Oppositions have started to be filed against the CRISPR / 9 gene editing system in Europe , following the grant of a patent to the Broad Institute , MIT and Harvard College on 11 February 2015 , with nine parties registering their patents , initiating a process that is expected to take at least five years to resolve . The legal fight over rights to CRISPR / Cas-9 is murky globally , with the University of California taking on the Broad resulting in a ' patent interference ' lawsuit with the US Patent and Trade Office , in a " patent fits all " style proceeding . More US and pending patent applications are being processed , with a host of claimants looking for a slice of a potentially hugely lucrative technology , already in use in many technology pipelines and research institutions . One aspect to note is the pace of change in the gene - editing sector is so high that by the time the patent disputes are resolved , the industry may have moved on to the next latest and greatest technology .
Oppositions have started to be filed against the CRISPR/Cas-9 gene editing system in Europe, following the grant of a patent to the Broad Institute, MIT and Harvard College on 11 February 2015, with nine parties registering their opposition, initiating a process that is expected to take at least five years to resolve. The legal fight over rights to CRISPR/Cas-9 is murky globally, with the University of California taking on the Broad Institute in a 'patent interference' lawsuit with the US Patent and Trade Office, in a "winner takes all" style proceeding. More US and EU patent applications are being processed, with a host of claimants looking for a slice of a potentially hugely lucrative technology, already in use in many drug pipelines and research institutions. One aspect to note is the pace of change in the gene-editing sector is so high that by the time the patent disputes are resolved, the industry may have moved on to the next latest and greatest technology.