THE BCCM^TM CONSORTIUM
AS AN IDA

Since March 1, 1992, the BCCM^TM consortium has been recognised as an "International Depositary Authority" (IDA) by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Therefore, the BCCM^TM collections can accept as patent deposits under the Budapest Treaty:

• all bacterial strains, except pathogens belonging to a hazard group higher than group 2 (BCCM^TM/LMG);

• filamentous fungi and yeasts, including phytopathogens but excepting pathogenic fungi causing mycosis in man and animals belonging to a hazard group higher than group 2 (BCCM^TM/MUCL);

• filamentous fungi and yeasts, including pathogens that cause mycosis in man and animals (BCCM^TM/IHEM);

• human and animal cell lines, including hybridomas (BCCM^TM/LMBP);

• genetic material in a host or in the form of isolated material (e.g. plasmids, oncogenes, RNA) (BCCM^TM/ LMBP) (1)

In fact, BCCM^TM accepts almost all types of biological material except plant seeds and plant tissue cultures.

Patented strains are preserved separately from the public collection. Access to this material and related information is rigorously controlled. The use of multiple state-of-the-art preservation methods (e.g. freeze drying and cryopreservation over liquid N₂), together with storage of duplicates at a second location, guarantees a very high degree of security.

To support potential depositors, the BCCM^TM has produced a practical manual, which clearly describes the chronological steps in the deposit procedure. This manual is available free of charge from the BCCM^TM on request, and can also be consulted on line (http://www.belspo.be/bccm/tbu/manual.htm).

The Budapest Treaty strongly advises the depositor to mention the scientific description and/or proposed taxonomic designation of the deposited organism. The BCCM^TM collections have built up substantial expertise in techniques for molecular fingerprinting and can assist the depositor in making the scientific description and taxonomic designation. A broad range of identification and characterisation methods (AFLP™, PFGE, fatty acid profiling, etc.) is available.

Moreover, the IDA status of the BCCM^TM allows its collections to accept safe deposits for other legal purposes such as, for example, the animal feed directive (2). Safe deposits are never catalogued and subcultures are only made available to the depositor or an authorised mandatary. Moreover, they can be converted to patent deposits at any time.

(1) see case study.

(2) Council Directive 87/153/EEC, modified by Commission Directives 94/40/EC and 95/11/EC, see also BCCM^TM News 2.

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