In a victory for the University of California, the European Patent Office (EPO) has affirmed a CRISPR patent issued to Emmanuelle Charpentier, the University of California, and the University of Vienna.
The patent, European number EP2800811, covers uses in both cellular and non-cellular settings—including use in bacteria, plants, animals, and cells from vertebrate animals such as humans.
After three days of hearings into the matter in February, the EPO rejected arguments filed in opposition and allowed the patent to stand, with “very minor” modifications, according to ERS Genomics (the company providing access to CRISPR/Cas9 IP owned by Charpentier).
The EPO directed that two of the 23 original claims be modified and that two dependent claims were removed.
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This text has been published by Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review. The full text version can be found here: https://www.lifesciencesipreview.com/news/university-of-california-gains-ground-after-epo-backs-crispr-patent-3908
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.
