In Nguyen v. Barnes & Noble, Inc., 763 F.3d 1171 (9th Cir. 2012):
- B&N was unsuccessful in enforcing an arbitration provision in its online Terms of Use.
- Court found that there was no evidence of Nguyen having actual notice of the Terms of Use or acknowledgement of same.
- Found that under circumstances a reasonably prudent user would not be on inquiry notice of the Terms of Use
- Court said Terms of Use where hard to find and barely noticeable.
- Said “inquiry notice” turns on “design and content of the website and agreement’s webpage.”
- This case was followed by e.g., Long v. Provide Commerce, Inc. 245 Cal. App. 4th 855 (Cal. Ct. App. 2016) (refused to compel arbitration, stated that to put users on notice you need conspicuous hyperlink plus notice that it contains binding terms. A conspicuous notice alone is not enough).