On June 25, 2019, CRISPR Therapeutics AG (the Company) received notification that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the
USPTO)
has initiated an interference proceeding at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (the PTAB) between certain pending US patent applications
co-owned
by the University of
California, the University of Vienna and Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier (collectively, the CVC Group) and certain patents and a patent application currently owned by the Broad Institute, Harvard University and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (collectively Broad), all of which are related to the single guide format of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology in eukaryotic cells. CRISPR Therapeutics has an exclusive worldwide license in the
field of human therapeutics to Dr. Charpentiers rights as a
co-owner
of the CVC portfolio. Specifically, the PTAB has declared Patent Interference No. 106,115 (the 115
Interference) between the CVC Groups pending US Patent Application Nos. 15/947,680; 15/947,700; 15/947,718; 15/981,807; 15/981,808; 15/981,809; 16/136,159; 16/136,165; 16/136,168; and 16/136,175, and the Broads US Patent Nos.
8,697,359; 8,771,945; 8,795,965; 8,865,406; 8,871,445; 8,889,356; 8,895,308; 8,906,616; 8,932,814; 8,945,839; 8,993,233; 8,999,641; 9,840,713, and US Patent Application No. 14/704,551. Six (6) new US patents have issued to the CVC Group
since June 2018, and none of those issued patents are involved in the 115 Interference.