This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.
The University of California, Berkeley came up a bit short in snagging the ten-millionth patent issued by the Patent and Trademark Office since it reset its numbering system and awarded U.S. Patent No. 1 to Maine politician and inventor John Ruggles on July 13, 1836.
More accurately, Berkeley came up short and long. Over the past week and a half, it collected U.S. Patent Nos. 9,994,831 and 10,000,722. The PTO awarded U.S. Patent No. 10,000,000 to Raytheon Co. for a laser-detection invention. (The agency started counting patents after it lost nearly 10,000 to an 1836 fire, dating from the first-ever issued patent, a process for making potash, in 1790. Those are called the X-Patents, a few thousand of which were recovered, including X0000001.)
But Berkeley’s team surely cares more about the patents themselves than missing out on getting No. 10,000,000 or the new cover the PTO debuted with it. They’re the first ones on CRISPR gene-editing technology the university’s team has been awarded despite its researchers’ primary role in developing the technology. It had been shut out in the U.S. but has had better success in Europe.
CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is about as unrelated to Ruggles’s invention—train wheels with traction to prevent sliding in bad weather—as imaginable. It allows scientists to splice targeted genes and disable or remove them, raising hopes the technology could cure inherited diseases and even cancer. The market for CRISPR applications could reach into the billions.
The ’722 patent, awarded the same day as No. 10,000,000, is based on a 2013 Berkeley CRISPR patent application that’s involved in a high-stakes interference dispute between it and the Broad Institute, a joint venture between MIT and Harvard. After oral argument in April, the Federal Circuit will decide whether the Patent Trial and Appeal Board got it right when it ruled Broad’s patent didn’t overlap with what Berkeley claimed in its application.
It’s not clear how commercially valuable the ’722 patent will be (as opposed to what’s at stake in the Federal Circuit appeal), but “[i]n the end, it’s a good thing for UC Berkeley that a patent issued out of this family,” Mayer Brown intellectual property partner Brian Nolan told me.
“I think you can tell how committed these universities have been with the patenting in Europe and the legal proceedings in the U.S. [and] how important they think this technology is,” he said.
Read my story on Berkeley’s new patents here.
Stay on top of new developments in health law and regulation, and learn more, by signing up for a free trial to Bloomberg Law.
All Bloomberg BNA treatises are available on standing order, which ensures you will always receive the most current edition of the book or supplement of the title you have ordered from Bloomberg BNA’s book division. As soon as a new supplement or edition is published (usually annually) for a title you’ve previously purchased and requested to be placed on standing order, we’ll ship it to you to review for 30 days without any obligation. During this period, you can either (a) honor the invoice and receive a 5% discount (in addition to any other discounts you may qualify for) off the then-current price of the update, plus shipping and handling or (b) return the book(s), in which case, your invoice will be cancelled upon receipt of the book(s). Call us for a prepaid UPS label for your return. It’s as simple and easy as that. Most importantly, standing orders mean you will never have to worry about the timeliness of the information you’re relying on. And, you may discontinue standing orders at any time by contacting us at 1.800.960.1220 or by sending an email to books@bna.com.
Put me on standing order at a 5% discount off list price of all future updates, in addition to any other discounts I may quality for. (Returnable within 30 days.)
Notify me when updates are available (No standing order will be created).
This Bloomberg BNA report is available on standing order, which ensures you will all receive the latest edition. This report is updated annually and we will send you the latest edition once it has been published. By signing up for standing order you will never have to worry about the timeliness of the information you need. And, you may discontinue standing orders at any time by contacting us at 1.800.372.1033, option 5, or by sending us an email to research@bna.com.
Put me on standing order
Notify me when new releases are available (no standing order will be created)