Deposit of Biologic Material

IMPI Publishes List of Officially Recognized Institutions for the Deposit of Biologic Material.

In April 2016, the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) published in the Mexican Official Gazette a list of 46 institutions, one Mexican, that will be recognized entities for the deposit of biologic material.

This publication formalizes the process contemplated in the Mexican Industrial Property Law for patent applications related to biologic subject matter that cannot be fully described in the specification; in such cases, the patent application can be complemented by the certificate of the deposit of such biologic material in one of the recognized institutions.  The regulations to the IP law mandate that the certificate of deposit should be issued by institutions only recognized by IMPI through the publication in the Official Mexican Gazette.

The certificate can be filed along with the application or within six months after the filing date in Mexico. If the certificate of deposit predates the filing date, IMPI will recognize the filing date; however, if the deposit postdates the filing date, IMPI will recognize the date on which the certificate of deposit is submitted to IMPI as the filing date of the corresponding patent application.  If the certificate of deposit is not filed within the term of six months after the filing date, the application will be abandoned.

IMPI may also require the certificate when the patent application refers to the following:

  1.  a) microorganisms per se;
  2.  b) biologic material that is not available to the public; or
  3.  c) when the specification is not sufficient to enable someone skilled in the art to reproduce the claimed biological material.

The Mexican institution recognized for the deposit of biologic material published in this updated listed but recognized since August 25, 2015 is Colección de Microorganismos del Centro Nacional de Recursos Genéticos (CM-CNRG), based In Gaudalajara, Jalisco, México.  If you are interested in reviewing the other recognized institutions and related information, please visit

http://olivares.com.mx/Es/Publicaciones/Noticias/DepsitodeMaterialBiolgico

This newsletter is intended only as a general discussion of the addressed issues, and should not be regarded as legal advice.

For further information on the content of this newsletter, please contact

or call +52(55) 5322 3000

Newsletters - Patents

Return...