On 31 March 2022, Malaysia deposited the instrument of ratification at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Headquarters in Geneva and officially acceded to the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure. This brings the total number of contracting parties of the Budapest Treaty to 86 (as of 15 July 2022). Following the deposit, the related provisions in the Patents (Amendment) Act 2022 i.e., Sections 26C and Subsection 78O(1A) came into force on 30 June 2022.Following the enforcement, patent applicants will now only be required to store a sample of a microorganism in one International Depository Authority (IDA) only instead of multiple national deposits to meet disclosure requirements, avoiding repetition of retention procedures. All member countries of the Treaty recognize a deposit made in any IDA which will be treated as sufficient for patent purposes. Dialogue between the Government and local research institutes and universities on the formation of an IDA has been ongoing and selection of an existing facility hosted at a local research institute or university for approval as an IDA by WIPO is expected.

In the future, details of any deposits made under the Treaty such as the name and address of the IDA, date of deposit and accession number must be provided to the Malaysian IP Office either at the time of filing the patent or utility innovation application, within 16 months of the filing date or priority date whichever is earlier or before a request for early publication.

From Henry Goh &Co.

August, 2022