The Broad Institute has recently failed to protect its CRISPR-Cas patent before the Boards of Appeal. Now the European Patent Office has maintained a rival’s basic patent for the same technology. The opponents are likely to appeal.
Last Friday the EPO’s Opposition Division dismissed the objections to EP 2 800 811 B1 after three days of hearings. The patent was maintained in its original form. The owners, the University of California (Berkeley) and University of Vienna, and the main inventors, Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, have thus provisionally enforced their claim for protection in Europe for CRISPR-Cas technology.
Representatives:
For the University of California
Maiwald (Munich): Dirk Bühler (lead), Martin Huenges, Kerstin Wolff, Sarah von Leliwa (all patent attorneys)
For df-mp
df-mp Dörries Frank-Molina & Pohlman (Munich): Sandra Pohlman (patent attorney)
For Griebling
Octrooibureau Griebling (Tilburg): Onno Griebling
For HGF
HGF (London)
For Jones Day USA
Jones Day (Munich)
For Pinsent Masons
TL Brand (London)
For Allergan Pharmaceuticals
Hoffmann Eitle (Munich): Elisabeth Engelhard
For Elkington & Fife/Glyn Truscott
Greaves Brewster (London)
European Patent Office, Opposition Division
Henrik Knudsen (Chairman), Matthias Ulbrecht, Suzanna Weinberg
The complete Juve-Patent article can be downloaded under: https://www.juve-patent.com/news-and-stories/cases/california-university-defends-crispr-cas-patent/
