Life Science IP Battle: First Ruling on CRISPR-Cas9 Patent

In January 2016, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a preliminary ruling that recognized the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts (filed by the Feng Zhang team) as the holder of key patents for using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology in eukaryotic cells. This decision was a critical step in the intellectual property battle within Life Sciences, concerning the multi-trillion-dollar commercial value of the Future Industry of gene therapy and biotechnology.

It temporarily solidified the Broad Institute's position regarding the commercial application of this "molecular scissors" technology but did not fully conclude the long-running legal dispute with UC Berkeley (Doudna team), continuing to influence the landscape of global biotech investment firms.