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 April 3, 1992, of a written communication, dated March 12, 1992, from the Government of the Kingdom of Spain, relating to the Colección Española de Cultivos Tipo (CECT), indicating that the said depositary institution is located on the territory of the Kingdom of Spain 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, and amended on September 26, 1980.
The Colección Española de Cultivos Tipo (CECT) will acquire the status of international depositary authority under the Budapest Treaty as from May 31, 1992, the date of publication of the said communication in the May 1992 issue of Industrial Property/La Propriété industrielle.
April 27, 1992
Text of the Written Communication of the Government of the Kingdom of Spain, dated March 12, 1992, Relating to the Acquisition of the Status of International Depositary Authority by the Colección Española de Cultivos Tipo (CECT)
[Translation]
COMMUNICATION
Pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure of April 28, 1977, I have the honor, in my capacity as Secretary General of Industrial Promotion and Technology at the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, which is the competent authority on industrial matters and to which the Spanish Registry of Industrial Property is responsible, to submit the candidature of the Colección Española de Cultivos Tipo (Spanish Collection of Culture Specimens or CECT) for the grant of the status of international depositary authority.
This Secretariat General certifies that the Colección Española de Cultivos Tipo complies, and will continue to comply in future, with the requirements set forth in Article 6(2) of the said Budapest Treaty, being structurally integrated in the University of Valencia as a research support department.
The CECT would begin to operate as in international depositary authority for microorganisms according to the provisions of the Budapest Treaty when the present official communication has been published through the disclosure media provided by WIPO, which will require acceptance of its status by the Organization that you direct.
The appended document contains the technical specifications of the CECT in the form of a memorandum.
1. LEGAL STATUS
The Colección Española de Cultivos Tipo (CECT) was founded in 1960, and at present forms part of the Microbiology Department of the University of Valencia (Spain). The CECT belongs to the University of Valencia, but it is also financed by the Higher Council of Scientific Research, the Ministry of Education and Science of Spain and the Spanish Microbiology Society.
CECT is affiliated to the World Federation of Culture Collections (WFCC), appearing under No. 412 in the World Directory of Collections of Microorganisms and in the World Data Center System. Since 1983 it has also belonged to the European Culture Collection Organizations (ECCO), and also forms part of the Microbial Information Network Europe (MINE) as the Spanish branch. The CECT has a collection of around 2,800 strains of bacteria and fungi. The CECT likewise supplied information on various microbiological subjects, and has an identification department for various classes of microorganisms.
2. NAME AND ADDRESS
Colección Española de Cultivos Tipo (CECT), Microbiology Department, Biological Science Faculty, 46100 Burjasot (Valencia), Spain; Tel: 34-6-3864612; Fax: 34-6-3864372; electronic mail: EARN node EVALUN11, userid: belloch. Dialcom/Telecom Gold 75: DBI0596.
3. PREMISES
The work of the CECT is done in a certain number of the laboratories and offices of the Microbiology Department of the University of Valencia. The staff of the CECT has access to all the services of the Department, but in addition has facilities of its own which are necessary for the growing, testing and long-term conservation of bacteria and fungi. Cultures are routinely preserved by freeze-drying, and some strains by subculturing. It is likewise possible to preserve them at low temperatures in a freezer (-80° C). Only authorized personnel have access to the samples kept at the CECT. The CECT laboratories are equipped for work with pathogenic microorganisms of Risk Group 2 (British classification). The space taken up by the CECT within the Department is about 100 m2.
4. STAFF
The CECT has a staff of five. Four of them have university qualifications and the other is a technician. The staff are entirely competent and sufficient for the carrying out of the scientific and administrative tasks required under the Budapest Treaty. Adequate measures are taken not only to safeguard secrecy but also to ensure the objectiveness and impartiality of the CECT. The work of the staff consists in the following:
- Management and general coordination;
- Conservation and control of samples;
- Administrative work relating to data on samples, reception and handling of requests, etc.;
- MINE work;
- Packaging and dispatch of samples.
5. KINDS OF MICROORGANISM THAT MAY BE DEPOSITED
5.1 Bacteria, including actinomycetes, which may be preserved, without any significant alteration of their properties, by freezing or freeze-drying, and which belong to a risk group lower than two according to the definition of the UK Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP) 1984, "Categorization of Pathogens According to Hazard and Categories of Containment (I ... London ISBN 001188 37613).
5.2 Filamentous fungi, including yeasts, with the exception of strains known to be human, plant and animal pathogens, which may be preserved by freezing or freeze-drying without any significant alteration of their properties.
For the time being the CECT does not accept the following biological material for deposit:
- anerobic microorganisms (except Clostridium)
- algae and cyanobacteria
- plasmids
- embryos
- protozoa
- animal cell lines
- plant cell lines
- mycoplasm
- plant seed
- viruses
- bacteriophages
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the CECT reserves the right to reject or accept for deposit any material which, in the opinion of the Director, represents a risk that is either unacceptable or too difficult to handle.
6. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES
6.1 Form and Quantity
Bacteria and fungi (including those contained in plasmids) are accepted in freeze-dried form in ampoules or in the form of active cultures in agar solution. The depositor should send the CECT five ampoules or agar samples of each strain.
6.2 Time Required for Viability Testing
On average, the time required for testing the viability of bacterial samples is three days (or up to 14 days), and for fungus strains six days (or up to 30 days). The depositor has to take into account that, in certain cases, viability testing can take a great deal of time, as indicated by the bracketed figures.
6.3 Depositor Checks and Renewal of Stocks
The CECT prepares its frozen or freeze-dried batches by subculturing the materials supplied by the depositor. While the batches are being completed, further batches are prepared on the basis of frozen or freeze-dried samples from the first batch prepared. Whatever the method used for the preparation of batches or samples for distribution, the CECT freeze-dries, freezes and retains a portion of the original material supplied by the depositor. The depositor is requested to prove the authenticity of all the freeze-dried and frozen samples prepared by the CECT.
7. ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURE
7.1 Language
The official languages of the CECT are Spanish and English.
7.2 Contract
The application to the CECT that the depositor has to complete is a contract under which the depositor undertakes:
- to supply all the necessary information requested by the CECT;
- to pay all the necessary fees;
- to indemnify the CECT against any claim that may be made on it as a result of the sending of samples, except where the claims are due to negligence on the part of the CECT;
- not to withdraw the deposit during the time required for its period of storage;
- to authorize the CECT to supply samples in accordance with the requirements of the patent procedure applicable at the time.
7.3 Importation and/or Quarantine Regulations
The packaging and dispatch of CECT cultures is done in accordance with the laws of the Convention of the Universal Postal Union. Depositors from abroad apply to the CECT in advance for information on the correct procedure for the dispatch of samples. Spain does not allow infectious substances to be sent by air mail, with the exception of samples originating in the United Kingdom and sent direct to the CECT. The samples may be sent direct to the CECT from other countries as freight in accordance with IATA rules.
7.4 Making the Original Deposit
Depositors have to complete the application and accession forms used by the CECT for deposits under the Budapest Treaty, which are equivalent to model form BP/1.
7.5 Official Notice of Deposit
The receipt and viability statement are issued on mandatory "international forms" BP/4 and BP/9 respectively. Attestation of receipt of a later indication or amendment of the scientific description and/or proposed taxonomic designation is issued on model form BP/8. Notification of the furnishing of samples to third parties is issued on model form BP/14. Individual correspondence is used rather than standard forms for other official notifications.
7.6 Unofficial Notifications to the Depositor
If requested, the CECT communicates the date of deposit and the accession number by telephone after the microorganism has been received, but before the official receipt is issued. In that case however the depositor is informed that the information is provisional and subject to the outcome of the viability tests. The CECT likewise communicates the finding of the viability test before the viability statement is issued.
7.7 Supply of Information to Patent Agent
The CECT routinely asks the depositor for the name and address of his patent agent and, if so requested, supplies copies of the receipt, the viability statement and any other information to both the depositor and his patent agent.
7.8 Converting a Previous Deposit
Deposits made outside the provisions of the Budapest Treaty may be converted by the original depositor to deposits under the Budapest Treaty, whether or not they were originally made for patent purposes. Any deposit previously made free of charge is subject, on conversion, to the payment of the storage fee specified in this technical memorandum, and also to whatever fees may be payable for successive updating. With the above exceptions, the administrative requirements for conversion are the same as those to be met for an original deposit effected under the Treaty. The date of deposit for such samples will then be that of the conversion.
7.9 Making a New Deposit
The depositor will be required to complete model form BP/2 when making a new deposit, and to supply copies of the relevant documents required by Article 12. The receipt and the viability statement for a new deposit are issued on mandatory "international forms" BP/5 and BP/9.
8. FURNISHING OF SAMPLES
8.1 Requests for Samples
The CECT advises third parties of the correct procedures to be followed in making a valid request. In the case of requests requiring proof of entitlement, the CECT provides requesters with copies of model request form BP/12.
When requests are received from abroad, the CECT presumes that the individual concerned is familiar with his country's import requirements.
All samples of bacteria and fungi furnished by the CECT are taken from batches prepared by itself.
8.2 Notification of the Depositor
The depositor is informed on model form BP/14 when samples of his microorganisms have been sent to third parties.
8.3 Cataloguing of Budapest Treaty Deposits
The CECT issues lists of deposits under the Budapest Treaty in its catalogues only with the express written consent of the depositor.
9. SCHEDULE OF FEES
| 9.1 | Storage of: | Ptas | |
| (a) original deposits | 70,000 | ||
| (b) new deposits | 10,000 | ||
| 9.2 | Issue of Viability Statement | 10,000 | |
| 9.3 | Furnishing of Samples | 6,000 | |
| 9.4 | Communication of Information (Rule 7.6) | 6,000 |
10. GUIDANCE FOR DEPOSITORS
For the moment the CECT does not publish specific information for the guidance of prospective depositors, but is always willing to provide information by telephone or correspondence.