A long-running dispute between two groups that claim to have invented the revolutionary CRISPR–Cas9 gene-editing tool is likely to remain unresolved for years to come, lawyers say — despite the US patent office’s latest decision to award key patent rights to one of the teams.
The ultimate outcome of the patent row — which began in 2016 — could mean millions of dollars in royalties for the victor, if and when CRISPR-based therapies make it to market.
But the dispute shows little sign of ending, and the intellectual property around CRISPR is growing more complex.
There are now more than 11,000 families of patents on CRISPR-related technologies, according to the business-intelligence firm Centredoc in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
But the initial patents that the CVC and Broad teams filed are considered to be broad and foundational: many companies that wish to sell products such as therapies or crops made with CRISPR–Cas9 gene editing might be required to obtain licenses whichever team wins these fights.
“It makes sense why there’s been so much focus on these patents: the technology is so significant,” says Daniel Lim, a patent litigator at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis International in London. “But there’s so much more than this one, isolated and really unique feature of the old US legal system — there’s a whole world out there.”
