Book VI: Protection of inventions and technical knowledge

There is no limitation period for an action for nullity of a plant variety certificate.

Where a variety which is the subject of an application for a certificate or a plant variety certificate is exploited for the needs of national defence by the State or its suppliers, subcontractors and subcontractors, without an exploitation licence having been granted to them, the court seised may not order either the cessation or interruption of exploitation, or the confiscation provided for in Article L. 623-28-1. If an expert appraisal…

Civil actions and claims relating to new plant varieties, including when they also concern a related issue of unfair competition, shall be brought exclusively before judicial courts, determined by regulation, with the exception of appeals against ministerial administrative acts, which shall come under the administrative jurisdiction. The Paris Court of Appeal directly hears appeals brought against decisions of the body mentioned in Article L. 412-1 taken pursuant to this chapter….

Any infringement knowingly committed against the rights of the holder of a plant variety certificate, as defined in Article L. 623-4, constitutes an offence punishable by a fine of 10,000 euros. If the accused has been convicted of the same offence within the previous five years, or if the offence is committed as part of an organised gang or on an online public communication network, he or she may also…

Natural persons guilty of the offence provided for in Article L. 623-32 may also be ordered, at their own expense, to remove from commercial channels the objects deemed to be infringing and any thing that has served or was intended to commit the infringement. The court may order the destruction at the expense of the convicted person or the delivery to the injured party of the objects and things removed…

Corporate entities held criminally liable, under the conditions set out in Article 121-2 of the Criminal Code, of the offence defined in Article L. 623-32 shall be liable, in addition to a fine in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in Article 131-38 of the Penal Code, the penalties laid down by l’article 131-39 of the same code. The prohibition mentioned in 2° of article 131-39 of the…

Public proceedings for the application of the penalties provided for in the preceding article may only be brought by the Public Prosecutor’s Office on a complaint from the injured party. The criminal court hearing the case may only rule after the civil court has established the reality of the offence by a decision that has become res judicata. Objections raised by the defendant to the nullity of the plant variety…

Without prejudice, where appropriate, to the more serious penalties laid down in relation to offences against State security, anyone who has knowingly infringed one of the prohibitions laid down in articles L. 623-9 and L. 623-10 is punishable by a fine of 4,500 euros. If the infringement has been detrimental to national defence, a five-year prison sentence may also be imposed. .