Seems like there's a question whether the patent should have been awarded in the first place: It is not possible to patent a natural process, and both Crisp

Seems like there's a question whether the patent should have been awarded in the first place: It is not possible to patent a natural process, and both Crispr and Cas9 are natural, at least in bacteria. Putting both together and showing how the molecular complex can be used in mammalian cells was the key “inventive step” that the Broad Institute believes swayed the US patent office – but not before the institute instigated a “fast track” patent application to the chagrin of Berkeley’s patent lawyers.