Edition 7 - June, 2000

Workshop on Intellectual Property Rights related to microbial genetic resources - a joint initiative of WIPO and BCCM

From 23 - 28 July 2000, culture collections from all over the world will meet in Brisbane, Australia for the 9th International Congress for Culture Collections (ICCC-9). ICCCs are organised every four years by the World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC) and provide the best opportunity to receive up-to-date information on the scientific, managerial, and regulatory issues affecting culture collections and their users. They are the occasions for culture collections to exchange experiences and to discuss topics of common interests.

Taking advantage of the ICCC-9 congress, BCCM has scheduled a one-day workshop on intellectual property rights (IPR) related to microbial genetic resources (MGRs) as a satellite meeting to the congress on Friday 28 July 2000. The objectives of this workshop are to provide information about IPR related to MGRs and to promote European standards for accessing and exchanging MGRs, as they are compiled and proposed by the MOSAICC-project (Microorganisms sustainable use and access regulation - an international code of conduct, project coordinated by BCCM and financed by the Directorate General XII for Science, Research and Development of the European Commission. See also BCCM News No.3). Experts from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the WFCC Patents and Biodiversity committees, the European Culture Collection Organisation, as well as some individual culture collections and industrial microbiologists having specific experience in the field, will contribute to the workshop. The tentative programme is as follows:

• introduction, short presentation of the context: interrelated international conventions dealing with IPR and MGRs, mainly the TRIPS Agreement(1), the Budapest Treaty and the Convention of Biological Diversity;
• presentation of the MOSAICC project and its contribution to facilitating the access to, and transfer of, MGRs;
• the Budapest Treaty as tool for the deposit of micro-organisms for the purposes of patent procedure: Theory and practices;
• the situation in the matter of IPR related to MGRs - the varying implementation of the rules in different world regions and their convergence;
• answers to Frequently Asked Questions about IPR related to MGRs.

These topics will be presented by experienced speakers from both WIPO and BCCM.

After the workshop a vade-mecum on IPR related to MGRs will be drafted, summarising the compiled information. This information will be made available on Internet via the MOSAICC web site http://www.belspo.be/bccm/mosaicc

(1) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

Contact
IR. PH. DESMETH,
BCCM COORDINATION TEAM
TEL: +32 10 47 89 36
FAX: +32 10 45 15 01
E-MAIL: desmeth@mbla.ucl.ac.be

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