BUDAPEST TREATY REGULATIONS

Rule 11. Furnishing of Samples

11.1 Furnishing of Samples to Interested Industrial Property Offices

Any international depositary authority shall furnish a sample of any deposited microorganism to the industrial property office of any Contracting State or of any deposited microorganism to the industrial property office of any Contracting State or of any intergovernmental industrial property organization on the request of such office, provided that the request shall be accompanied by a declaration to the effect that:

(i) an application referring to the deposit of that microorganism has been filed with that office for the grant of a patent and that the subject matter of that application involves the said microorganism or the user thereof;

(ii) such application is pending before that office or has led to the grant of a patent;

(iii) the sample is needed for the purposes of a patent procedure having effect in the said Contracting State or in the said organization at its member States;
(iv) the said sample and any information accompanying or resulting from it will be used only for the purposes of the said patent procedure.

11.2 Furnishing of Samples to or with the Authorization of the Depositor

Any international depositary authority shall furnish a sample of any deposited microorganism:

(i) to the depositor, on his request;

(ii) to any authority, natural person or legal entity (hereinafter referred to as "the authorized party"), on the request of such party, provided that the request is accompanied by a declaration of the depositor authorizing the request furnishing of a sample.

11.3 Furnishing of Samples to Parties Legally Entitled

(a) Any international depositary authority shall furnish a sample of any deposited microorganism to any authority, natural person or legal entity (hereinafter referred to as "the certified party"), on the request of such party , provided that the request is made on a form whose contents are fixed by the Assembly and that on the said form the industrial property office certifies:

(i) that an application referring to the deposit of that microorganism has been filed with that office for the grant of a patent and that the subject matter of that application involves the said microorganism or the use thereof;

(ii) that, except where the second phrase of (iii) applies, publication for the purposes of patent procedure has been effected by that office;

(iii) either that the certified party has a right to a sample of the microorganism under the law governing patent procedure before that office and, where the said law makes the said right dependent on the fulfilment of certain conditions, that office is satisfied that such condition have actually been fulfilled or that the certified party has affixed his signature on a form before that office and that, as a consequence of the signature of the said form, the conditions for furnishing a sample to the certified party are deemed to be fulfilled in accordance with the law governing patent procedure before that office; where the certified party has the said right under the said lax prior to publication for the purposes of patent procedure by the said office and such publication has not yet been effected, the certification shall expressly state so and shall indicate, by citing it in the customary manner, the applicable provision of the said lax, including any court decision .

(b) In respect of patents granted and published by any industrial property office; such office may from time to time communicate to any international depositary authority lists of the accession numbers given by that authority lists of the accession number given by that authority to the deposits of the microorganisms referred to in the said patents. The international depositary shall, on the request of any authority, natural person or legal entity (hereinafter referred to as "the requesting party"), furnish to it a sample of any microorganism where the accession number has been so communicated. In respect of deposited microorganisms hose accession numbers have been so communicated, the said office shall not be required to provide the certification referred to in Rule 11.3(a).

11.4 Common Rules

(a)Any request, declaration, certification or communication referred to in Rule 11.1, 11. 2 and 11.3 shall be:

(i) in English, French, Russian or Spanish where it is addressed to an international depositary authority whose official language is or whose official languages include English, French, Russian or Spanish, respectively, provided that, where it must be in Russian or Spanish, it may be instead filed in English or French and, if it is so filed, the International Bureau shall, on the request of the international depositary authority, establish, promptly and free of charge, a certified translation into Russian or Spanish;

(ii) in all other cases, it shall be in English or French, provided that it may be, instead, in the official language or one of the official languages of the international depositary authority.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), where the request to in Rule 11.1 is made by an industrial property office whose official language is Russian or Spanish, the said request may be in Russian or Spanish, respectively, and the International Bureau shall establish, promptly and free of charge, a certified translation into English or French, on the request of that office or the international depositary authority which received the said request.

(c) Any request, declaration, certification or communication referred to in Rule 11.1, 11.2 and 11.3 shall be in writing, shall bear a signature and shall be dated.

(d) Any request, declaration or certification referred to in Rules 11.1, 11.2 and 11.3(a) shall contain the following indications:

(i) the name and address of the industrial property office making the request, of the authorized party or of the certified party, as the case may be;

(ii) the accession number given to the deposit;

(iii) in case of Rule 11.1 the date and number of the application or patent referring to the deposit;

(iv) in the case of Rule 11.3(a), the indications referred to in (iii) and the name and address of the industrial property office which has made the certification referred to in the said Rule.

(e) Any request to in Rule 11.3(b) shall contain the following indications:

(i) the name and address of the requesting party;

(ii) the accession number given to the deposit.

(f) The container in which the sample furnished is placed shall be marked by the international depositary authority with the accession number given to the deposit and shall be accompanied by a copy of the receipt referred to in Rule 7, an indication of any properties of the micro- organismwhich are or may be dangerous to health or the environment and, upon request, an indication of the conditions which the international depositary authority employed for the cultivation and storage of the microorganism.

(g) The international depositary authority having furnished a sample to any interested party other than the depositor shall promptly notify the depositor in writing of that fact, as well as of the date on which the said sample was furnished and of the name and address of the industrial property office, of the authorized party, of the certified party or of the requesting party , to whom or to which the sample was furnished. The said notification shall be accompanied by a copy of the pertinent request, of any declarations submitted under Rules 11.1 or 11.2(ii) in connection with the said request, and of any forms or requests bearing the signature of the requesting party in accordance with Rule 11.3.

