As used in sections 1333.82 to 1333.87 of the Revised Code:

(A) "Alcoholic beverages" means beer and wine as defined in section 4301.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) "Manufacturer" means a person, whether located in this state or elsewhere, that manufactures or supplies alcoholic beverages to distributors in this state.

(C) "Distributor" means a person that sells or distributes alcoholic beverages to retail permit holders in this state, but does not include the state or any of its political subdivisions.

(D) "Franchise" means a contract or any other legal device used to establish a contractual relationship between a manufacturer and a distributor.

(E) "Good faith" means the duty of any party to any franchise, and all officers, employees, or agents of any party to any franchise, to act in a fair and equitable manner toward each other so as to guarantee each party freedom from coercion or intimidation; except that recommendation, endorsement, exposition, persuasion, urging, or argument shall not be considered to constitute a lack of good faith or coercion.

(F) "Brand," as applied to wine, means a wine different from any other wine in respect to type, brand, trade name, or container size.

(G) "Sales area or territory" means an exclusive geographic area or territory that is assigned to a particular A or B permit holder and that either has one or more political subdivisions as its boundaries or consists of an area of land with readily identifiable geographic boundaries. "Sales area or territory" does not include, however, any particular retail location in an exclusive geographic area or territory that had been assigned to another A or B permit holder before April 9, 2001.

Effective Date: 10-11-2002; 03-30-2006 .