Budapest Notification No. 22
Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure

Communication of the European Patent Organisation Relating to the Acquisition of the Status of International Depositary Authority by the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen

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 27, 1981, of a written communication from the European Patent Organisation, relating to the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen, indicating that the said depositary institution is located on the territory of one of the member States of the European Patent Organisation 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 Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen will acquire the status of international depositary authority under the Budapest Treaty as from October 1, 1981, 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 September issue of Industrial Property/La Propriété industrielle.

August 27, 1981

Text of the Written Communication of the European Patent Organisation dated July 23, 1981, Relating to the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen

(Translation furnished by the European Patent Office)

COMMUNICATION

1. Declaration

The European Patent Organisation, referring to Article 7 of the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms-for the Purposes of Patent Procedure (hereinafter referred to as "the Treaty"), hereby declares that the depositary institution for microorganisms, Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen, located on the territory of one of its Member States, the Federal Republic of Germany, complies and will continue to comply with the requirement specified in Article 6(2) of the Treaty.

This declaration is made for the purposes of the acquisition by that institution of the status of international depositary authority.

2. Name and Address of the Depositary Institution

Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen (DSM)
Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung mbH
(hereinafter referred to as "DSM")
Grisebachstr. 8
Göttingen
Federal Republic of Germany
Postal address: Grisebachstr. 8
D - 3400 Göttingen

3. Detailed information as to the DSM's capacity to comply with the requirements specified in Article 6(2) of the Treaty

The DSM was founded in 1969 as a working group within the Institute for Microbiology in Göttingen of the Gesellschaft für Umweltforschung mbH (GSF); it subsequently became an autonomous establishment within the GSF and since 1979 has been an institution of the Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung mbH, Braunschweig (GBF).

The DSM is an autonomous establishment of the GBF, responsible directly to the latter's management.

The GBF is funded by the Federal Republic of Germany and the Land of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen).

The DSM employs a staff of sixteen, six of whom have university degrees.

The DSM is sub-divided into working groups, each responsible for particular groups of microorganisms. Two of these working groups are at present still located in Darmstadt and Munich respectively. Deposits of microorganisms for the purposes of patent procedure, however, are processed only in Göttingen.

The DSM is accommodated within the Institute for Microbiology of the Göttingen University where it has premises with a total area of around 550 m². Its premises are separate from those of the Institute for Microbiology and comprise: three laboratories for microbiological work; one incubation room; one apparatus room for - amongst other things - lyophilizing microorganisms; one store-room for the storage of microorganisms in liquid nitrogen; one store-room for the storage of lyophilized microorganisms at 8°C; one cold room; one office for documentation.

The DSM laboratories are equipped with up-to-date facilities, allowing all general microbiological work to be carried out efficiently. All modern processes (lyophilization, storage in liquid nitrogen) for long-term storage of microorganisms are available.

The current stock of microorganisms amounts to some 4,500 strains. The first microorganism strains deposited for the purposes of patent procedure date back to 1974. Since then and up to the end of 1980, there have been 302 deposits of microorganisms for that purpose, 99 being for the European patent grant procedure, pursuant to the Agreement of 25 August 1980 between the European Patent Organisation and the DSM.

4. Kinds of microorganisms accepted for deposit by the DSM

The following kinds of microorganisms are accepted for deposit:

4.1 bacteria, including actinomycetes,

4.2 fungi, including yeasts,

4.3 bacteriophages,

except any kinds pathogenic to humans or animals. Phyto-pathogenic kinds are accepted with the exception of:

Erwinia amylovora
Coniothyrium fagacearum
Endothia parasitica
Gloeosporium ampelophagum
Septoria musiva
Synchytrium endobioticum.

5. Fee Schedule

The above charges are expressed net of value-added tax payable under the provisions in force in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Extra charges are payable for dispatch by air.

6. Official Language

German is the official language of the DSM. However, correspondence may also be carried out in English.

7. Date on which the status of International Depositary Authority should take effect (date referred to in Article 7(2)(b) of the Treaty)

1 October 1981