Budapest Treaty
| Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure | |
|---|---|
| Signed | 28 April 1977 |
| Location | Budapest, Hungary |
| Effective | 19 August 1980 |
| Condition | ratification by five States |
| Parties | 89 |
| Depositary | Director-General of WIPO |
| Language | English, French |
The Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, or Budapest Treaty, is an international treaty signed in Budapest, Hungary, on April 28, 1977. It entered into force on August 19, 1980, and was later amended on September 26, 1980. The treaty is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The Budapest Treaty concerns a specific topic in the international patent process: microorganisms. All states party to the Treaty are obliged to recognize microorganisms deposited as a part of the patent procedure, irrespective of where the depository authority is located. In practice this means that the requirement to submit microorganisms to each and every national authority in which patent protection is sought no longer exists.