Benson

Although I agree with everything my colleagues have to say regarding the Proposition 64 aspect of the case, I must reluctantly dissent because the majority leaves the door open for the possibility of further litigation on the merits.

I believe that the governing statute, Business and Professions Code section 17533.7, must be given a commonsense interpretation under the circumstances of this case, lest the statute lead to absurd results. Consider: Would anyone really dispute the idea that the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, built by American shipworkers in Newport News, Virginia, was “made in America”? And yet if we take the statute too literally, the mere fact that a single television monitor in the communications section of the ship came from Taiwan would mean the ship itself was not “made in America.” After all, a “part thereof’ was “entirely or substantially made” outside the United States—“part’ in a hyper-literal sense at least.

*1285 I do not believe the statute should be read that way. Statutes should be interpreted to be internally consistent. (People v. Moroney (1944) 24 Cal.2d 638, 642-643 [ 150 P.2d 888 ]; Brown v. Guy (1959) 167 Cal.App.2d 211, 214 [ 334 P.2d…

*1262 Opinion

INTRODUCTION

In 2000, plaintiff James Benson, on behalf of the general public, sued defendants Kwikset Corporation, its parent corporation, Black & Decker Corporation (collectively defendants), plus Technolock, S. A. de C. V. (Technolock) for restitution and injunctive relief under the unfair competition law (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200) and the false advertising law (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17500; all further statutory references are to the Business and Professions Code unless otherwise indicated). Plaintiff alleged defendants violated statutory provisions prohibiting the marketing or sale of merchandise with “Made in U.S.A.” or similar labels when the merchandise either contained foreign-made parts or involved foreign manufacture.

After a December 2001 trial, the superior court found defendants had marketed products in packaging that contained misleading country of origin labels. The trial court entered a judgment for plaintiff enjoining defendants’ use of inaccurate labels, and also ordering them to allow retailers and distributors to return mislabeled products for either a refund or replacement. As to Technolock, the court entered judgment in its favor.…