(h) The furnishing of samples referred to in Rule 11.1 shall be free of charge. Where the furnishing of samples is made under Rule 11.2 or 11.3, any fee payable under Rule 12.1(a)(iv) shall be chargeable to the depositor, to the authorized party, to the certified party or to the requesting party, as the case may be, and shall be paid before or at the time of making the said request.

11.5 Changes in Rules 11.1 and 11.3 when Applying to International Applications

Where an application was filed as an international application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the reference to the filing of the application with the industrial property office in Rules 11.1(I) and 11.3(a)(I) shall be considered a reference to the designation, in the international application, of the Contracting State for which the industrial property office is the "designated Office" within the meaning of that Treaty, and the certification of publication which is required by Rule 11.3(a)(ii) shall, at the option of the industrial property office, be either a certification of international property office, be either a certification of publication by the industrial property office.

Rule 12. Fees

12.1 Kinds and Amounts

(a) Any international depositary authority may, with respect to the procedure under the Treaty and these Regulations, charge a fee:

(i) for storage ;

(ii) for the attestation referred to in Rule 8.2;

(iii) subject to Rule 10.2(e), first sentence, for the issuance of viability statements;

(iv) subject to Rule 11.4(h),first sentence, for the furnishing of samples;

(v) for the communication of information under Rule 7.6.

(b) The fee for storage shall be for the whole duration of the storage of the microorganism as provided in Rule 9.1.

(c) The amount of any fee shall not vary on account of the nationality or residence of the depositor or on account of the nationality or residence of the authority, natural person or legal entity requesting the issuance of a viability statement or furnishing of samples.

12.2 Changes in the Amounts

(a) Any change in the amount of the fees charges by any international depositary authority shall be notified to the Director General by the Contracting State or intergovernmental industrial property organization which made the declaration referred to in Article 7(1) in respect of that authority. The notification may, subject to paragraph (c), contain an indication of the date from which the new fee will apply.

(b)The Director General shall promptly notify all Contracting States and intergovernmental industrial property organizations of any notifications received under paragraph (a) and of its effective date under paragraph (c); the notification received by him shall be promptly published by the International Bureau.

(c) Any new fees shall apply as of the date indicated under paragraph (a), provided that, where the change consists of an increase in the amounts of the fees or where no date is so indicated, the new fees shall apply as form the thirtieth date following the publication of the change by the International Bureau.

Rule 12bis. Computation of Time Limits

12bis.1 Periods Expressed in Years

When a period is expressed as one year or a certain number of years, computation shall start on the day following the day on which the relevant event occurred, and the period shall expire in the relevant subsequent year in the month having the same number as the month and the day on which the said event occurred, provided that if the relevant subsequent month has no day with the same number the period shall expire on the last day of that month.

12bis.2 Periods Expressed in Months

When a period is expressed as one month or a certain number of months, computation shall start on the day following the day on which the relevant event occurred, and the period shall expire in the relevant subsequent month on the day which has the same number as the day on which the said event occurred, provided that if the relevant subsequent month has no day with the same number the period shall expire on the last day of that month.

12bis.3 Periods Expressed in Days

When a period is expressed as a certain number of days, computation shall start on the day following the day on which the relevant event occurred, and the period shall expire on the day on which the last day of the count has been reached.

Rule 13. Publication by the International Bureau

13.1 Form of Publication

Any publication by the International Bureau referred to in the Treaty or these Regulations shall be made in the monthly periodical of the International Bureau referred to in the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property

13.2 Contents

(a) At least in the first issue of each year of the said periodical, an up-to-date list of the international depositary authorities shall be published, indicating in respect of each such authority the kinds of microorganisms that may be deposited with it and the amount of the fees charged by it.

(b) Full information on any of the following facts shall be published once, in the first issue of the said periodical published after the occurrence of the fact:

(i) any acquisition, termination or limitation of the status of international depositary authority, and the measures taken in connection with that termination or limitation;

(ii) any extension referred to in Rule 3.3;

(iii) any discontinuance of the functions of an international depositary authority, any refusal to accept certain kinds of microorganisms, and the measures taken in connection with such discontinuance or refusal;

(iv) any change in the fees charged by an international depositary authority;

(v) any requirements communicated in accordance with Rule 6.3(b) and any amendments thereof.

Rule 14. Expenses of Delegations

14.1 Coverage of Expenses

The expenses of each delegation participating in any session of the Assembly and in any committee, working group or other meeting dealing with matters of concern to the Union shall be borne by the State or organization which has appointed it.

Rule 15. Absence of Quorum in the Assembly

15.1 Voting by Correspondence

(a) In the case provided for in Article 10(5)(b), the Director General shall communicate any decision of the Assembly (other than decisions relating to the Assembly's own procedure) to the Contracting States which were not represented when the decision was made and shall invite them to express in writing their vote or abstention within a period of three months from the date of the communication.

(b) If, at the expiration of the said period, the number of Contracting States having thus expressed their vote or abstention attains the number of Contracting States which was lacking for attaining the quorum when the decision was made, that decision shall take effect provided that at the same time the required majority still obtains.