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2.7.4.3.1 Contents of the Receipt

Date Published

Original Deposit

Rule 7.3 requires that the receipt for an original deposit under the Budapest Treaty should contain at least the following:

  • the name and address of the International Depositary Authority (IDA);
  • the name and address of the depositor;
  • the date of original deposit of the micro-organism;
  • the identification reference given by the depositor to the micro-organism;
  • the accession number given by the IDA to the deposit; and
  • a reference to the fact that the deposit is or is not accompanied by a written statement which contains a scientific description and/or a proposed taxonomic designation of the micro-organism.

Deposits other than those made under the Budapest Treaty may be accepted by IDAs. Examiners should therefore ensure that the receipt explicitly indicates that the deposit was made under the Budapest Treaty.

Note: The date of the deposit normally means the date when the depositary receives and accepts a sample of a micro-organism which was deposited under the Budapest Treaty as shown on the official receipt. However, following an understanding reached by the Assembly of the Budapest Union (1981 and 1990), a depositor may request that a deposit made with an accredited IDA, but outside the scope of the Budapest Treaty, be converted into a Budapest Treaty deposit. In such cases, the applicable national law determines whether the earlier date can be recognised.


New Deposit

Rule 7.4 requires that the receipt for a new deposit is issued by the International Depositary Authority (IDA) which holds the new deposit and should contain at least the following:

  • the name and address of the IDA holding the new deposit;
  • the name and address of the depositor;
  • the date of the new deposit of the micro-organism;
  • the identification reference given by the depositor to the micro-organism;
  • the accession number given by the IDA to the new deposit;
  • the accession number of the previous deposit;
  • the reason for making the new deposit;
  • the date on which the depositary received the information from the previous IDA stating why it cannot furnish a sample; and
  • where a scientific description and/or taxonomic designation was indicated with the previous deposit, supply the most recent scientific description and/or proposed taxonomic designation of the deposit sent to the previous IDA.

The applicant must supply a copy of the receipt for the previous deposit, if the date of the new deposit is after the filing date of the patent application.


Transfer Deposit

When an International Depositary Authority (IDA) temporarily or definitively discontinues the performance of any of the tasks of an IDA, samples of the affected micro-organisms can be transferred to another IDA.

The latter IDA should issue a receipt for the transferred deposit. The contents of a transfer receipt should:

  • contain the same details as those for the original deposit, except that the IDA referred therein is the one which holds the transferred deposit, the accession number is that of the transferred deposit and the date of the transfer replaces the date of the original deposit;
  • disclose the name and address of the IDA from which the transfer was effected and the old accession number given by the previous IDA; and
  • indicate whether a scientific description of the deposit was sent to the previous IDA (Rule 7.5).

In addition, the applicant should disclose the date on which the latter IDA received the information from the previous IDA stating why it cannot furnish a sample.

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