The US Patent and Trademark Office issued a notice last week allowing UC Berkeley a potentially lucrative third CRISPR patent for gene editing. The patent specifically focuses on methods and systems for modifying a target DNA molecule in any setting, both in vitro and within live cells, using one or multiple single guide RNAs, across every cell type. The patent is expected to issue in the next 6-9 weeks, according to UC Berkeley. This CRISPR-Cas9 DNA-targeting technology, invented by Jennifer Doudna and Martin Jinek of UC Berkeley along with Emmanuelle Charpentier at Umea University and Krzystof Chylinski at the University of Vienna, has been at the center of an ownership challenge between Charpentier/UC/Vienna group and the Broad Institute/MIT/Harvard group. “We are pleased the patent application is now allowed and that the issued patent will encompass the use of CRISPR-Cas9 technology in any cellular or non-cellular environment,” explained Eldora Ellison, lead patent strategist on CRISPR matters for UC Berkeley. “We expect to see continued momentum in the expansion of UC’s CRISPR patent portfolio in the coming months.”
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