EPO rules that Broad Institute’s CRISPR patent priority is valid

Exciting news today from the EPO’s Technical Board of Appeal 3.3.08 in T2360/19 who decided that the priority of EP2784162 (EP appl number 14170383.5) is valid. This CRISPR patent in name of The Broad Institute, MIT and Harvard was opposed by 8 parties.  The patentees are represented by De Clercq & Partners. 

This is a case wherein the vision of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) decisions G1/22 and G2/22 dealing with the issue of assessment of priority entitlement was tested by the Technical boards of Appeal. In their preliminary opinion of 5 February 2024, Board 3.3.08 already announced their preliminary view and reasons to conclude that the priority was validly claimed in this present case. This proves that the EBA decision on priority has initiated a shift in the vision on priority as pronounced in the earlier Technical Board of Appeal decision T844/18 which denied priority in this case. After pleadings on March 4 and 5, 2024, the EPO just announced the validity of the priority claim in Munich today. The full decision will be issued later on. The decision applies as well to Broad Institute’s patent appeal cases T2516/19 (relating to EP patent 2764103) and T 2689/19 (relating to EP patent 2896697). 

 
As explained in our earlier post, G1/22 and G2/22 will substantially limit the possibility of third parties, including opponents, to successfully challenge priority entitlements before the EPO.

Please do not hesitate to contact our experts on info@dcp-ip.com for further information.