US Legal Events
Competing patent claims have resulted in proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
US Patent Covering Optimized Guide RNA Formats for CRISPR/Cas9 in Eukaryotic Cells Issued to The Regents of the University of California, the University of Vienna, and Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier
On June 19, 2018 the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent No.10,000,772 (‘the ‘772 patent) to The Regents of the University of California, the University of Vienna, and Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier (collectively, “UC”), together the co-owners of foundational intellectual property relating to CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology. The patent covers methods of using optimized […]
June 19, 2018
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit hears oral arguments in appeal of PTAB ruling
The UC/Vienna/Charpentier team argued in the April 30, 2018 hearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) that the PTAB incorrectly concluded that the use of CRISPR-Cas9 to edit eukaryotic cells was separately patentable from its use in other settings when it terminated the interference without deciding priority of invention. The […]
April 30, 2018
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit schedules oral hearing for April 30
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has scheduled an oral hearing for April 30 in the appeal brought by the Doudna-Charpentier team of the February 2017 Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) ruling. The appeal asks that the court reinstate the interference proceeding that was terminated by the PTAB. To read about […]
April 2, 2018
Doudna-Charpentier team files its U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reply brief
In this brief, the Doudna-Charpentier team reiterates the position taken in its Appellant Brief (see Doudna-Charpentier team submits Appellant Brief to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit), which states that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision was made in error and did not consider relevant evidence. Download the Doudna-Charpentier reply brief
November 22, 2017
Broad files U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) Appellee Brief
In response to the Doudna-Charpentier team’s Appellant Brief, the Broad primarily argues in its Appellee Brief that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) judgment was based on substantial evidence; and that the PTAB did not commit legal errors in its ruling and that it considered all relevant evidence. The Broad argues that there was […]
October 25, 2017
Doudna-Charpentier team submits Appellant Brief to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC)
This brief argues that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) used incorrect standards in assessing whether CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing in eukaryotes was an obvious extension of its core invention and the Jinek 2012 paper describing it. Specifically, it argues that previous court decisions, including by the U.S. Supreme Court, establish that the correct standard […]
July 26, 2017
Doudna-Charpentier team appeals the PTAB decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) requesting that the decision to terminate be overturned
The February 15, 2017 decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) terminated the interference before deciding who was first to invent the use of CRISPR-Cas9 for gene editing. This appeal asks the CAFC to overturn that decision, allowing the interference to continue into the priority phase, in which a determination will be made […]
April 12, 2017
The PTAB decides there is no interference-in-fact
After hearing motions from both parties, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) rules that there was no interference-in-fact. The board decides that the Broad’s claims to the use of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in eukaryotic cells are patentably distinct from the broader claims of the Doudna-Charpentier team. This decision terminates the interference at what is […]
February 15, 2017
The PTAB initiates the interference
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) declares an interference on the use of CRISPR-Cas9 for gene editing in eukaryotic cells between the allowed claims of a patent application of the Doudna-Charpentier team, and 12 patents of the Broad. In a “first-to-invent” system, which prevailed in the United States until […]
January 11, 2016