• The Budapest Treaty is related to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

• WIPO is the global forum for intellectual property (IP) services, policy, information and co-operation. WIPO is a self-funding agency of the United Nations, with 192 member states.

• Its mission is to lead the development of a balanced and effective international IP system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all. Its mandate, governing bodies and procedures are set out in the WIPO Convention, which established WIPO in 1967.

The Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Micro-organisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure

• Adopted in 1977, the Budapest Treaty concerns a specific topic in the international patent process: micro-organisms.

• All states, party to the Treaty, are obliged to recognize micro-organisms 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 micro-organisms to each and every national authority, in which patent protection is sought, no longer exists.