“ With these principles in mind, the Court turns to the issues of whether Sharper Image, which is a public figure [5] and which challenges statements made on issues of public concern, has demonstrated it has a reasonable probability of proving any of the challenged statements are false and, if so, whether Consumers Union made such statements with knowledge of the falsity thereof or with reckless disregard for the truth. ”

“ Wood replied: “What’s really missing is good studies on health benefits of air cleaners and good studies where different units are truly compared in real-world settings for their ability to remove particulates from the air and improve health. And how to design the test methods to equal that and provide that information is I think the hard part and something that there’s certainly smart enough people out there from engineering backgrounds to be able to do that.” ”

“ In short, although Sharper Image’s evidence indicates that some scientists and others are of the view that factors in addition to the CADR should be considered in measuring the performance of portable air cleaners, there is no evidence that the CADR is, as a scientific matter or otherwise, an invalid consideration. The fact that some scientists may be attempting to develop other or additional ways of measuring the performance of portable air cleaners does not support a finding that test results based on CADR measurements are false. ”

“ More technically, Clean Air Delivery Rates are the rates of contaminant reduction in the test chamber when the unit is turned on, minus the rate of natural decay when the unit is not running, times the volume of the test chamber as measured in cubic feet. ”

“ Specifically, Consumers Union explained that, in its view, if an air cleaner slowly removes particles from the air, “then running [it] for 24 hours is not going to make it an effective air cleaner when infiltration of air containing particles into a room continues.” ”

“ Consumers Union gave the IBQ the same ratings as it had in the February 2002 article, specifically, ratings of “excellent” in the two “noise” categories, a rating of “good” in the “ease of use” category, and ratings of “poor” in the two “dust” categories and the two “smoke” categories, (See id.) , and also again showed that the IBQ had the lowest annual “energy” cost and no annual “filter” cost. (See id.)
In the AC, Sharper Image alleges that certain statements in the October 2003 article are false. ”

“ Consumer reporting enables citizens to make better informed purchasing decisions. Regardless whether particular statements made by consumer reporters are precisely accurate, it is necessary to insulate them from the vicissitudes of ordinary civil litigation in order to foster the First Amendment goals mentioned above. ”

“ None of the scientists or other parties who have “criticized” the CADR have stated, or even suggested, that a test result based on CADR measurements is scientifically unreliable. Cf. Consumer Justice Center, 107 Cal. App. 4th at 605 (holding where plaintiff offered evidence that defendant’s statement that its product was “scientifically proven” to increase breast size was “not supported by any reliable scientific proof,” plaintiff’s showing was sufficient to “withstand a special motion to strike pursuant to section 425.16”) . ”