By means of the Resolution No. 856, enforceable since January 2014, the Colombian Patent Office (SIC) has regulated the implementation of article 29 of the Andean Decision 486 regarding the deposit of biological material.
Colombia became a contracting party of the Budapest Treaty (hereinafter the “Treaty”) back on 2012. The after mentioned Treaty standardizes the procedure in which a patent applicant complies with the legal requirement of sufficiency of disclosure of the invention when it comprises biological material.
What are the benefits of taking part on this Treaty?
In addition to what was mentioned before, the Treaty sets out the general guidelines for the deposit of biological material and regulates the minimum standards for the International Deposit Authorities (IDAs) and other institutions intended to collect and preserve such samples.
Also it allows patent applicants to only submit one international deposit which will be valid in all of the contracting parties, helping the applicant to save time and money.
How is the local procedure?
In Colombia, the patent applications that involve biological material must be filed along with the Certificate of Deposit.
The deposit must be made before an International Deposit Authority, no later than the filling date of the patent application. In this regard, it is important to highlight that in Colombia the only depositary authorities recognized as such are the ones listed by the WIPO.
The certificate is merely supplementary and it will not replace by any means the formal description of the patent. This is vital for the application to prosper; otherwise it will be rejected for lack of disclosure.
Other formal aspects include translations and a proper identification of the microorganism so that any third party can access the same, in this sense, the IDAs and the applicant must ensure that the deposited material can be furnished no later than the publication date of the application.
The Treaty validates the time for preserving the material up to 30 years. At the time there are almost 78 contracting parties, including the United States of America, Spain, Australia and China.