Budapest Notification No. 15
Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure

Communication of Japan Relating to the Acquisition of the Status of International Depositary Authority by the Fermentation Research Institute

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 17, 1981, of a written communication from the Government of Japan, relating to the Fermentation Research Institute, indicating that the said depositary institution is located on the territory of Japan and including a declaration of assurances to the effect that the said institution complies and will continue to comply with the requirements concerning the acquisition of the status of international depositary authority as specified in Article 6(2) of 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.

The Fermentation Research Institute will acquire the status of international depositary authority under the Budapest Treaty as from May 1, 1981, the date indicated in the said communication as the date on which that status should take effect (see Article 7(2)(b) of the said Treaty). The said communication is also published in the April 1981 issue of Industrial Property/La Propriété industrielle.

March 31, 1981

Text of the Written Communication of the Government of Japan dated March 17, 1981, Relating to the Fermentation Research Institute

COMMUNICATION

1. The Government of Japan, referring to Article 7 of the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, hereby assures that the Fermentation Research Institute, Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, complies and will continue to comply with the requirements specified in Article 6(2) of the Budapest Treaty.

2. Information on the Depositary Institution

(1) Name and address:

Name:
Fermentation Research Institute,
Agency of Industrial Science and Technology,
Ministry of International Trade and Industry (hereinafter referred to as "FRI")

Address:
1-3, Higashi 1-chome, Yatabe-machi,
Tsukuba-gun, Ibaraki-ken 305,
Japan

(2) Detailed information as to the capacity of FRI to comply with the requirements specified in Article 6(2):

FRI, founded in 1940 as one of the national institutes of Japan, carries out research on fermentation, the application of the functions of microorganisms to mining, industry, environmental sanitation, etc. Because of its high level of performance in research activity, this institute has established its reputation as an efficient organ.

FRI has been performing depositary tasks, such as issuing a receipt, storing and furnishing samples of microorganisms, in conformity with the relevant requirements under the Japanese Patent Law. Since its inauguration in 1968 as the sole authorized depositary institution in Japan, FRI has received about 6,000 deposits in connection with Japanese patent applications.

Of its staff of 84 persons, seven are engaged In depositary tasks. All its staff members are government officials, and adequate measures are taken with regard not only to the safeguarding of secrecy, but to the ensuring of objectivity and impartiality.

FRI has a fire-and-earthquake-proof building for deposits and a backup generator for emergency purposes.

(3) Kinds of microorganisms to be accepted:

FRI will accept for deposit under the Budapest Treaty the following: Fungi, Yeast, Bacteria and Actinomycetes, EXCEPT:

(i) microorganisms having properties which are or may be dangerous to health or the environment;

(ii) microorganisms which need the physical containment level P2, P3 or P4 required for experiments, as described in the 1979 Prime Minister's Guideline for Research involving Recombinant DNA Molecules.

(4) Fee schedule:

(5) Official language:

Japanese

(6) Date referred to in Article 7(1)(b) (date on which the status of international depositary authority should take effect):

May 1, 1981