Gene-Editing Battle Heats Up as U.S. Probes Who Invented First

Bloomberg Law reports, “The simmering battle over who was first to invent breakthrough gene-editing technology has erupted again at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board will investigate who was first to invent technology related to CRISPR, according to a notice posted on the agency’s docket.”

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 that inventors with UC Berkeley “hold the priority of invention specific to eukaryotic cells, as well as other settings covered by previous patents.”