The global patent priority split evaluating whether transferring prokaryotic guide-RNA CRISPR systems into eukaryotic human cells was obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
In the monumental CRISPR patent interference between UC Berkeley (Doudna/Charpentier) and the Broad Institute (Zhang), the Federal Circuit upheld the PTAB's ruling that adapting prokaryotic CRISPR systems to function in eukaryotic cells was not obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103, awarding separate patent estates for eukaryotic editing to the Broad Institute while European authorities reached opposite conclusions.
Transnational split: the USPTO granted priority to Broad Institute for eukaryotic claims, while the European Patent Office revoked key Broad patents on strict Paris Convention priority defects.
