In the event of a repeated offense, imprisonment of between two months and one year
may also be ordered. An offense shall be deemed to be repeated within the meaning of this
Article if the offender has been finally convicted of the same offense within the preceding
five years.
Article 74
Public proceedings to apply the penalties laid down in Article 73 above may only be
instituted by the public prosecutor on a complaint by the injured party.
The court hearing the case may not take a decision until the civil court has confirmed
the existence of the offense in a final decision. Nullity of the plant variety certificate or
matters of the ownership of such certificate may only be pleaded by the defendant before the
civil court.
Article 75
Any person who improperly claims to be the holder of a certificate or of an application
for a plant variety certificate shall be liable to a fine of between 3,000 and 30,000 Moroccan
dirhams.
In the event of a repeated offense, the fine may be doubled. An offense shall be deemed
to be repeated within the meaning of this Article if the offender has been finally convicted of
the same offense within the preceding five years.
CHAPTER XI
TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
Article 76
By derogation from the provisions of Article 6 above, an application for protection may
also be submitted, during a transitional period of one year as from the entry into force of this
Law, in respect of varieties that have been offered for sale, marketed or distributed in
Morocco or abroad prior to the entry into force of this Law. If protection is granted, its
duration shall be reduced by the number of full years that have elapsed between the time at
which the variety was offered for sale, marketed or distributed for the first time and the time
at which the application was submitted.
The same rule shall apply mutatis mutandis to varieties of species newly entered in the
list of species to be protected after entry into force of this Law.
[End of document]