(a)As used in this act:
(i)"Brand" means any word, name, group of letters,
symbol, trademark or combination thereof but not including the
name of the supplier adopted and used by a supplier on a label
to identify a specific beer or malt beverage and to distinguish
that product from the label of another beer or malt beverage
produced or marketed by that or another manufacturer;
(ii)"Brand extension" means any brand which
incorporates all or a substantial part of the unique features of
the label of a preexisting brand of the same manufacturer. A
brand extension is not considered a new or different brand.
Except for good cause a manufacturer shall assign a brand
extension to the wholesaler which was granted the exclusive
sales territory to the brand from which the brand extension
resulted;
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(a) As used in this act:
(i) "Brand" means any word, name, group of letters,
symbol, trademark or combination thereof but not including the
name of the supplier adopted and used by a supplier on a label
to identify a specific beer or malt beverage and to distinguish
that product from the label of another beer or malt beverage
produced or marketed by that or another manufacturer;
(ii) "Brand extension" means any brand which
incorporates all or a substantial part of the unique features of
the label of a preexisting brand of the same manufacturer. A
brand extension is not considered a new or different brand.
Except for good cause a manufacturer shall assign a brand
extension to the wholesaler which was granted the exclusive
sales territory to the brand from which the brand extension
resulted;
(iii) "Designated member" means the spouse, child,
grandchild, parent, brother or sister of a deceased individual
who owned an interest in a distributor's business, who is
entitled to inherit the deceased individual's ownership interest
in the distributor under the terms of the deceased individual's
will, or who has otherwise been designated in a valid
testamentary instrument by the deceased individual to succeed
the deceased individual in the distributor's business, or who is
entitled to inherit such ownership interest under the laws of
intestate succession of this state. With respect to an
incapacitated individual owning an ownership interest in a
distributor, "designated member" means the person appointed by a
court as the conservator of the individual's property. The term
also includes the appointed and qualified personal
representative and the testamentary trustee of a deceased
individual owning an ownership interest in a distributor's
business;
(iv) "Distributor" or "wholesaler" means any person
licensed in the state to sell and distribute malt beverages at
wholesale to persons who are licensed to sell malt beverages at
retail in Wyoming;
(v) "Franchise" means a contract or agreement either
expressed or implied, whether oral or written, for a definite or
indefinite period of time in which a manufacturer grants to a
malt beverage distributor the right to purchase, resell and
distribute any brand or brands offered by the manufacturer;
(vi) "Franchisee" means a malt beverage distributor
to whom a franchise is offered or granted;
(vii) "Franchisor" means a malt beverage manufacturer
who grants a franchise to a malt beverage distributor;
(viii) "Fraud" means:
(A) A misrepresentation in any manner, whether
intentionally false or arising from gross negligence, of a
material fact;
(B) An intentional failure to disclose a
material fact;
(C) Any artifice employed to deceive another.
(ix) "Good cause" means:
(A) Insolvency of the distributor, the filing of
any petition by or against the distributor under any bankruptcy
or receivership law, or the dissolution or liquidation of the
wholesaler which materially affects the distributor's ability to
remain in business;
(B) Revocation or suspension of the
distributor's license whereby the distributor cannot distribute
malt beverages for more than sixty (60) days;
(C) The distributor or an individual who owns
more than ten percent (10%) of the stock of a corporate
distributor has been convicted of a felony. As used in this
paragraph, "felony" means a felony under the United States Code
or laws of this state;
(D) The distributor intentionally sells the
supplier's products to a retailer or retailers outside that
distributor's assigned territory;
(E) There is a failure by the distributor to
comply with a provision of the agreement with a manufacturer
which is both reasonable and of material significance to the
business relationship between the distributor and the
manufacturer and which failure has not been cured by the
distributor pursuant to the provisions of this act.
(x) "Good faith" means honesty in fact in the conduct
of the transaction involved and the observance of reasonable
commercial standards of fair dealing in the trade;
(xi) "Manufacturer" means any person licensed to
manufacture or import malt beverages for distribution to
distributors licensed in Wyoming;
(xii) "Person" means a natural person, corporation,
association, partnership, trust or other business entity and, in
case of a business entity, shall include any other entity in
which it has a majority interest or it effectively controls, as
well as the individual officers, directors, and other persons in
active control of the activities of each entity. "Person" also
includes heirs, assignees, personal representatives and
guardians;
(xiii) "Reasonable qualifications" means the average
standard of the criteria used by the respective manufacturer for
similarly situated distributors that entered into or renewed an
agreement with the manufacturer during a period of twenty-four
(24) months prior to the proposed transfer of the distributor's
business;
(xiv) "Retaliatory action" includes, but is not
limited to, the refusal to continue an agreement, or a material
reduction in the quality of service or quantity of products
available to a distributor under an agreement, which is not made
in good faith as defined in this act;
(xv) "Sale" includes the issuance, transfer,
agreement for transfer, exchange, pledge, hypothecation or
mortgage in any manner or form, whether by transfer in trust or
otherwise, of malt beverages or of any franchise related thereto
for consideration and any option, subscription or other contract
for consideration;
(xvi) "Similarly situated distributors" means
distributors of a manufacturer that are of a generally
comparable size, and operate in markets with similar demographic
characteristics, including population, size, density,
distribution and economic conditions;
(xvii) "Transfer of a distributor's business" means
the voluntary sale, assignment or other transfer, including the
sale or other transfer of stock or assets by merger,
consolidation or dissolution of:
(A) The business;
(B) Control of the business of the distributor;
or
(C) An ownership interest of ten percent (10%)
or more of the business of the distributor.
(xviii) "This act" means W.S. 12-9-101 through