Crispr Ruling Invalidates Some Biotech Company Licenses

(Bloomberg) — The Broad Institute was the first to invent Crispr-Cas9 technology for use in animal cells, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled, siding against two Nobel laureates in a long-running dispute that affects the licensing agreements of some hotly watched biotech companies.

The Monday ruling determined that Nobel winners Jennifer Doudna from the University of California at Berkeley and Emmanuelle Charpentier from the University of Vienna failed to prove they were the first to use the gene-editing technology in animal cells. In the years-long patent battle, UC Berkeley and the University of Vienna said their scientists were the first to find a way to guide Crispr-Cas9 to specific locations on the genome. Broad maintained its scientists were the first to prove the technology worked in plants and animals, including humans.