Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17070. Section 17070.
Any person or trade association may bring an action to enjoin and restrain any violation of this chapter and, in addition thereto, for the recovery of damages.
ARTICLE 4. Civil Liability [17070. - 17087.]
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC 4.
in effectCal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17071. Section 17071.
In all actions brought under this chapter proof of one or more acts of selling or giving away any article or product below cost or at discriminatory prices, together with proof of the injurious effect of such acts, is presumptive evidence of the purpose or intent to injure competitors or destroy competition.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17071.5. Section 17071.5.
In all actions brought under this chapter proof of limitation of the quantity of any article or product sold or offered for sale to any one customer to a quantity less than the entire supply thereof owned or possessed by the seller or which he is otherwise authorized to sell at the place of such sale or offering for sale, together with proof that the price at which the article or product is so sold or offered for sale is in fact below its invoice or replacement cost, whichever is lower, raises a presumption of the purpose or intent to injure competitors or destroy competition. This section applies only to sales by persons conducting a retail business the principal part of
which involves the resale to consumers of commodities purchased or acquired for that purpose, as distinguished from persons principally engaged in the sale to consumers of commodities of their own production or manufacture.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17072. Section 17072.
Where a particular trade or industry, of which a person complained against is a member, has an established cost survey for the locality and vicinity in which the offense is committed, that cost survey is competent evidence to be used in proving the costs of such person.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17073. Section 17073.
Proof of average overall cost of doing business for any particular inventory period when added to the cost of production of each article or product, as to a producer, or invoice or replacement cost, whichever is lower, of each article or product, as to a distributor, is presumptive evidence of cost of each such article or product involved in any action brought under this chapter.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17074. Section 17074.
Proof of transportation tariffs when fixed and approved by the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California is presumptive evidence of delivery cost.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17075. Section 17075.
In any action where it is alleged and shown that the person complained against is selling below his cost of doing business, and such person is including labor at less than the prevailing wage scale in the trade in which such person is engaged for the locality or vicinity in which he is doing business, evidence of such prevailing wage scale shall be admissible to prove the intent or purpose of such person to violate this chapter.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17076. Section 17076.
In any action brought under this chapter, where persons are employed or performing services for any person or in the conduct of the business wherein such person is charged with a violation of this chapter, and are so employed or performing such services without compensation or at a wage lower than that prevailing at the time and place of the service for the particular services performed, such services shall be charged as an expense of the business in which rendered and at the rate of the wage for the services rendered prevailing at the time of the service at the place where rendered.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17077. Section 17077.
In any action or prosecution for sales below cost in violation of this chapter, if the defendant acquires his raw materials for a consideration not wholly or definitely computable in money, the cost of the raw materials shall be presumed to be the prevailing market price for similar raw materials in the ordinary channels of trade in the locality or vicinity in which such raw materials were acquired, at the time of the acquisition.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17078. Section 17078.
If it appears to the court upon any application for a temporary restraining order, or upon the hearing of any order to show cause why a preliminary injunction should not be issued, or upon the hearing of any motion for a preliminary injunction, or if the court shall find, in any such action, that any defendant therein is violating, or has violated, this chapter, then the court shall enjoin the defendant from doing all acts which are prohibited by the section, or sections, of which any provision thereof is being violated, or has been violated, by the defendant.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17079. Section 17079.
The court may, in its discretion, include in any injunction against a violation of this chapter such other restraint as it may deem expedient in order to deter the defendant from, and insure against, his committing a future violation of this chapter.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17080. Section 17080.
Any injunction against a violation of this chapter, whether interim or final, shall cover every article or product and not merely the particular article or product involved in the action.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17081. Section 17081.
It is not necessary for the plaintiff, in any action under this chapter, to provide or file any undertaking or bond for the issuance of any interim or final injunction.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17082. Section 17082.
In any action under this chapter, it is not necessary to allege or prove actual damages or the threat thereof, or actual injury or the threat thereof, to the plaintiff. But, in addition to injunctive relief, any plaintiff in any such action shall be entitled to recover three times the amount of the actual damages, if any, sustained by the plaintiff, as well as three times the actual damages, if any, sustained by any person who has assigned to the plaintiff his claim for damages resulting from a violation of this chapter.
In any action under this chapter in which judgment is entered against the defendant the plaintiff shall be awarded
a reasonable attorney’s fee together with the costs of suit.
The amendments to this section adopted at the 1959 Regular Session of the Legislature do not apply to any action commenced prior to September 18, 1959.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17083. Section 17083.
The testimony of any witness in any action brought under this chapter may be taken by deposition. The provisions of Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 2002) of Title 3 of Part 4 of, and the provisions of Title 4 (commencing with Section 2016.010) of Part 4 of, the Code of Civil Procedure are applicable to the witness, the testimony and the deposition.
In addition, the books and records of any party, or of any such witness, may be subpoenaed into court and introduced into evidence, or introduced,
by reference, into evidence, and may be required to be produced at the taking of the deposition of any party or of any such witness and there inquired into.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17084. Section 17084.
Any party to any action brought under this chapter may, upon notice, apply to the court in which the action is pending, or to any judge thereof, for an order requiring any other party to give to the applicant, within a specified time, an inspection and copy, or permission to take a copy, of entries of accounts in any book, or of any documents, papers, or memoranda in such party’s possession or under his control containing evidence relating to the merits of any such action or any defense therein.
If a compliance with the order is refused, the court shall exclude the entries of accounts in any such book, or any such document, paper, or
memorandum from being given in evidence by the other party, or if wanted as evidence by the applicant the court shall presume them to be as the applicant alleges.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17085. Section 17085.
If, at any time while any action for a violation of this chapter is pending, it appears to the court that an extensive examination of books, papers, records, or documents is or may become material or relevant to the issues in the action, the court may, in its discretion, upon the application of any party to the action, or upon its own motion, order a reference to be had in the manner and form provided in Part 2, Title 8, Chapter 6 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17086. Section 17086.
No information obtained under this article, or under Title 4 (commencing with Section 2016.010) of Part 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure, may be used against any party, or any witness, as a basis for a misdemeanor or felony prosecution in any court of this state.
Cal. Business and Professions Code - BPC § 17087. Section 17087.
In any action or proceeding, civil or criminal, brought by the Attorney General or any district attorney for the violation of this chapter, no person shall be excused from attending, testifying or producing books, papers, or documents in obedience to subpoena or under order of court on the ground that the testimony or evidence required of him may tend to incriminate him or subject him to any penalty.
No individual shall be prosecuted or subjected to any penalty for or on account of any transaction, matter, or thing concerning which he may so testify or produce evidence in any action or proceeding brought by the Attorney General or
district attorney under this chapter.
Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026