Budapest Notification No. 268
Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure

Communication by the Government of Japan Regarding a Modification to the List of Kinds of Microorganisms Accepted for Deposit by the International Patent Organism Depositary (IPOD), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) presents his compliments to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and has the honor to notify him of the receipt, on March 8, 2010, of a written communication, dated March 3, 2010, from the Government of Japan, communicating a modification to the list of kinds of microorganisms accepted for deposit by the International Patent Organism Depositary (IPOD), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), an international depositary authority under the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, done at Budapest on April 28, 1977, as amended on September 26, 1980 (see Budapest Notification No. 15 of March 31, 1981).

April 1, 2010

Communication by the Government of Japan Relating to a Modification to the List of Kinds of Microorganisms Accepted for Deposit by the International Patent Organism Depositary (IPOD), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

[Original: English]

COMMUNICATION

The Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva presents its compliments to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and has the honor to transmit herewith, in relation to the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, a communication from its home Government regarding a modification to the list of kinds of microorganisms accepted for deposit by the International Patent Organism Depositary (IPOD), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).

The intention of this modification is neither an extension nor a limitation, but a clarification of the current list of kinds of microorganisms accepted for deposit by the said Depositary. This modification will be effective on April 1, 2010.

ANNEX

KINDS OF MICROORGANISMS THAT MAY BE DEPOSITED

Bacteria (including actinomycetes), archaea, fungi, yeasts, plasmids (in host/not in host), animal cell cultures (including human cell cultures and hybridomas), embryos, protozoa, plant cell cultures, seeds and algae, EXCEPT:

- microorganisms classified as biological safety level (BSL) 3 or 4 according to the Guidelines for the Handling of the Experiment of Microorganisms in AIST;

- microorganisms that belong to Category No. 1, 2 and 3 pathogens stipulated in the Act on Prevention of Infectious Diseases and the Medical Care of Infectious Patients (1998);

- microorganisms that require the containment measure levels P3, P3A or P3P for experiments, as described in the Ministerial Ordinance stipulating Containment Measures to be Taken in Type 2 Use of Living Modified Organisms for Research and Development (2004), which is based on the Law concerning the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity through Regulations on the Use of Living Modified Organisms (2003); and

- mixtures of undefined and/or unidentifiable microorganisms.

IPOD reserves the right to refuse to accept deposit that is technically or legally too difficult to manage.

Effective date of the modification: April 1, 2010