The CRISPR/Cas9 patent infringement lawsuit is coming soon. How to ensure that the application is worry-free?

The CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology is revolutionizing the entire academic and industrial world because of its ability to accurately edit the genome. The flexible CRISPR/Cas9 has also been applied to manipulate the genome in vivo, and because of its practicality, it has been favored by “Qian Jing”, which has led to a patent war. Since then, patents related to CRISPR/Cas9 have sprung up, covering a wide range of applications. According to 2016 data from the consulting company ipstudies near Lausanne, Switzerland, there are more than 860 CRISPR patent families in the world, and an average of one new patent is added every day. Some patents point to specific applications, such as a patent specifically for the application of CRISPR/Cas9 technology in the treatment of Huntington's disease.

However, because the CRISPR/Cas9 patent is based on the research results of many organizations, the property rights are not clear, especially the related basic patents have always had ownership disputes. In the past few years, the inventors and innovators of CRISPR/Cas9 technology have been focusing on the acquisition and maintenance of patent ownership, and have no responsibility for the various organizations using the CRISPR/Cas9 patent, enabling organizations to use the CRISPR/Cas9 technology for free and free of charge. As the conflict between the CRISPR/Cas9 patents becomes clearer, parties that have obtained patent ownership have plans to file lawsuits against commercial organizations that illegally use CRISPR/Cas9 technology on a global basis, which will provide products and technical services using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. The various agencies have a major impact.

Rodney Sparks, a biotechnology patent attorney at the University of Charlottesville in Virginia, said: "Patent holders may issue warnings about stopping the use of the technology and issue warning letters. Venture companies planning to use the technology need to be vigilant. Some experts believe that even if scientists do basic research, they need to obtain a license for patented technology, usually paying a certain fee. Early PCR technology patents were treated this way. Warren Woessner, a lawyer in Minnesota, USA, recalled that in his previous career, as a scientist, his research organization decided to use his technology to apply for a patent. The staff of the research institute later discovered that someone had published a paper and used the technology without applying for a license or authorization. Later, the professor who found the article in the institute had a fee, and the professor paid the fee.

If a patent owner of a CRISPR/Cas9 technology issues a lawsuit against a commercial organization that illegally uses CRISPR/Cas9 technology, it means for researchers to purchase a CRISPR/Cas9-based business that is not licensed by the CRISPR/Cas9 technology. The technical services and products provided by technology have certain legal risks: on the one hand, there is a risk that the products and services that are questioned are legal when the article is published; on the other hand, huge business opportunities may be lost. For example, a customized mouse model of a drug-developing scientist is very valuable and can be used commercially, for example, to drug discovery companies, but may not be sold due to patent protection issues. For new drug research and development enterprises, the application of products and services without patent authorization, the laws and regulations protecting patents almost eliminate the possibility of pharmaceutical companies submitting relevant drugs to the FDA, and pharmaceutical companies will face greater legal and economic risks.

Saiye Bio has always insisted on taking the interests of its customers first and thinking about what customers think. In the absence of other commercial institutions that provide model animal products and services in the country to take the initiative to purchase a patent license for CRISPR/Cas9, Saiye Bio is the first to purchase a patent license for CRISPR/Cas9, eliminating the worries of customers. Customers do not have to worry about the intellectual property issues of the knockout mice and knockout vector construction services and other related products and services based on CRISPR/Cas9 technology provided by Saiye Biotech. They can be used freely within the scope of the agreement. Cypress's products and services based on CRISPR/Cas9 technology.