing to replace them as Apple had done with respect to Nanos with cracked screens), Apple concealed the defect and advised class members that they would need to purchase additional equipment to prevent the screen from scratching excessively."

Nano owners can join the class action by filling out a form posted on the Web site of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, the law firm which filed the lawsuit.

Apple did not return a call for comment.