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Law, History And Lessons In The Crispr Patent Conflict, Jacob S. Sherkow
Law, History And Lessons In The Crispr Patent Conflict, Jacob S. Sherkow
Articles & Chapters
Predicting the outcome of the ongoing patent disputes surrounding genome-editing technology is equal parts patent analysis and history.
Genome-editing technology based on clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR associated protein 9 (Cas9) has generated great excitement in both academia and industry. But a potential patent dispute between two sets of inventors has left the biotech community pondering its fate. Understanding several facets of patent law and history may provide some lessons about the probable — and best — outcome for the dispute.
The History Of Patenting Genetic Material, Jacob S. Sherkow, Henry T. Greely
The History Of Patenting Genetic Material, Jacob S. Sherkow, Henry T. Greely
Articles & Chapters
The US Supreme Court’s recent decision in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. declared, for the first time, that isolated human genes cannot be patented. Many have wondered how genes were ever the subjects of patents. The answer lies in a nuanced understanding of both legal and scientific history. Since the early twentieth century, “products of nature” were not eligible to be patented unless they were “isolated and purified” from their surrounding environment. As molecular biology advanced, and the capability to isolate genes both physically and by sequence came to fruition, researchers (and patent offices) began to apply …