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 February 2, 2000, of the communication of the Government of Japan, dated January 20, 2000, regarding the extension of kinds of microorganisms accepted and changes in the amounts of fees of the National Institute of Bioscience and Human-Technology (NIBH), an international depositary authority under the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure. The text of that communication is attached.
As mentioned in the communication, the new fees will apply as from April 1, 2000, and will be published in the January 2000 issue of Intellectual Property Laws and Treaties (see Rule 12.2(a) of the Regulations under the Budapest Treaty). The said fees will replace the fees as published in the February 1997 issue of Industrial Property and Copyright/La Propriété industrielle et le Droit d'auteur (see Budapest Notification No. 151 of January 30, 1997).
February 25, 2000
Communication by the Government of Japan Regarding the Extension of Kinds of Microorganisms Accepted and Changes in the Amounts of Fees of the National Institute of Bioscience and Human-Technology (NIBH)
COMMUNICATION
The Permanent Mission of Japan to the International Organizations in Geneva presents its compliments to the World Intellectual Property Organization and has the honor to transmit herewith the communication received from its home Government regarding the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure.
Extension of Kinds of Microorganisms Accepted and Changes in the Amounts of Fees pursuant to Rules 3.3 and 12.2 of the Regulations under the Budapest Treaty
National Institute of Bioscience and Human-Technology (NIBH)
1. Pursuant to Rule 3.3 of the Regulations under the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, the list of kinds of microorganisms which the National Institute of Bioscience and Human-Technology (NIBH) accepts will be extended as follows:
- Fungi, yeasts, bacteria, actinomycetes, plasmids (naked), animal cell cultures, embryos, protozoa, plant cell cultures, seeds and algae.
Despite the above list, the microorganisms shown below cannot be accepted:
- Microorganisms having properties which are or may be dangerous to human health or the environment; or
- Microorganisms which require the physical containment level P3 or P4 for experiments, as described in the "Prime Minister's Guidelines for Recombinant DNA Experiments of 1986."
Effective date of extension: April 1, 2000.
2. Pursuant to Rule 12.2 of the said Regulation, the schedule of fees of the NIBH will be changed as follows:
| (a) | Storage | Yen | ||
| - original deposit | 220,000 | |||
| - new deposit | 16,000 | |||
| (b) | Attestation referred to in Rule 8.2 | 2,000 | ||
| (c) | Issuance of a viability statement | |||
| - if the viability test is requested | 8,900 | |||
| - in other cases | 2,000 | |||
| (d) | Furnishing of a sample* | 10,000 | ||
| (e) | Communication of information under Rule 7.6 | 2,000 | ||
* For furnishing of samples to foreign institutions, additional fee per package as cost of special containers is payable as follows:
| Yen | ||
| - animal cell cultures | 33,000 | |
| - other microorganisms | 150 |
The above fees include consumption tax and local consumption tax.
Effective date of change: April 1, 2000.