Approval of the Budapest Treaty moves forward in Brazil for International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganism.

The Bill 466/2022 (“PDL 466/2022″), for the approval of the text of the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure had one more important development: it was approved by the Science, Technology and Innovation Commission (CCTI) in the extraordinary meeting held on August 23, 2023.

The Budapest Treaty aims to establish a uniform and effective system for the deposit of microorganisms in depositary centers, to protect intellectual property rights for the treaty’s member countries. The deposit of the respective microorganisms is intended to complement information about the invention and provide sufficient of disclosure thereof.

The rapporteur of the Bill in the CCTI, Deputy Vitor Lippi (PSDB-SP), states that “Once a signatory, the country may request that institutions such as Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia (Cenargen), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), among others equally qualified, be recognized as an International Depositary Authority (IDA)” to “play a major role in Latin America in terms of biological material for patent purposes.”

The implementation of the Treaty, which harmonizes the procedures and minimizes the risks in the treatment of the deposited biological material, would not imply additional expenses or burdens for the National Institute of Industrial Property – INPI, as the regulations that operationalizes this type of deposit are already in force.

Bill 466/2022 still needs to be approved by the Committee on Constitution and Justice and Citizenship (CCJC), Committee on Economic Development (CDE), and Committee on Industry, Commerce, and Services (CICS). As it is being processed under an urgent regime, the Committees will have a shorter period to deliberate, and the expectation is that it will soon be forwarded to the vote of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.

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