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 18, 1986, of a written communication, dated April 16, 1986, from the Government of the Hungarian People's Republic, relating to the Mezőgazdasági és Ipari Mikroorganizmusok Magyar Nemzeti Gyüjteménye (MIMG) ("National Collection of Agricultural and Industrial Microorganisms (NCAIM)"), indicating that the said depositary institution is located on the territory of the Hungarian People's Republic 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 Mezőgazdasági és Ipari Mikroorganizmusok Magyar Nemzeti Gyüjteménye (MIMG) ("National Collection of Agricultural and Industrial Microorganisms (NCAIM)") will acquire the status of international depositary authority under the Budapest Treaty as from June 1, 1986, 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 May 1986 issue of Industrial Property/La Propriété industrielle.
May 2, 1986
Text of the Written Communication of the Government of the Hungarian People's Republic dated April 16, 1986, Relating to the Mezőgazdasági és Ipari Mikroorganizmusok Magyar Nemzeti Gyüjteménye (MIMG) ("National Collection of Agricultural and Industrial Microorganisms (NCAIM)")
COMMUNICATION
As provided in Article 7(1)(a) of the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, the Government of the Hungarian People's Republic notifies the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization that it nominates the Mezőgazdasági és Ipari Mikroorganizmusok Magyar Nemzeti Gyüjteménye (MIMG), i.e., the National Collection of Agricultural and Industrial Microorganisms (NCAIM), as an International Depositary Authority. The Government of the Hungarian People's Republic furnishes its assurances that the nominated institution complies and will continue to comply with the requirements specified in Article 6(2) of the Treaty and requests the Director General to carry out the procedure in accordance with the provisions of Article 7(2)(a).
The information concerning the nominated institution, as provided in Article 7(1)(b), is set out below.
1. The National Collection of Agricultural and Industrial Microorganisms (NCAIM) is located on the territory of the Hungarian People's Republic; its address is:
Kertészeti Egyetem, Mikrobiológiai Tanszék
i.e. Department of Microbiology, University of Horticulture
Somlói ut 14-16
H-1118 Budapest
The institution is under the control of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
2. The organization of the NCAIM was established in 1974 and it contains the strain collections of about 30 research and higher education institutes engaged in agricultural and industrial activity. The centre of the strain collection is the Department of Microbiology of the University of Horticulture which has been functioning since 1969 as an independent organizational unit of the University founded more than 130 years ago.
The NCAIM has a staff of 19, of whom nine hold university degrees. Of those, three professionals and three technical assistants deal exclusively with the work of the strain collection; the other members of the staff perform such tasks in 1/4-1/5 part of their working time. This staff is fully competent and adequate to perform the scientific and administrative tasks required under the Budapest Treaty. The area of the main premises of the NCAIM is about 370m2. Two rooms are used for placing the strain preserving equipment and the safes containing the preserved strains, while the further parts of the area are occupied by the laboratories and preparatory rooms necessary for the cultivation and testing of the strains.
With its work up to now, the NCAIM has proved to be qualified for performing the tasks according to the requirements arising in international relations. Being a member of the World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC) (No. 85), formerly called Hungarian Microbiological Gene Bank (HMGB), its activity is generally known and it maintains widespread international connections. At present, the collection contains over 1,000 strains of bacteria, 1,400 strains of fungi and about 100 strains of viruses. For the time being, 220 strains are deposited for patent purposes.
3. The NCAIM has all the facilities to keep the deposited microorganisms viable and uncontaminated. All strains of microorganisms are preserved by either freeze-drying (lyophilization) or freezing (in liquid nitrogen). For safety's sake, both methods are used simultaneously, when it is possible, to maintain permanently the same strain. In addition, traditional strain preserving methods are also applied. The strains are stored in sealed ampoules, at least in 24 copies by strain, in fire-proof safes or insulated containers, and in locked rooms used only for this purpose. Strains deposited for patent purposes are kept separately. Records relating to the strains are kept in locked metal cases. Only authorized staff has access to both the strains and the records.
4. The NCAIM accepts strains for deposit in connection with patent applications, on the following conditions:
- the depositor sends at least 25 lyophilized ampoules, which will be qualified as stored material after viability examination, or at least 3 lyophilized or active cultures from which the NCAIM will prepare storable material.
- the depositor presents a written statement, under Rule 6.1(a) or 6.2(a) of the Regulations under the Treaty, on the established forms, in one of the applicable languages.
- the depositor pays the fees charged by the NCAIM for the storage under Rule 9.1 of the Regulation under the Treaty.
5. The NCAIM is generally willing to accept for deposit in connection with patent applications strains of agriculturally and industrially important bacteria and fungi whose cultivation and preservation do not call for special conditions and which do not involve any health or other hazard to the environment.
The following may be accepted for deposit:
- bacteria (including Streptomyces) except obligate human pathogenic species (e.g., Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Mycobacterium leprae, Yersinia pestis etc.)
- fungi, including yeasts and moulds, except some pathogens (Blastomyces, Coccidioides, Histoplasma etc.), as well as certain basidiomycetous and plant pathogenic fungi which cannot be preserved reliably.
Apart from the above mentioned ones, the following may not, at present, be accepted for deposit:
- viruses, phages, rickettsiae,
- algae, protozoa,
- cell lines, hybridomes.
After the necessary preparations, the NCAIM will, in future, accept for deposit the aforementioned and users will be so notified.
6. The following fees are payable to the NCAIM:
| (i) for the storage of the microorganisms in accordance with Rule 9.1: | Ft 15,000.- | |
| (ii) for the issue of an attestation in accordance with Rule 8.2: | Ft 500.- | |
| (iii) for the issue of a viability statement, except in the cases provided for under Rule 10.2(e): | Ft 1,500.- | |
| (iv) for the furnishing of a sample in accordance with Rule 11.2 or 11.3: | Ft 2,000.- (plus cost of transport) | |
| (v) for communication of information under Rule 7.6: | Ft 500.- |
7. The official language of the NCAIM is Hungarian; correspondence may, however, be conducted also in the English, French, German and Russian languages.
8. The NCAIM will acquire the status of international depositary authority as from June 1, 1986.