Pen. Code, § 640.2 · Chapter 2. Of Other and Miscellaneous Offenses
Pen. Code, § 640.2
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) Any person who stamps, prints, places, or inserts any writing in or on any product or box, package, or other container containing a consumer product offered for sale is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) This section does not apply if the owner or manager of the premises where the product is stored or sold, or his or her designee, or the product manufacturer or authorized distributor or retailer of the product consents to the placing or inserting of the writing.
(c) As used in this section, “writing” means any form of representation or communication, including handbills, notices, or advertising, that contains letters, words, or pictorial representations.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 140, Sec. 1. Effective July 12, 1996.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=640.2.
- Text hash
- sha256 05b06253060d2c65e26c7d69a613fcae891e9108f39fdae8c05eeea7c1f77d1d
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.