BILL NUMBER: AB 568 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 9, 2009
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 10, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 4, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 24, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 23, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 5, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Lieu
FEBRUARY 25, 2009
An act to add and repeal Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 17800)
of Part 3 of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code, and to
amend Section 11226 of the Penal Code, relating to counterfeit
goods.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 568, Lieu. Counterfeit goods: abatement.
Existing law provides that every building or place used for the
purpose of illegal gambling, lewdness, assignation, or prostitution,
and every building or place wherein or upon which these acts take
place, is a nuisance that shall be enjoined, abated, and prevented,
whether it is a public or private nuisance. Existing law authorizes a
district attorney, city attorney, or citizen, as specified, to
maintain an action to abate and prevent the nuisance and perpetually
to enjoin the person conducting or maintaining it, and the owner,
lessee, or agent of the building or place in or upon which the
nuisance exists from directly or indirectly maintaining or permitting
the nuisance.
This bill would provide that if a person is convicted of a
specified crime, then a nonresidential building or place used by that
person for the purpose of willfully manufacturing, intentionally
selling, or knowingly possessing for sale any counterfeit goods,
defined to include counterfeit of a registered mark or any recording
or audiovisual work, the cover, box, jacket, or label of which does
not disclose specified information, shall be deemed a nuisance that
may be enjoined, abated, and prevented, whether it is a public or
private nuisance. The bill would make certain remedies and procedures
in existing law, a violation of which is a crime, relative to the
abatement of buildings or places where a nuisance exists applicable
to these provisions. The bill would require a district attorney, city
attorney, or city prosecutor that maintains an action or actions to
enjoin, abate, or prevent a nuisance pursuant to these provisions to
report, by October 1, 2013, to the Senate and Assembly Committees on
Judiciary on their use of these abatement provisions and their
effectiveness. The bill's provisions would become inoperative on
January 1, 2015.
Because a violation of a restraining order or an injunction
relative to a nuisance pursuant to the provisions of this bill would
be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 17800) is added to
Part 3 of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code, to read:
CHAPTER 4. COUNTERFEITING ABATEMENT
17800. (a) If there is a conviction for a violation of Section
653w or paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 350 of the Penal
Code by any person, then a nonresidential building or place used by
that person for the purpose of willfully manufacturing, intentionally
selling, or knowingly possessing for sale any counterfeit goods
shall be deemed a nuisance which may be enjoined, abated, and
prevented, and for which damages may be recovered, whether it is a
public or private nuisance. The remedies and procedures provided in
Article 2 (commencing with Section 11225) of Chapter 3 of Title 1 of
Part 4 of the Penal Code may be applied by the court. For purposes of
this section, an abatement under Section 11230 of the Penal Code is
discretionary rather than mandatory and may be for a period up to one
year.
(b) An owner shall be provided with 30 days' notice prior to the
filing of an action to abate a nuisance under the provisions of this
section.
(c) As used in this chapter, "counterfeit goods" means (1) any
counterfeit of a mark registered with the Secretary of State or
registered on the Principal Register of the United States Patent and
Trademark Office or (2) any recording or audiovisual work, the cover,
box, jacket, or label of which does not disclose the information as
specified in subdivision (a) of Section 653w of the Penal Code.
17801. A district attorney, city attorney, or city prosecutor
that maintains an action or actions to enjoin, abate, or prevent a
nuisance pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall report to
the Senate and Assembly Committees on Judiciary, by October 1, 2013,
on their use of the provisions of this chapter and their
effectiveness. The report shall include, but not be limited to, all
of the following:
(a) The frequency of use of the nuisance abatement provisions as
well as statistics on whether the use of the abatement provisions
correlates with a decrease in the use of criminal penalties.
(b) Any statistics or information concerning the impact of the use
of these provisions on counterfeiting overall, both in the relevant
county or city and overall.
17802. This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2015, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 2. Section 11226 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
11226. Whenever there is reason to believe that a nuisance, as
defined in this article or as set forth in Section 17800 of the
Business and Professions Code, is kept, maintained, or is in
existence in any county, the district attorney, in the name of the
people of the State of California, or the city attorney of an
incorporated city or any city and county may, or any citizen of the
state resident within the county in his or her own name may, maintain
an action in equity to abate and prevent the nuisance and to
perpetually enjoin the person conducting or maintaining it, and the
owner, lessee, or agent of the building or place, in or upon which
the nuisance exists, from directly or indirectly maintaining or
permitting it.
The complaint in the action shall be verified unless filed by the
district attorney or the city attorney.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.