SECTIONS 14425-14438 - California Statutes

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE

SECTION 14425-14438

14425. As used in this article:
(a) "Containers," "equipment" and "supplies" means containers,
equipment or supplies bearing a brand.
(b) "Brand" means any mark, name or device filed as a brand under
this article.
(c) "Registrant" means a person who files a brand under this
article.

14426. Any corporation or association whose members might register
a brand under this article, may itself register a brand under this
article.
As used in this article, "member of a registrant" means a member
who would be entitled to register the same brand under this article.

14427. Any person, who is engaged in the manufacture, packing,
canning, bottling, or selling of any substance in containers with his
or her name, or other mark or device impressed or produced thereon,
or whose equipment or supplies, owned by and used in his or her
business, bears a name or other mark or device impressed or produced
thereon, may file in the office of the Secretary of State after
payment of the fee set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 12193 of
the Government Code, a description of the name, mark, or device so
used, as a brand.

14429. There shall be included as a part of each brand the words,
"Registered in California," or the abbreviation, "Reg. Cal."

14430. It is unlawful for any person except a person named in
subdivision (a) to do any of the acts named in subdivision (b).
(a) Persons excepted:
(1) The owner of the brand which has been filed in accordance with
this article.
(2) The registrant.
(3) Members of any corporation or association which is the
registrant.
(4) A person who has the written consent of the registrant
describing the containers, equipment or supplies to which it applies.
(5) A person who has purchased the container, equipment or
supplies from the owner of the brand appearing thereon.
(b) Prohibited acts:
(1) Possessing, using, or filling with any substance any
container.
(2) Obliterating or concealing the brand on any container,
supplies or equipment.
(3) Selling, buying, giving, taking or otherwise trafficking in
any container, equipment, or supplies.

14431. The use by any person other than the registrant, or owner of
the brand and other than the members of the registrant of any
container, supplies or equipment, without the written consent
provided for in this article, or the possession by any junk dealer,
or dealer in secondhand articles, of any containers, supplies or
equipment, is presumptive evidence of unlawful use of or traffic in
such containers, supplies, or equipment.

14432. Any person acquiring containers, supplies or equipment, by
purchase or other lawful means, and having the written consent
provided for in this article is not required again to file the
description, but acquires as a part of his or her purchase all
benefit that the vendor has.

14433. The acceptance by the owner, or any person lawfully entitled
to their use, of any money as a deposit to secure the safekeeping
and return of containers, equipment or supplies does not constitute a
sale of the containers, supplies or equipment, either optional or
otherwise, in any proceeding under this article.

14434. It is the duty of every person who finds or receives in the
regular course of business or in any other manner, any containers,
supplies or equipment to make diligent effort to find the owner and
return the containers, supplies or equipment to him.

14435. (a) Whenever any registrant or any member of the registrant
takes an oath before any magistrate that he has reason to believe,
and does believe, that any of the containers, supplies or equipment
mentioned in this article, are being unlawfully sold, filled or used,
or are secreted in any place, the magistrate shall issue a search
warrant to discover and obtain them;
(b) The magistrate may cause to be brought before him, the person
in whose possession the containers, equipment or supplies are found,
and if he finds that the person has been guilty of a violation of
this article, he shall impose the punishment prescribed in this
article, and also award the possession of the containers, equipment
or supplies taken upon the search warrant to the owner, or to the
corporation or association of which the owner is a member.

14436. The violation of any of the provisions of this article is a
misdemeanor, punishable:
(a) For the first offense by imprisonment for not less than 10
days nor more than six months or by a fine of fifty dollars ($50) for
each and every container, or article of supply or equipment so
filled, sold, used, disposed of, held, bought or trafficked in, or by
both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) For each subsequent offense by imprisonment for not less than
20 days nor more than one year, or by a fine of not less than fifty
dollars ($50) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100) for each and
every container, or article of supply or equipment so filled, sold,
used, disposed of, held, bought or trafficked in, or by both such
fine and imprisonment.

14437. Every brand registered and published under Chapter 431 of
the Statutes of 1921, as amended, prior to the effective date of
Chapter 1162 of the Statutes of 1931, and all containers, equipment
and supplies bearing such a brand shall be entitled to all the
protection and benefits of this chapter, and it is not necessary for
any such brand to be changed or reregistered on account of the
provisions of Chapter 1162 of the Statutes of 1931 and the provisions
of this article which constitute a restatement and continuation
thereof.

14438. Any registrant whose containers, equipment or supplies are
involved in any violation of the provisions of this article may sue
the person or persons who violated said provisions and, upon proof of
such violation, shall recover threefold the replacement cost new of
the containers, equipment or supplies so involved and costs of suit
including a reasonable attorney's fee. No action shall be brought
under this section or Section 14436 against a person who obtained
possession of the containers, equipment or supplies pursuant to a
contract with the registrant for the delivery of agricultural
commodities, unless such person has failed to return to the
registrant such containers, equipment and supplies to the point of
delivery within 10 days after receipt of a demand for such return
sent by registered mail to such person by the registrant.