Chapter 14 - IP and The Budapest Treaty—Depositing Biological Material for Patent Purposes

Abstract

Intellectual property rights (IP) are the driving force to promote economic and social development by protecting the interests of inventors by giving them property rights over their invention. Patent protection can be granted for an invention which proves to be new, of industrial value, and reworkable. In biotechnology reworkability of an invention in numerous cases can only be assured if the biological material involved is deposited with an independent, recognized patent depositary called an International Depositary Authority (IDA) according to the Budapest Treaty. The stepwise procedures are outlined in detail for scientists for patent deposit process to render the respective biological material available to third parties to allow reworkability. Focus is also laid on the procedures how third parties can obtain the biological material which has been deposited for patent purposes.