BRIEF—EPO upholds ERS Genomics' patent

ERS Genomics Limited, which was formed to provide broad access to the foundational CRISPR/Cas9 intellectual property held by Dr Emmanuelle Charpentier, announced today that the European Patent Office (EPO) has rejected arguments filed in opposition to European patent No EP2800811 jointly held by Dr Charpentier, the Regents of the University of California, and the University of Vienna, and affirmed the patentability of the inventions described.

The claims of the patent are directed to the widely-used single-guide CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system and cover uses in both cellular and non-cellular settings, including use in bacteria, plants, animals, and cells from vertebrate animals such as humans.

Following three days of hearings, the EPO allowed the patent to stand with only very minor modifications to two of the 23 original claims and removal of two dependent claims having virtually no impact on the broad coverage of the patent.