Budapest Notification No. 117
Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure

Notification by the Kingdom of Belgium Regarding an Extension of the List of Kinds of Microorganisms Accepted by the Belgian Coordinated Collections of Microorganisms (BCCM) and the relevant Schedule of Fees

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 July 2, 1993, of the notification of the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium, dated June 29, 1993, regarding an extension of the list of kinds of microorganisms accepted by the Belgian Coordinated Collections of Microorganisms (BCCM), 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. 104 of February 12, 1992) and the relevant schedule of fees. The text of that notification is attached.

The extension of the list of kinds of microorganisms accepted for deposit by the Belgian Coordinated Collections of Microorganisms (BCCM), as well as the schedule of fees relating thereto, will be published in the July/August 1993 issue of Industrial Property/La Propriété industrielle. The extension and the schedule of fees will take effect as from the date (August 31, 1993) of that publication.

July 30, 1993

Text of the Written Notification of the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium, dated June 29, 1993, Relating to an Extension of the List of Kinds of Microorganisms Accepted by the Belgian Coordinated Collections of Microorganisms (BCCM) and the Relevant Schedule of Fees

NOTIFICATION

1. In accordance with Rule 3.3 of the Regulations under the Budapest Treaty, the Belgian Government hereby notifies you, as a supplement to its declaration published in the February 1992 issue of the periodical Industrial Property, that the list of organisms which BCCM -- and more particularly the LMBP collection (hereinafter referred to as BCCM/LMBP) -- will accept for deposit is extended as follows:

1.1 Genetic Material

BCCM/LMBP accepts the deposit of genetic material, whether recombinant or not -- as plasmids, oncogenes and RNA, for example -- in the form of an isolated material preparation or in a host.

1.2 Human and Animal Cells, Hybridomes

BCCM/LMBP accepts deposits of animal cell cultures, including human cell lines, genetically modified cell lines and hybridomes, which can be stored without particular deterioration nor loss of their properties, by controlled freezing, followed by long-term storage in liquid nitrogen.

Cell cultures contaminated by microplasms can only be accepted for deposit in exceptional cases.

In the case of the two above-mentioned categories, and notwithstanding what is said above, BCCM/LMBP:

- does not normally accept any deposit requiring a containment level beyond category 3 of the United Kingdom Advisory Committee on Genetic Manipulation (ACGM);

- must be informed of the required containment level together with any other data (e.g. presence of oncogenes) required to assess the inherent hazards of the biological material to be deposited;

- maintains its right to refuse acceptance for deposit of any material which, according to the curator, represents an inacceptable hazard or which is not suitable, for technical reasons, for manipulation.

All applications and/or deposits under the Budapest Treaty concerning the two categories of biological material referred to should be addressed directly to the BCCM/LMBP Collection, Laboratorium voor Moleculaire Biologie, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Gent, Belgium, Telephone: +32-91-645145, Fax: +32-91-645348.

P.S. As from June 26, 1993, the zone number 91 should be replaced by 92.

2. Requirements under Rule 6.3

2.1. Genetic material

2.1.1 In a host

BCCM/LMBP requires the applicant to supply:

- 3 active or freeze-dried or cryogenically conserved cultures, one of which will be subjected to a viability test and subsequently serve to prepare a minimum stock of 20 samples of cryogenically conserved cells and/or 20 ampoules of freeze-dried cells;

or

- 23 ampoules of freeze-dried cells of the same preparation, 1 of which will be subjected to a viability test and subsequently serve for the preparation of a minimum stock of 20 cryogenically conserved samples.

2.1.2 In the form of a preparation of isolated material,

BCCM/LMBP requires that samples be supplied in freeze-dried or cryogenically conserved form or precipitated in alcohol. A minimum of 2 x 20 micrograms must be furnished.

The plasmids must have a degree of purity such that ready transformation is ensured (the recommended host must normally be stated and furnished -- without the plasmid concerned -- together with sufficiently detailed instructions for ensuring ready transformation).

2.2 Human and Animal Cells, Hybridomes

Before despatching the animal and human cell cultures or the hybridomes to BCCM/LMBP, the depositor must check that they are free of contaminants. The cells must be submitted for deposit in the form of frozen cultures. BCCM/LMBP may refuse to accept the deposit of cultures not packed in a sufficient quantity of dry ice to ensure that they remain frozen during transport. On deposit, the depositor must submit at least 12 samples of the same preparation in well-closed tubes of the cryotube type (12 to 13 mm diameter; volume: 1 - 2 millilitres), clearly and durably marked. The cultures must contain at least 4 x 10⁶ viable cells/ampoule. One or two samples will be tested for viability requiring between three and six weeks of testing (including the microplasm contamination test).

In general, BCCM/LMBP does not prepare its own batches of genetic material, animal and human cell lines or hybridomes. Consequently, when stocks of material are exhausted following furnishing of samples, it requests the depositor to make a new deposit.

3. With reference to Rule 12.2(a) of the Regulations under the Budapest Treaty, the following change in the amount of fees is notified:

For genetic material, the schedule of fees reproduced in Industrial Property of February 1992 remains in force:

For human cells, animal cells and hybridomes, the same schedule of fees will apply, except:

These prices do not include the cost of despatch (FB 100 currently represent approximately 2.5 ECUs or US$3).