Law - Deposit(s) of Biological Material

Although USPTO allows the actual deposit of a biological material (access to which enables the practice of an invention) to be made at any time before the filing date of the patent application or during the pendency of the application, it is always necessary that the application as filed include a "specific identification" of the biological material.

References in U.S. patent applications as filed to deposits of biological materials should include the following: identification of biological material deposit (or accession) number, if available, date of the deposit, if available, name and address of depository, if available, taxonomic description to the extent available.

MPEP 2402 - The Deposit Rules
MPEP 2403 - Deposit of Biological Material
MPEP 2403.01 - Material Capable of Self-Replication
MPEP 2403.02 - Plant Material
MPEP 2404 - Need or Opportunity to Make a Deposit
MPEP 2404.01 - Biological Material that is Known and Readily Available to the Public
MPEP 2404.02 - Biological Material that Can be Made or Isolated Without Undue Experimentation
MPEP 2404.03 - Reference to a Deposit in the Specification
MPEP 2405 - Acceptable Depository
MPEP 2406 - Time of Making an Original Deposit
MPEP 2406.01 - Description in Application Specification
MPEP 2406.02 - Deposit after Filing Date Corroboration
MPEP 2406.03 - Possible Loss of U.S. Filing date in Other Countries
MPEP 2407 - Replacement of Deposit
MPEP 2407.01 - In a Pending Application
MPEP 2407.02 - After a Patent Has Issued
MPEP 2407.03 - Failure to Replace
MPEP 2407.04 - Treatment of Replacement
MPEP 2407.05 - Exemption from Replacement
MPEP 2407.06 - Replacement May Not be Recognized
MPEP 2408 - Term of Deposit
MPEP 2409 - Viability of Deposit
MPEP 2410 - Furnishing of Samples
MPEP 2410.01 - Conditions of Deposit
MPEP 2410.02 - Certification of Accessibility of Deposit
MPEP 2411.05 - Content of Application with Respect to Deposited Material

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