Title XXXIII, Regulation of Trade, Commerce, Investments, and Solicitations

(1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:(a) “Business” means a retail establishment, restaurant, bar, lounge, sports or entertainment facility, or any other similar place of business or any professional office located in this state in which the public assembles and in …

(1) Any person representing himself or herself as a “safety professional” or “industrial hygienist” must accurately disclose his or her credentials.(2) A person may not represent himself or herself as a “certified safety professional,” “associate safety professional,” “certified …

(1) As used in this section, the term:(a) “Credit memo” means a certificate, card, stored value card, or similar instrument issued in exchange for returned merchandise when the certificate, card, or similar instrument is redeemable for merchandise, food, or services regardless of…

(1) A person may not misrepresent the geographic location of the supplier of a service or product by listing a fictitious business name or an assumed business name in print advertisement if:(a) The name and overall context of the advertisement misrepresent that the supplier maint…

This act is not intended to abrogate or modify the Fictitious Name Act, s. 865.09. Any person who acts in accordance with the requirements of s. 865.09 is not in violation of s. 501.97, as created by this act, without actual misrepresentation as contemplated under this chapter.Hi…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), the use of an idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, discovery, thought, or other creation that is not a work of authorship protected under federal copyright law does not give rise to a claim or cause o…

(1) For the purposes of this section:(a) “Business entity” means any corporation, partnership, limited partnership, proprietorship, firm, enterprise, franchise, association, self-employed individual, or trust, whether fictitiously named or not, doing business in this state.(b) “C…

(1) As used in this section, the term:(a) “Business entity” means any corporation, partnership, limited partnership, proprietorship, firm, enterprise, franchise, association, individual, or trust, whether fictitiously named or not, doing business in this state.(b) “Veterans’ orga…

(1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:(a) “Compensation” means payment of any money, thing of value, or economic benefit conferred on or received by a person in return for services rendered or to be rendered.(b) “Provider” means an entity or individual assisting vete…

As used in this part, the term:(1) “Customer” includes a customer’s designated agent.(2) “Dealer” means a motor vehicle dealer as defined in s. 320.27, but does not include a motor vehicle auction as defined in s. 320.27(1)(c)4.(3) “Replacement item” means a tire, bumper, bumper …

It is an unfair or deceptive act or practice, actionable under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, for a dealer to:(1) Represent directly or indirectly that a motor vehicle is a factory executive vehicle or executive vehicle unless such vehicle was purchased dir…

(1) As a condition precedent to initiating any civil litigation, including arbitration, arising under this chapter against a motor vehicle dealer, which may also include its employees, agents, principals, sureties, and insurers, a claimant must give the dealer a written demand le…

(1) The Legislature recognizes that it is preempted from passing any law that conflicts with federal patent law. However, the Legislature recognizes that the state is dedicated to building an entrepreneurial and business-friendly economy where businesses and consumers alike are p…

As used in this part, the term:(1) “Demand letter” means a written communication, including e-mail, asserting or claiming that a person has engaged in patent infringement.(2) “Institution of higher education” means an educational institution as defined in 20 U.S.C. s. 1001(a).(3)…

A person may not send a demand letter to a target which makes a bad faith assertion of patent infringement. A demand letter makes a bad faith assertion of patent infringement if it:(1) Includes a claim that the target, or a person affiliated with the target, has infringed a paten…

A person aggrieved by a violation of this part may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction. A court may award the following remedies to a prevailing plaintiff in an action brought pursuant to this section:(1) Equitable relief;(2) Actual damages;(3) Costs and fees, in…

A violation of this part is an unfair or deceptive trade practice under part II of this chapter.History.—s. 12, ch. 2015-92.

This part does not apply to an institution of higher education, to a technology transfer organization owned by or affiliated with an institution of higher education, or to a demand letter or an assertion of patent infringement that includes a claim for relief arising under 35 U.S…

As used in this chapter, the term:(1) “Bulk milk hauler/sampler” means a person who collects official samples and transports raw milk from a farm or raw milk products to or from a milk plant, receiving station, or transfer station and is permitted to sample the milk products by a…

(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this chapter is to:(a) Ensure, without undue burden on either the regulatory agency or the dairy industry, that milk, milk products, frozen desserts, and frozen dessert mix sold or offered for sale in this state are produced under sanitary conditions, …

(1) The department shall administer and enforce all regulatory laws currently in effect governing:(a) The production, processing, and distribution of milk, milk products, frozen desserts, and frozen dessert mix.(b) The sanitation and sanitary practices of establishments where foo…

Any moneys collected by the department pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited in the General Inspection Trust Fund and used solely for the programs in this chapter.History.—s. 4, ch. 94-92; s. 28, ch. 2006-26; s. 15, ch. 2008-5.

