Chapter 2 Biological Inventions - Japan Patent Office

Part VII Chapter 2 Biological Inventions
microorganism.
(i) Deposit and Furnishing
A person desiring to file a patent application for an invention involving or using a microorganism
(hereinafter "an applicant"), shall deposit the microorganism with a depositary institution designated
by the Commissioner of the Patent Office or International Depositary Authorities (hereinafter, the
both are referred to as "depositary institution for the purposes of patent procedure"), unless a
person skilled in the art can easily obtain the microorganism, shall state the accession number in
the specification as filed, and shall attach a document certifying the fact that the microorganism has
been deposited (hereinafter referred to as a "copy of the Receipt of an Original Deposit") to the
patent appliction.
The depositary institution for the purposes of patent procedure issues a receipt of a reception
immediately after receiving the application of patent depositary, and then it issues a Receipt of an
Original Deposit after testing the microorganism and finding them to be viable. As a receipt of a
reception is not a document certifying the fact that the microorganism has been deposited, provided
in Section 27bis of Regulations under the Patent Act, a receipt of a reception shall not be attached
to the patent application.
An applicant may file a patent application stating a reference number which is written in a receipt
of a reception, in the specification as filed. In this case, an applicant shall submit a copy of the
Receipt of an Original Deposit immediately after being issued the Receipt of an Original Deposit.
When a copy of the Receipt of an Original Deposit is issued, the date of the original deposit shall
be the date on which the microorganism was received by the depositary institution for the purposes
of patent procedure.
The application is not treated as having been deposited from the received date, in case that the
depositary institution for the purposes of patent procedure couldn’t find the microorganism to be
viable, and did not issue the Receipt of an Original Deposit.
When a new accession number is given to the microorganism after filing, for the reason that,
e.g., re-deposit was made, samples of the microorganism were transferred to another International
Depositary Authority or the deposit was converted from the deposit under the national act to that
under the Budapest Treaty, the applicant or the patentee shall give a notice to that effect to the
Commissioner of the Patent Office without delay.
Where a microorganism which was deposited with a depositary institution designated by the
Commissioner of the Patent Office and was confirmed to be viable is found to be no longer viable,
the depositor, upon receipt of the "Notice that the microorganism cannot be furnished" (Official
Gazette of MITI No.178 Section 15) from the depositary institution, should deposit immediately the
same microorganism as that originally deposited. Where the microorganism is related to a patent
application or a patent, the applicant or the patentee should give a notice to that effect to the
Commissioner of the Patent Office without delay. In such a case, the newly deposited
microorganism is treated as having been deposited without intermission since the original deposit
was made.
The deposited microorganism can be furnished simultaneously with the registration for
establishment of a patent right. Even prior to the registration for establishment of a patent right,
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