What are the requirements for the preservation of biological materials for patent applications?

If the patent application involves biological materials that have never been disclosed (such as plasmids, bacteria, fungi, algae, animal and plant cell lines, etc.), the patent application must be submitted to the National Intellectual Property Office at the same time as the patent application or within four months from the application date. The IP Office submits a certificate of preservation and survival of biological materials issued by its recognized unit.

Biological materials that do not need to be deposited: biological materials that are commercially available to the public at home and abroad; biological materials that are deposited with depository institutions designated by national patent offices or international patent organizations for patent procedures. Patent applications submitted in my country whose priority date or application date have been published or authorized in the patent announcement do not need to be preserved.

Biological materials that need to be preserved: those held by individuals or entities, deposited in institutions other than those used for patent procedures, and not released to the public, or those that are not available to the public before the filing date (priority date). Those that cannot be obtained, such as newly created biological materials through screening, mutation, recombinant DNA, etc., are required to be preserved.