The European Patent Office has upheld one of the CRISPR patents shared by molecular cell and biology professor Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier of the University of Vienna. The decision reflected their rejection of arguments made by anonymous parties. “It is gratifying to have the European patent office confirm the novelty and inventiveness of this discovery,” Charpentier said in a statement. “I am pleased to see to what extent CRISPR-Cas9 has become such an important tool in many important areas of research, not to speak of its potential as a curative therapeutic for serious and life-threatening diseases.” In January, the EPO upheld the revocation of a patent initially awarded to the Broad Institute, and apparently that could affect as many as nine of its 21 CRISPR-Cas9 European patents. Other stories on this topic appeared in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News and Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review.
The complete article can be downloaded under: https://bitn.berkeley.edu/archives/20200211.shtml
Dr Dirk Bühler, Dr Martin Huenges, Dr Kerstin Wolff and Dr Sarah von Leliwa represented patentees University of California, Emmanuelle Charpentier and the University of Vienna on the basic CRISPR/Cas9 patent (EP 2 800 811) in opposition proceedings before the EPO against seven opponents.
