Interesting Ninth Circuit comment on UCL vs. Article III standing: TrafficSchool.com, Inc. v. Edriver Inc.

TrafficSchool.com, Inc. v. Edriver Inc., ___ F.3d ___ (9th Cir. Jul. 28, 2011), is primarily a Lanham Act decision.  However, the Ninth Circuit had this to say about UCL and Article III standing:

The district court found that plaintiffs “failed to prove . . . that they have suffered an injury in fact and lost money or property as a result of Defendants’ actions,” and that they “provided no evidence showing a causal connection between Defendants’ actions and any harm Plaintiffs incurred.” Defendants argue that this finding divested the district court of jurisdiction, and also that plaintiffs lacked standing under the Lanham Act.  The latter contention is wrong because a false advertising plaintiff need only believe that he is likely to be injured in order to bring a Lanham Act claim. 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a). Moreover, the district court made its findings of no injury when it analyzed plaintiffs’  state-law unfair competition claim. These findings conclusively establish that plaintiffs didn’t have standing to bring their state-law claim; but, because California’s unfair competition law defines “injury in fact” more narrowly than does Article III, the findings don’t necessarily preclude Article III standing. See Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17204.1

1 Plaintiffs filing an unfair competition suit must prove a pecuniary injury, Hall v. Time Inc., 70 Cal. Rptr. 3d 466, 470-71 (Cal. Ct. App. 2008), and “immediate” causation, In re Tobacco II Cases, 207 P.3d 20, 40 (Cal. 2009). Neither is required for Article III standing.

Slip op. at 9740-41 & n.1.