Intellectual property offices around the world require written disclosure of the invention of a new microorganism to be supplemented by the deposit of that microorganism with an International Depositary Authority (IDA).

CellBank Australia was formally recognised by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) as an IDA under the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure on February 22, 2010.

CellBank Australia is the only IDA in Australia and Southeast Asia which accepts human and animal cell lines and hybridomas for secure storage in vapour phase liquid nitrogen to supplement written disclosure of an invention with international patent offices.

Cell lines or hybridomas submitted under our Patent Deposit Service are stored for a minimum of thirty years and for at least five years beyond the last request to furnish a sample. Samples are furnished (released) only to those parties entitled to receive them under the Budapest Treaty (for more information, see Furnishing Requests of Patent Deposits).

Features:

• Viability testing.

• Once deposited, authorised parties in the patenting process may apply to CellBank Australia for access to a vial of the sample.

• The sample is held for a minimum of thirty years and for at least five years beyond the last request to furnish a sample.

• The sample is held in the vapour phase of liquid nitrogen with storage temperatures consistently below -150 degrees Celsius.

• The sample is secured by 24 hour, 7 day a week, monitoring of storage temperature through building-wide alarm systems with remote alerts. Generator based backup power systems are used in the event of power failure.

• A customised, barcode-driven database is used for tracking of ampoules with unique identification numbers.

The deposit should comprise a minimum of 12 identical samples in 1-2 mL cryovials with at least 4 million cells per vial.

Note: CellBank Australia can only accept cell lines that can be handled and stored at Physical Containment Level 1 (PC1) or Physical Containment Level 2 (PC2), and which can be preserved in vapour phase liquid nitrogen, without significant change to, or loss of, their properties or viability

Process:

At present, we do not accept orders online for our Patent Deposit service.

To request a patent deposit:

• Contact us using the ‘Ask a Question‘ and tell us about your specific needs.

• Download an International Deposit form for each cell line. There are three possible forms to choose from and all are available from the ‘Attachments’ tab. The form you need depends on the type of deposit you are making:
  • ‘BP1’ form required if you intend to make an original deposit (i.e. the cell lines(s) have not previously been deposited).
  • ‘BP2’ form required if the cell line has previously been deposited with CellBank Australia
  • ‘BP3’ form required, if the cell line has previously been deposited with another IDA.

• Download a ‘Biohazard Risk Assessment’ form for each cell line. The form is again available for download from the Attachments tab.

Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure on February 22, 2010.

Complete and return the forms (one International Deposit form (BP1, BP2 or BP3) and one Biohazard Risk Assessment form for each cell line) to us via email (cellbank@cmri.org.au).

• Upon review of the information provided in the forms, the ‘Patent Deposit Agreement’ will be emailed to you.

• Return a signed copy of the Agreement via email.

Once CellBank Australia receives your shipment we will store the vials in vapour phase liquid nitrogen and then test the viability of your cell line. Where the cell line is found to be viable, CellBank Australia will issue a formal Deposit Receipt and Viability Statement. The Deposit Receipt includes the official accession number for the cell line.

Please allow at least eight weeks as lead time as we are not able to issue a provisional accession number. The viability test alone typically takes up to 15 business days to complete, although this may be longer, depending on the circumstances.