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 the receipt on October 14, 2022 of a communication dated October 13, 2022, from the European Patent Office (EPO) relating to the changes in the schedule of fees and changes in the requirements for deposit by the Leibniz-Institut DSMZ - Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH (DSMZ), an international depositary authority under the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure (Budapest Treaty), done at Budapest on April 28, 1977, and amended on September 26, 1980 (see Budapest Notification No. 22 of August 27, 1981).
According to Rule 12.2(c) of the Regulations under the Budapest Treaty, the new fees shall take effect on January 1, 2023, that is, on the date indicated in the communication and on the thirtieth day following the publication of the changes by the International Bureau.
The schedule of fees is as follows:
SCHEDULE OF FEES
| I.1 | EUR | ||
| (a) | Storage according to Rule 12.1 (a)(i) of the Regulations under the Budapest Treaty (comprising the initial viability check, the preservation and the storage of the biological materian( �/td> | ||
| - archaea, bacteria, fungi, plasmids, bacteriophages and plant viruses | 900 | ||
| - plant cell cultures, human and animal cell cultures | 1.600 | ||
| (b) | Conversion of a deposit made outside the Budapest Treaty into a deposit according to the Budapest Treaty | ||
| - archaea, bacteria, fungi, plasmids, bacteriophages and plant viruses | 900 | ||
| - plant cell cultures, human and animal cell cultures | 1.600 | ||
| (c) | Prolongation of the duration of the storage over the one provided by Rule 9 of the Regulations under the Budapest Treaty, per year | ||
| - archaea, bacteria, fungi, plasmids, bacteriophages and plant viruses | 35 | ||
| - plant cell cultures, human and animal cell cultures | 60 | ||
| I.2 | Issuance of a viability statement according to Rule 12.1(a)(iii) of the Regulations under the Budapest Treaty | ||
| (a) | where a viability test is requested | 140 | |
| (b) | on the basis of the most recent viability test | 60 | |
| I.3 | Furnishing of a sample according to Rule 12.1(a)(iv) of the Regulations under the Budapest Treaty (plus current freight costs) | 140 | |
| I.4 | Communication of information under Rule 7.6 of the Regulations under the Budapest Treaty | 50 | |
| I.5 | Attestation referred to in Rule 8.2 of the Regulations under the Budapest Treaty | 50 | |
For the customers within Germany, the fees are subject to VAT, currently at the rate of 7%. Turnover tax, again currently at the rate of 7%, must be charged on EU orders not quoting a VAT registration number.
A processing fee of 5-30 Euros to cover handling and bank charges is payable on all invoices.
The requirements on the form and quantity in which microorganisms must be deposited with DSMZ have been updated with respect to the plant material, as follows:
"Plant material can be deposited in the form of undifferentiated plant cell cultures, embryogenic plant cell cultures and tissues, and as in-vitro shoot cultures. For deposit 25 frozen ampoules are required. In the case of cryopreserved shoot tips or meristems these ampoules should contain a total of at least 100 surviving apices resp. meristems."
December 2, 2022