N.Y. General Business Law § 392-c: Obliteration of marks of origin

§ 392-c. Obliteration of marks of origin. 1. Definitions. As used in

this section:

(a) "Person" shall be deemed to include a firm, partnership,

association or corporation.

(b) "Sell" shall be deemed to include offer to sell, expose for sale,

and possess with intent to dispose of or to sell.

(c) "Article of merchandise" shall be deemed to include a cask,

bottle, stopper, vessel, case, cover, wrapper, package, band, ticket,

label or other thing containing or covering an article of merchandise,

or with which an article of merchandise is intended to be sold, or is

sold.

(d) "Mark of origin" shall be deemed to mean and include any name,

mark or indication of the place or country from which an article of

merchandise was imported into the United States of America or its

insular possessions, or the name, mark or indication of the place or

country in which an article of merchandise was manufactured, packed,

assembled, grown or produced.

(e) "Remove" shall be deemed to include deface, alter and obliterate.

(f) "Conceal" shall be deemed to include the original placing of a

mark of origin upon an article of merchandise in any manner whatsoever,

or the arranging or combining of two or more articles of merchandise

into a single unit whereby the mark of origin is removed from open view,

or is rendered illegible or inconspicuous.

(g) The terms "remove" and "conceal" are not to be deemed mutually

exclusive.

2. Any person who wholly or in part removes or conceals or who shall

cause to be, wholly or in part, removed or concealed from or upon an

article of merchandise the mark of origin; or who sells or causes to be

sold an article of merchandise from or upon which to his or its

knowledge, or to the knowledge of his or its agents, servants or

employees there has been in whole or in part, removed or concealed the

mark of origin, or who sells or causes to be sold an article of

merchandise from the inspection of which such knowledge could have been

obtained, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, provided that it shall not

be deemed a violation of this section if at the time of sale said

article of merchandise and the immediate and outer container or

containers thereof shall be marked, stamped, tagged, branded or labeled

in legible and conspicuous English words with said mark of origin or the

concealment thereof shall have completely ceased.

3. The sale of an article of merchandise from which there has been in

whole or in part removed or concealed a mark of origin shall be

presumptive evidence of the violation of this section.