North Carolina biotechnology firm Precision BioSciences is on its way to strengthening patent protection for its genome engineering technology.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a “notice of allowance” for a Precision patent application related to one of the Durham, North Carolina company’s genome engineering methods. The written notice means that the USPTO has examined Precision’s patent application and determined that it meets the requirements for a patent.
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Precision’s technology is called Directed Nuclease Editor technology, or DNE. The genomics technology allows scientists to insert, remove, modify or regulate genes for applications in plant science and human biotechnology. The company’s ‘607 patent application relates to methods of cleaving a DNA in a cell using an engineered meganuclease. It’s the third notice of allowance for Precision’s DNE technology. Precision said the allowances will add to the company’s ability to defend the DNE technology against intellectual property challenges from competitors.
French company Cellectis has been Precision’s primary opponent. The companies have clashed in patent litigation surrounding their respective genome technologies since 2008. Precision earlier this month won a patent victory when the USPTO rejected Cellectis claims alleging that Precision was infringing on a Cellectis patent. The USPTO rejected Cellectis’ claims as being obvious or anticipated. Those claims were raised in a 2011 lawsuit filed against Precision. Cellectis still has the right to respond to the USPTO’s decision.
Precision is using the allowed patent applications to fight Cellectis. Precision’s ‘867 patent, which previously received a notice of allowance, is being asserted in a lawsuit against Cellectis filed last October.
