WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor                         Ch. 266

479.

Any person, partnership or body corporate that has heretofore registered
returnable containers, or clean laundered articles, under the provisions of the law, as the
same stood at the time of such registration, shall not be required to again register the
same, but shall be entitled to all the benefits of this subtitle as if the same had been
registered hereunder; provided, however, that it shall be unlawful for any person or
corporation to adopt and register under the provisions of this subtitle any returnable
container, or clean laundered article, or description, name, mark or device that has been
previously registered by any other person, or is at such time used or in use by any other
person in good faith, whether under the provisions of this article or otherwise.

480.

In any prosecution under any of the provisions of the preceding sections, it shall not
be necessary to set forth or describe the name, mark or device affixed or attached to or
impressed or imprinted upon any returnable container, or the clean laundered or soiled
article; nor to set forth the particulars of the registration of same or of the assignment or
transfer of such registration, but it shall be sufficient to describe the container, or the
clean laundered or soiled article, so as to permit of its identification averring that the
same is distinctly marked, and is registered according to law, giving the name of the owner
of such returnable container, or the clean laundered or soiled article, or of the owner or
dealer using the same by virtue of such registration, or the name of the assignee or
transferee thereof as the case may be.

480A.

(a)     Nothing contained in this subtitle shall be construed as prohibiting the owner
of any type of returnable container or article described in this subtitle from bringing a
civil action, including an action for injunctive relief, to preserve the owner's rights, to
recover damages, or to take and recover the returnable containers or articles from any
person who unlawfully possesses the property of the owner.

(b)     Nothing contained in this subtitle shall be construed as prohibiting a
prosecution for theft under § 342 of this article.

[481.

All costs incurred in prosecutions under §§ 474 and 475 hereof, shall be assessed
and collected in the same manner as in criminal cases, and be accounted for in the same
manner as fines in cases of assault and battery are now by law disposed of.]

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the Administrative
Office of the Courts shall develop procedures for the clerk of the circuit court for each
county to transfer to the Secretary of State the records that the clerk has maintained
under Article 27, §§ 471 through 473 of the Code or, in accordance with any other
applicable provision of law, to otherwise dispose of records that are no longer required in
the office of the clerk for budget, auditing, or other purposes.

- 1701 -