Navigating The CRISPR IP Confusion

It is just over 10 years since the Science publication of Jinek et al. showed for the first time that DNA cleavage could be achieved in vitro with a Cas9 enzyme of a bacterial CRISPR system using a single guide RNA thereby laying the foundation for a Nobel prize and a revolution in gene modification, yet the patenting situation covering the use of CRISPR-Cas systems remains unclear both in the US and Europe.

Suggestions following a second PTAB interference decision between patent claims of the Broad Institute and others ('Broad') and patent claims of the University of California/University of Vienna/Emmanuelle Charpentier (CVC) that Broad had won in the US as regards use of Cas9 in eukaryotic cells have proved premature. There is an on-going appeal before the Federal Circuit in which eminent scientists have filed an amici curiae brief criticising the approach of the PTAB as not properly acknowledging 'scientific method'. This has been further supported by an amicus