Dispute Over Patent Rights to CRISPR-Cas9 Renewed By Patent Office

Drug Target Review reports, “The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has declared an interference between 10 University of California patent applications and multiple previously issued Broad Institute patents which jeopardises 13 of the Broad’s 15 CRISPR-Cas9 US patents and one patent application. This action also signals that the USPTO will take up the issue of who first invented CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing in eukaryotic and animal cells.”

Referencing client The University of California, Berkeley, Director Eldora L. Ellison, Ph.D. is quoted in the coverage saying “The initiation of this interference proceeding highlights that previous decisions involving the Broad did not determine who was the first to invent this technology, and it lays out a pathway for resolving this important issue” and “We are confident that the USPTO will ultimately recognise that the Doudna and Charpentier team hold the priority of invention specific to eukaryotic cells, as well as other settings covered by previous patents.”