Facts

Tabletop Media, LLC filed suit against Citizen Systems America Corporation and Citizen Systems Japan Co., Ltd. in relation to printers manufactured by defendants.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Tabletop contended that defendants, who manufacture and sell printers and printer components for point-of-sale and other devices, sold defective printers and defrauded Tabletop. Tabletop argued that its Ziosk product incorporated Citizen printers as a component to print customer receipts in restaurants, but the Citizen printers were defective and prevented the Ziosk products from working properly. Tabletop claimed that Citizen made numerous representations regarding the quality, reliability, and suitability of its printers for a restaurant environment, and these representations were fraudulent statements because Citizen knew its printers were defective. Tabletop alleged that once the printers began to fail, it notified Citizen, which refused to take responsibility to repair or replace the printers, pay for recall costs, or work with Tabletop toward a solution. Tabletop asserted causes of action for fraud, breach of contract, breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, and breach of the implied warranty of fitness for particular purpose.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS: Defendants contended that their products were not defective, that Tabletop's Ziosk product was poorly designed, that the alleged printer issues were caused by the Ziosk's poor design and misuse of the printer in the Ziosk against stated specifications, and that Tabletop could not establish that its declining sales and corporate troubles were due to the printer problems. Specifically, defendants alleged that wait staff at restaurants spray tables and the Ziosk causing liquid to leak into the Ziosk device due to its poor design, impacting performance of the printers. Defendants further claimed that Tabletop's declining sales and corporate troubles were caused by issues entirely unrelated to the printer, including returns of the Ziosk for broken screens and defective plastics, increased number of competitors in the market, and technological obsolescence.

Result

The jury rendered a verdict in favor of defendants.

Length

two weeks