The Class Action Fairness Act may have curbed the use of coupons in class action settlements, but a federal appeals court Wednesday grappled with another question: What exactly constitutes a coupon?

The ruling, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, vacated $8.7 million in attorney fees in a class action of 1.3 million consumers of ProFlowers.com and RedEnvelope.com who unknowingly signed up to a rewards program that charged them a $1.95 activation fee and a $14.95 monthly membership. The 2012 settlement of the case offered $3.5 million in refunds and a $20 credit for each class member toward a future online purchase on the same sites. But just 3,000 class members submitted claims totaling $225,000.