USPTO Reverses Decision Regarding Interfering CRISPR Patents

Pharmaceutical Technology reports, “The Patient Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has changed its stance regarding an interference between ten patent applications from the University of California (UC) and 13 of the Broad Institute’s patents, as well as one patent application, related to CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing in eukaryotic cells.

A declaration of interference means the USPTO believes at least one patent application has substantially similar inventions as patents, which have already been issued.”

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.

We are confident that the USPTO will ultimately recognize that the Doudna and Charpentier team hold the priority of invention specific to eukaryotic cells, as well as other settings covered by previous patents.”