Recently, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issued a decision maintaining valid the patent involving the CRISPR/Cas9-based gene-editing technology.

As a game-changer first disclosed in 2012, CRISRP/Cas9 (often described as “genetic scissors”) has been rapidly becoming a mainstream gene-editing technology. For their creation of this CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing system, Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier and Dr. Jennifer A. Doudna (two major inventors of the patent) won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Peksung secured the grant of patent right for this technology in 2017, and continued to represent the patentees in the invalidation proceedings. In the invalidation proceedings, Peksung team worked closely with the US team of the patentees and stakeholders, and successfully has the patent right maintained wholly valid. Peksung team’s excellent work in the invalidation proceedings, especially its accurate analysis of the complex prior art and a heavy load of evidentiary documents under the tight schedule, received high appreciation and generous praise from the patentees and stakeholders.   

The CNIPA’s decision will surely further boost the confidence of innovative entities (including the patentees of this case) in China’s patent system for protecting original inventions.

(Attached is the first page of the Decision on Invalidation Request).