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EPO revokes Broad's foundational CRISPR patent

January 19, 2018 8:10 PM UTC

The European Patent Office revoked the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard's foundational CRISPR patent on Jan. 17, citing a lack of novelty over prior art. The decision could also affect several other European patents filed by the Broad Institute, which said it plans to appeal the decision.

In an oral hearing to address third party opposition to the patent, the EPO's Opposition Division upheld a preliminary opinion from last year that found the Broad's foundational European patent (EP 2,771,468) involving the use of CRISPR-Cas9 (CRISPR-associated protein 9) in eukaryotic cells invalid...