Let CRISPR/Cas9 battle commence
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has opened proceedings to determine who owns the rights to the CRISPR/Cas9 technology.
The USPTO kick-started an interference proceeding yesterday, March 10, between the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard and the University of California.
The dispute will determine which party is the owner of the US patent rights to the gene-editing technology.
Interference proceedings are initiated when two parties file claims to the ownership of an invention. The proceeding was confirmed on January 11.
CRISPR/Cas9 technology comprises two parts: an RNA molecule that recognises and targets viruses, and the protein element, which uses enzymes to cut through the DNA sequence.
The technology has the potential to be used to correct defective genetic sequences in humans and has its basis in naturally occurring bacterial immune systems in humans.
LSIPR has published several articles on the CRISPR patent dispute. You can see some of them below:
USPTO ignites CRISPR/Cas9 patent battle
CRISPR: the shifting sands of patentability
Are the Broad Institute's CRISPR patents too broad?