While the Budapest Treaty and its Regulations constitute a sound basis for delimiting the duties and responsibilities of culture collections with IDA status, explicit solutions for all circumstances are not always formulated. The Budapest Treaty is open to interpretation and each IDA can maintain its own procedures.

With a view to harmonizing the way IDAs resolve certain issues the European Culture Collections’ Organization (ECCO) has mandated, in 1995, the BCCMTM to compile an inventory of the procedures applied by IDAs. Ultimately, this coordination is advantageous for depositors, and it confirms the intent of the BT to harmonize the requirements for patent deposits.

The resulting ‘Code of Practice for IDAs’ summarizes the points on which a minimal consensus exists among IDAs and provides practical guidelines for dealing with unclear cases or situations in the patent deposit procedure.

The purpose of this Code of Practice is not to deny the particular identity of policy of any IDA. Each IDA may impose additional requirements in order to comply with internal or national regulations.

It should be remarked that this Code of Practice is not final. It can always be updated, clarified or extended if necessary.

INTRODUCTION

OBLIGATIONS OF THE DEPOSITOR

OBLIGATIONS OF THE IDA

ANNEX 1
ANNEX 2
ANNEX 3
ANNEX 4