University of California Awarded Twentieth CRISPR-Cas9 Patent

In December 2019, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded a new CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing patent to the University of California (“UC”), University of Vienna, and Emmanuelle Charpentier, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin. UC is now the largest CRISPR-Cas9 patent portfolio holder in the United States, this being the twentieth CRISPR-Cas9 patent added to its portfolio.

The new patent (U.S. Patent 10,519,467) describes a method of producing a genetically modified cell using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing method, which allows geneticists and researchers to edit parts of the genome by altering sections of the DNA sequence.

Eldora L. Ellison, lead patent strategist on CRISPR-Cas9 matters for UC, reportedly stated that the team “look[s] forward to continuing to expand [its] portfolio in 2020, so a wide range of methods and applications of the technology can be used for the benefit of humankind.”

Authors: Larissa Fulop and Clara Ryu, 2019/2020 Articling Student-at-law