Patenting Microbial Strains

A priority direction for Russian science is defined in the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of November 28, 2018 No. 680 “On the development of genetic technologies in the Russian Federation”. The development of genetic technologies will be pursued in accordance with the corresponding Federal Scientific and Technical Program. In order to achieve this goal it will be necessary to develop mechanisms of legal support governing the use of genetic technologies from the stage of scientific research to the implementation of developed results in commercial production. The scientific interest in this problem is due to the currently insufficient legal regulation of relations arising in connection with the use of genetic technologies. However, due to the lack of empirical data, some aspects of the problem must be predicted on the basis of assumptions. Taken together, these problems hinder the active dissemination and implementation of genetic technologies. The purpose of this study is to establish and elucidate issues involved in patenting strains of microorganisms. Microorganism strains represent objects that can be used for scientific and other applications in the context of genetic technologies. Civil law currently permits the patenting of such objects due to their perceived status as an invention. However, despite its objective specificity, there are no additional regulations for governing this process. The concepts of microorganism and strain are presented along with the correct and applicable conditions for their patenting. Examples from foreign experience demonstrate a diversity of national approaches to the procedure for issuing a patent for such inventions. The author offers an opinion regarding the normative consolidation of the analyzed process. The existing Russian regulatory environment features many strong points that can be developed for the patenting of microorganism strains taking into account international experience.