Chapter 325D — Minnesota Unfair Cigarette Sales Act

325D.01 Definitions This section defines key terms used in Minnesota's laws against selling goods below cost. It explains what 'retailer,' … 325D.02 Application This section explains which parts of the below-cost selling law apply to manufacturers versus retailers and wholesalers. … 325D.03 Discrimination Unlawful It is illegal for a business in Minnesota to charge different prices in different cities or areas of the state if the … 325D.04 Selling Below Cost Forbidden Retailers, wholesalers, and vending machine operators in Minnesota cannot sell goods below their actual cost if the … 325D.05 Bankrupt Sales Not to Be Considered in Fixing Costs When figuring out the 'cost' of goods for below-cost selling laws, businesses cannot use bargain prices from bankruptcy … 325D.06 Inapplicable Sales The below-cost selling rules do not apply in certain situations, such as closing out a business, selling damaged goods, … 325D.07 Remedies Cumulative The remedies available under the below-cost selling and price discrimination laws are in addition to any other legal … 325D.071 Violations; Penalties Anyone who intentionally violates Minnesota's price discrimination or below-cost selling laws commits a misdemeanor. … 325D.072 Injunctive Relief Courts can issue orders to stop violations of the below-cost selling laws. Anyone harmed or threatened by a violation … 325D.08 This section has been repealed or relocated. 325D.09 Unlawful Trade Practices This section declares that certain unfair trade practices hurt workers, mislead consumers about prices and product … 325D.10 Definitions This section defines key terms for the unlawful trade practices law, including 'person,' 'employer,' 'sale,' and 'sale … 325D.11 Certain Unlawful Trade Practices It is illegal in Minnesota for a seller to advertise or claim that a sale is at wholesale prices unless the sale is … 325D.12 Retailers Not to Misrepresent Nature of Business Retailers cannot falsely claim to be manufacturers or wholesalers, pretend their prices are wholesale prices, or use … 325D.13 Quality, Misrepresented It is illegal to knowingly lie about the quality, ingredients, or origin of merchandise when selling it. This applies to … 325D.14 Employer Not to Dispose of Other Than Own Products Employers cannot use their business to sell merchandise to employees or the public that is outside their regular line of … 325D.15 Violations; Restraining Orders Violating sections 325D.09 to 325D.16 is a misdemeanor, and each prohibited act counts as a separate violation and … 325D.16 Application The unlawful trade practices rules in sections 325D.09 to 325D.16 do not prevent an employer from selling the employer's … 325D.165 This section has been repealed or relocated. 325D.17 This section has been repealed or relocated. 325D.18 This section has been repealed and contains no operative statutory text. The page retains only the section number and a … 325D.19 This section has been repealed and contains no operative statutory text. The page retains only the section number and a … 325D.20 This section has been repealed and contains no operative statutory text. The page retains only the section number and a … 325D.21 This section has been repealed and contains no operative statutory text. The page retains only the section number and a … 325D.22 This section has been repealed or relocated. 325D.23 This section has been repealed or relocated. 325D.24 This section has been repealed or relocated. 325D.25 This section has been repealed or relocated. 325D.26 This section has been repealed or relocated. 325D.27 This section has been repealed or relocated. 325D.28 This section has been repealed or relocated. 325D.29 This section has been repealed or relocated. 325D.30 Minnesota Unfair Cigarette Sales Act; Findings and Policy This section states the legislative findings and policy behind the Minnesota Unfair Cigarette Sales Act. The legislature … 325D.31 Citation This is the short-title section of the Act. It provides that sections 325D.30 to 325D.42 are to be known as the … 325D.32 Definitions This is the definitions section for the Minnesota Unfair Cigarette Sales Act (sections 325D.30 to 325D.42). It defines … 325D.33 Sales at Less Than Cost; Penalty This section makes it unlawful for a wholesaler or retailer to sell cigarettes below cost to injure a competitor or … 325D.34 Combination Sales This section addresses combination sales, where cigarettes are sold together with another item at a single combined … 325D.35 Sales by a Wholesaler to a Wholesaler This section covers cigarette sales from one wholesaler to another wholesaler. The selling wholesaler does not have to … 325D.36 Sales Exceptions This section lists exceptions where the cigarette pricing rules in sections 325D.30 to 325D.42 do not apply. The rules … 325D.37 Transactions Permitted to Meet Lawful Competition This section lets a wholesaler or retailer sell cigarettes at a price set in good faith to match a competitor who is … 325D.371 Publication of Cigarette Prices This section requires the state commissioner to publish in the State Register the presumed legal prices of all … 325D.38 Admissible Evidence This section governs what evidence a court may consider when determining a wholesaler's or retailer's cost of cigarettes … 325D.39 Sales Outside Ordinary Channels of Business; Effect This section explains which purchases cannot be used to establish a wholesaler's or retailer's basic cost of cigarettes. … 325D.40 Violations This section sets out the remedies for violations of the Minnesota Unfair Cigarette Sales Act (sections 325D.30 to … 325D.405 Investigations This section authorizes the commissioner, or duly authorized agents, to conduct investigations to determine compliance … 325D.41 This section has been repealed or relocated. 