To ensure consumers full disclosure of the date beyond which milk or milk products may no longer be offered for sale, all dairy processors must establish and legibly label as prescribed by rule of the department, the maximum shelf-life period during which milk and milk products m…

(1) PERMITS.—(a) All facilities engaged in the production, processing, holding, or transfer of milk and milk products in this state must apply to the department for a permit to operate. The application must be on forms developed by the department.(b) Each frozen dessert plant tha…

(1) The department shall establish a schedule for inspections which shall require routine inspections in accordance with the minimum requirements contained in the Grade “A” pasteurized milk ordinance and more frequent inspections or reinspections for permitholders with serious or…

(1) Only Grade “A” pasteurized milk and milk products, pasteurized manufactured milk products, ice cream, and frozen desserts, and cheese made from pasteurized milk shall be sold at retail to the final consumer or to food service establishments as defined in chapter 381, food est…

(1) All future construction or extensive alteration of milk houses, milking barns, stables, parlors, transfer stations, and milk and frozen dessert plants regulated under this chapter must meet certain minimum specifications and requirements which the department shall establish.(…

(1) DISPLAY.—All imitation and substitute milk and milk products sold in retail food stores shall be physically separated from milk or milk products by a partition or other device or divider in the dairy display case or other display-and-sale area.(2) HEALTH STANDARDS.—In the int…

It is unlawful for any person in this state to:(1) Engage in the business of producing, hauling, transferring, receiving, processing, packaging, or distributing milk, milk products, or frozen desserts or operating a washing station, manufacturing single-service containers, or man…

(1) The department may enter an order imposing one or more of the following penalties against any person who violates any provision of this chapter:(a) Issuance of a warning letter that relates to the class of the violation.(b) Imposition of an administrative fine:1. In the Class…

All special or local acts, general laws of limited application, county ordinances or resolutions, municipal ordinances or resolutions, and municipal charter provisions that authorize the regulation of milk or milk products, or frozen desserts for wholesale, are superseded by this…

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Produce Labeling Act of 1979.”History.—s. 1, ch. 79-121; s. 2, ch. 90-322; s. 91, ch. 2004-5.

(1) All producers, growers, and shippers of fresh fruits and vegetables and bee pollen and honey in this state shall be permitted to mark each individual fruit or vegetable, package of bee pollen, or package of honey in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently a…

Any person, firm, or corporation engaged in the business of the retail vending of fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, bee pollen, or honey who willfully and knowingly removes any labels or identifying marks from fruits, vegetables, bee pollen, or honey so labeled is guilty of a noncr…

The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall be responsible for enforcing the provisions of this chapter.History.—s. 5, ch. 79-121; s. 3, ch. 90-322; s. 92, ch. 2004-5.

Any person who owns field boxes, pallets, crates, containers, or receptacles used in the general production, harvesting, packing, transportation, or marketing of fruits or vegetables or their byproducts or used for the storage or transport of agricultural or other commercial good…

Any person desiring to avail herself or himself of the benefits of ss. 506.19-506.28, may make application to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and shall file with such department a true copy and description of such identifying mark or brand, which, if entitled …

The application for filing and recording shall be accompanied by a fee of $2 and thereupon, if consistent with the provisions of s. 506.20 the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall issue to the person applying for registration and recordation of such mark or brand…

The owner of any such registered mark or brand may transfer, release, or sell the same by an instrument in writing evidencing such transfer, release, or sale, and upon application to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services where such mark or brand is registered for th…

The provisions of ss. 506.19-506.28 shall not be construed to apply when fruits, vegetables, or their byproducts, are wrapped or packed in such accepted or prescribed standard containers as are prescribed and designated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and ar…

(1) Any person who shall have in his or her unauthorized possession any field box, pallet, crate, receptacle, or container marked or branded with any mark or brand registered under the provisions of ss. 506.19-506.28, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishab…

If any person shall alter, change, remove or obliterate the registered mark or brand on any field box, pallet, crate, container, or receptacle other than his or her own or shall cause or procure the same to be done, with intent to claim the same, or to prevent identification ther…

It is unlawful for any person to receive or to purchase any field box, pallet, crate, container, or receptacle marked or branded with registered mark or brand as herein provided, from any person other than the registered owner thereof or her or his duly authorized agent, and proo…

(1) As used in this section, the term:(a) “Bona fide purchaser” means a person who in good faith makes a purchase without knowledge of another person’s outstanding rights.(b) “Noncash payment” means payment by a method other than coins or currency.(c) “Plastic bulk merchandise co…

The refusal of any person in possession thereof to deliver any field box, pallet, crate, container, or receptacle so marked or branded and registered as herein provided, to the registered owner of the same or his or her duly authorized agent, upon the demand of such registered ow…

Any person who shall take or send out of the state, or cause to be taken or sent out of the state, any field box, pallet, crate, container, or receptacle so registered or branded as herein provided without the permission of the owner thereof shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of th…