The MTCC welcomes deposit of cultures which are useful for scientific and industrial research. Deposits can be made under three categories. Different forms are to be used for different type of deposits.
Public Deposits
If you think that your cultures are valuable, please deposit them with the MTCC.The cultures will be preserved in the best possible ways. There is no fee for deposit of cultures in the general category. Researchers who are interested in depositing identified strains in the MTCC should contact the Curator before dispatching their cultures. They are required to submit the Culture Data Sheet for each strain by giving relevant details. After processing of a strain by the MTCC, three freeze-dried (lyophilized) ampoules of the strain are sent to the depositor. This ensures that the depositor will have a stock of the strain which can be stored for reasonably a long period. In case of strains which can not be successfully freeze-dried, the depositors may request for supply of cultures on agar slants which is free of cost for only once.
- Requests for general deposit of cultures should come from the research supervisors/scientists.
- MTCC can accept the cultures for general deposit that confirm to the following:
- The cultures to be deposited are of interest to MTCC from diversity point of view.
- Strains of any novel species are accepted.
- If MTCC already has several strains of a particular species, additional strains of that species may not be accepted for general deposit.
- For accepting bacteria under general deposit, we need both phenotypic and 16S rRNA gene sequence data (at least 1400 bases,along with chromatograms).
- For fungi and yeasts we need either sequence data of ITS region or D1/D2 domain of 26S rRNA gene (along with chromatograms).
Acceptance of cultures for confidential deposit
- Safe deposit
- Patent deposit (Deposit under Budapest Treaty)
Safe Deposits
These cultures are handled with confidentiality and are kept under security. Only the depositor has access to these cultures. There is an annual fee for such a deposit. An agreement needs to be signed between the depositor and the MTCC.
- These deposit are not valid for filing patents.
- Valid for 5 years
- Educational and Govt. R&D institutes:
The depositor has to pay a fee of Rs.30,000/- PER CULTURE (Rs.25,000 deposit fee+ Rs.5,000/- for making ampoules) + 18% GST (for 5 years).
- Others:
The depositor has to pay a one time fee of Rs.85,000/- PER CULTURE (Rs.75,000 deposit fee+ Rs.10,000/- for making ampoules)+ 18.00% GST (for 5 years).
- Beyond five years, the fee for educational and Govt. R&D institutes Rs. 5,000/- + 18.00% GST every year. For others it is Rs.15,000/- + 18% GST every year.
Patent Deposits
India is a signatory state to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and also to World Trade Organization (WTO). In this context, India has a well functioning national facility, MTCC. It is a recognized IDA for the deposition of microorganisms for the purpose of patent procedure. It is designated depository of National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) as well as of Indian Patent Office (IPO).
The MTCC does not list these cultures in the catalogue/database. Since a depositor needs to declare accession number in the patent application, the information about the culture is also in public domain (your application). These cultures are handled with confidentiality and kept under security and are given to the depositors or authorized persons as per patent regulations. This type of deposit is valid for filing patent in India.There is one time fee for such a deposit.
- Valid for 30 years
- Valid for filing patents in India and other PCT countries
- Non-Profit organizations:
The depositor has to pay a one time fee of Rs.20,000/- PER CULTURE (Rs.15,000 deposit fee + Rs.5,000/- for making ampoules) + 18.00% GST.
- Commercial organizations:
The depositor has to pay a one time fee of Rs.25,000/- PER CULTURE (Rs.15,000 deposit fee + Rs.10,000/- for making ampoules)+ 18.00% GST.
- If you want to continue the deposit beyond 30 years, you need to pay fee as applicable as per the extant rates every year.