325D.415 Cigarette Distributor Fees This section requires cigarette distributors to pay the commissioner an annual fee. A distributor whose annual cigarette … 325D.42 Partial Unconstitutionality This section is a severability clause for sections 325D.30 to 325D.42. It provides that those provisions are severable, … 325D.421 Unlawful Cigarette Trade Practices This section makes it unlawful to sell, distribute, import, or transport cigarettes that are labeled for export only … 325D.43 Definitions This section is the definitions section for Minnesota's Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices provisions in sections 325D.43 … 325D.44 Deceptive Trade Practices This section defines the acts that constitute deceptive trade practices in Minnesota, listing 14 specific practices such … 325D.45 Remedies Anyone likely to be harmed by a deceptive trade practice can go to court to get an injunction stopping it. The court can … 325D.46 Application This section defines the scope of the deceptive trade practices law (sections 325D.43 to 325D.48). The law does not … 325D.47 Uniformity of Application and Construction This section directs that the deceptive trade practices law (sections 325D.43 to 325D.48) be applied and construed to … 325D.48 Citation The deceptive trade practices law can be cited as the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act. 325D.49 Citation This is the citation section for the Minnesota Antitrust Law of 1971. Sections 325D.49 through 325D.66 make up … 325D.50 Definitions This section defines the key terms used throughout the Minnesota Antitrust Law of 1971 (sections 325D.49 to 325D.66). … 325D.51 Unreasonable Restraint of Trade or Commerce This section prohibits contracts, combinations, or conspiracies between two or more persons that unreasonably restrain … 325D.52 Establishment, Maintenance, or Use of Monopoly Power This section makes it unlawful for any person to establish, maintain, or use monopoly power, or to attempt to do so, … 325D.53 Prohibited Contracts, Combinations, and Conspiracies This section lists specific agreements that are automatically treated as unreasonable restraints of trade and are … 325D.54 Scope of Act This section defines the scope of Minnesota's antitrust law (sections 325D.49 to 325D.66). The law applies to any … 325D.55 Exemptions This section lists activities that are exempt from Minnesota's antitrust law (sections 325D.49 to 325D.66). The … 325D.56 Penalties for Violation This section sets the penalties for violating Minnesota's antitrust law (sections 325D.49 to 325D.66). A person who … 325D.57 Damages Anyone injured by an antitrust violation can sue and recover three times their actual damages, plus costs, … 325D.58 Injunctive Relief This section gives Minnesota courts the power to issue injunctions to prevent and stop antitrust violations under … 325D.59 Authority of the Attorney General This section gives the Minnesota Attorney General power to investigate any suspected violation of the state antitrust … 325D.60 Forfeiture of Charter Rights and Privilege to Do Business If a person fails to obey a final court judgment or a court-approved consent settlement under Minnesota's antitrust laws … 325D.61 Acts of Officers, Directors, Representatives, or Agents Acting Within Scope of Authority A business entity (corporation, association, firm, partnership, or limited partnership) is liable for the acts of its … 325D.62 Judgment in Favor of State as Prima Facie Evidence If the state of Minnesota, one of its departments or agencies, or a local government wins a final antitrust judgment … 325D.63 Notification of Civil Action When someone other than the Attorney General files a civil lawsuit for a violation of Minnesota's antitrust laws … 325D.64 Statute of Limitations This section sets the deadline for filing a lawsuit under Minnesota's antitrust law (sections 325D.49 to 325D.66). An … 325D.65 Venue This section sets the venue rules, meaning which county's district court may hear a case for a violation of Minnesota's … 325D.66 Action Not Barred as Affecting or Involving Interstate or Foreign Commerce This section keeps a Minnesota antitrust case (under sections 325D.49 to 325D.66) from being thrown out just because the … 325D.67 Petroleum This section bans unfair geographic price discrimination by petroleum producers, manufacturers, and distributors doing … 325D.68 Monopolization of Food Products This section makes it a criminal conspiracy for any combination of people, whether acting as individuals or through a … 325D.69 This section no longer contains operative law. Subdivision 1 was repealed in 1987, and subdivision 2 was renumbered as … 325D.70 This section no longer contains operative law. It was renumbered as section 325D.072. There is no current statutory text … 325D.71 Unlawful Gasoline Sales A gasoline retailer who posts or meters a price below cost violates Minnesota's unfair sales law, though the criminal … 325D.72 Bad Faith Assertions of Patent Infringement This section prohibits sending an end user located or doing business in Minnesota a written or electronic communication …