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 January 12, 1982, of a written communication from the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, relating to the National Collection of Industrial Bacteria, indicating that the said depositary institution is located on the territory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 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 National Collection of Industrial Bacteria will acquire the status of international depositary authority under the said Treaty as from March 31, 1982, the date of publication of the said communication in the March 1982 issue of Industrial Property/La Propriété industrielle (see Article 7(2)(b) of the said Treaty).
February 2, 1982
Text of the Written Communication of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland dated January 4, 1982, Relating to the National Collection of Industrial Bacteria
COMMUNICATION
1. I have the honor to refer to the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, opened for signature at Budapest from the 28th of April to the 31st of December 1977. In accordance with the provisions of Article 7 of the said Treaty, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland nominate the National Collection of Industrial Bacteria as an International Depositary Authority. The Government of the United Kingdom furnish their assurances that the National Collection of Industrial Bacteria complies and will continue to comply with the requirements specified in Article 6(2) of the Treaty for an International Depositary Authority. The requisite information concerning this nominated Depositary Institution is set out below.
2. Accordingly I have the further honour to request that you carry out the procedures established by the Treaty and Regulations annexed to it, in connection with the acquisition of the status of International Depositary Authority by the Institution nominated herein.
3. The National Collection of Industrial Bacteria (NCIB) is located in the United Kingdom at the Torry Research Station, PO Box 31, 135 Abbey Road, Aberdeen AB9 8DG, Scotland.
4. The NCIB is a part of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, a Government Department.
5. The NCIB has been in continuous existence as a government laboratory since 1951 and has been at the Torry Research Station since 1959. The NCIB has a staff of 12, of whom 7 hold relevant University degrees or equivalent qualifications. This staff is fully competent and adequate to perform the scientific and administrative tasks required under the Budapest Treaty. In fact the NCIB has been accepting deposits made for patent purposes for almost 20 years, and is one of the depositories recognised by the European Patent Office. The NCIB is affiliated to the World Federation for Culture Collections and has an undisputed reputation for work concerned with the preservation, testing, authentication and distribution of bacterial cultures. At present the collection contains over 3,500 strains of bacteria, and about 100 new strains are added each year. The NCIB performs its work in an impartial and objective way, and will be available for the purposes of Deposit under the Treaty to any Depositor under the same conditions.
6. The NCIB has all the facilities necessary for the culturing, checking and long term preservation of the kinds of organisms it accepts for deposit. All organisms are preserved by either freezing (over liquid nitrogen) or freeze-drying and are stored in sealed ampoules which prevent the ingress of contaminating organisms. Standby electrical generating equipment is provided to keep the cold storage rooms operating in event of failure of the public supply system. Cultures deposited for patent purposes are stored under lock and key in a room separate from that containing all other cultures, and only staff authorised by the Curator have access to them. Records relating to patent cultures are also kept in locked files and access to them is similarly restricted. To minimise the risk of loss, duplicates of all deposits are kept (again with appropriate security measures) at a location some 580 kms from the Torry Research Station.
7. The NCIB will accept for deposit non-pathogenic bacteria (including actinomycetes) and bacteriophages which can be preserved without significant change to their properties by freezing or freeze-drying. In exceptional circumstances the NCIB may accept deposits which can only be maintained in active culture, but acceptance of such deposits, and the fees attributable to them, must be decided on an individual basis by prior negotiation with the prospective depositor.
8. On behalf of the nominated Depositary Institution, I have the honour to inform you that, in accordance with Rule 6.3(a), the NCIB requires before it will accept a microorganism for deposit:
(i) that a deposit of a microorganism should be in an appropriate form and adequate quantity to enable the NCIB to carry out properly its duties under the Regulations;
(ii) that the Accession Form established by the NCIB for the purpose of administrative procedures be duly completed by the depositor;
(iii) that the written statement referred to in Rule 6.1(a) or 6.2(a) be drafted in English;
(iv) that the fee for storage referred to in Rule 12.1(a)(i) be paid; and
(v) that the depositor complete the Application Form of the NCIB in entering into a contract with the NCIB establishing the terms and conditions on which deposit will be accepted.
9. In accordance with the Regulations for implementing the Budapest Treaty, the NCIB will:
(a) examine the viability of such kinds of organisms and store them;
(b) issue receipt and viability statements as prescribed;
(c) comply with the prescribed secrecy requirements; and
(d) furnish samples under the conditions and in conformity with the prescribed procedures.
10. The following fees are payable to the NCIB:
- for storage of the microorganisms in accordance with the Treaty - £140;
- for the issue of a viability statement, where a fee may be charged - £15;
- for the furnishing of a sample in accordance with Rule 11.2 or 11.3 - £10 plus the actual cost of carriage.
All charges paid by individuals or organisations within the United Kingdom are subject to Value Added Tax at the current rate.
11. The NCIB conducts all its business in English.