Patents
[No. 40 of 2016
21. (1) An invention relating to a micro-biological process or
product, which involves the use of a micro-organism which is not
available to the public and which cannot be described in the
application for a grant of a patent in such a manner as to enable the
invention to be carried out by a person skilled in the art, shall not be
patented unless—
811
Patentability
of microbiological
process or
product
(a) a culture of the micro-organism has been deposited with
the depository institution, in accordance with the
Budapest Treaty by the date of filing of the application
for the grant of a patent;
(b) the applicant has furnished the Agency, in a prescribed
manner, with information on the characteristic of the
micro-organism; and
(c) the applicant has furnished the Agency with the name of
the depository institution and the file number of the culture
deposited.
(2) The information referred to in subsection (l) shall be
submitted by the applicant to the Agency within a prescribed period
after the date of filing of the application for the grant of a patent or,
if priority is claimed, after the priority date.
(3) The culture of a micro-organism and any information
deposited with the depository institution shall be open to inspection
on request by a person having the right to inspect the culture and
information.
(4) Where a micro-organism, deposited in accordance with
subsection (1), is not, for any reason, available at the depository
institution where it was deposited, a fresh deposit of the same microorganism shall be made, by the depositor, accompanied with a signed
declaration stating that a fresh deposit of the microorganism has
been made and is of the same kind as the one contained in the
original deposit.
(5) An interruption in the availability of a micro-organism shall
not be considered to have occurred if a fresh deposit, referred to in
subsection (4), is made within a period not exceeding three months
from the date the depositor is notified of the interruption by the
depository institution.
22. (1) The Minister may, in consultation with the Agency, by
statutory instrument, exclude some inventions, which the Agency
considers harmful or offensive to the public, from protection, as a
patent, for a period not exceeding two years.
Temporary
exclusion
from patent
protection