DENVER–(BUSINESS WIRE)– World licensing leader MPEG LA, LLC today invited holders of CRISPR-Cas9 patents to participate in the creation of a global CRISPR-Cas9 Joint Licensing Platform that will make their groundbreaking technologies widely accessible.

“Pooling the foundational CRISPR patent rights under a single nonexclusive, cost-effective, transparent license will allow the market to focus on the creation of new products and therapies that accelerate and expand CRISPR’s deployment,” said Larry Horn, MPEG LA President and CEO. “Just as MPEG LA’s pioneering efforts to manage licensing overhead and mitigate litigation risk helped assure the success of digital video in the consumer electronics industry, the CRISPR-Cas9 Joint Licensing Platform can do the same for healthcare and other biotechnology industries but with an impact far more profound.”

“At the same time, both foundational and other patent owners would be rewarded for their inventions from their fair share of reasonable royalties from the pool and incentivized to develop more,” added Kristin Neuman, Executive Director, Biotechnology Licensing at MPEG LA. “As a voluntary market-based business solution that balances access with incentive, an independently managed pool offers the best hope for addressing market and public interests in a way that will unleash CRISPR’s full potential for the benefit of humanity.”

MPEG LA welcomes CRISPR-Cas9 patent holders who would like to participate in this ground floor opportunity to create a Joint Licensing Platform to visithttp://www.mpegla.com/main/pid/CRISPR/default.aspx for more information, including terms and procedures governing patent submissions and eligibility. At least one eligible patent is necessary to participate in the license development process, and eligibility will be determined by MPEG LA at no cost to submitters. Interested parties are asked to make their initial patent submissions by June 30, 2017. Although submissions will continue to be accepted in order to assure that the joint license includes as much relevant intellectual property as possible for the benefit of the market, those who submit patents by that date and are found eligible will be invited to attend an initial meeting with other eligible patent rights holders to explore the potential for joint terms on which the CRISPR-Cas9 Joint Licensing Platform may be offered. Except for confidentiality, participation is without obligation or commitment, including attendance at future meetings, until such time as an eligible patent holder may decide to join the Joint Licensing Platform.

MPEG LA, LLC

MPEG LA is the world’s leading provider of one-stop licenses for standards and other technology platforms. Starting in the 1990s, it pioneered the modern-day patent pool helping to produce the most widely used standards in consumer electronics history. MPEG LA has operated licensing programs for a variety of technologies consisting of more than 14,000 patents in 84 countries with some 230 patent holders and more than 6,000 licensees. By assisting users with implementation of their technology choices, MPEG LA offers licensing solutions that provide access to fundamental intellectual property, freedom to operate, reduced litigation risk and predictability in the business planning process. In turn, this enables inventors, research institutions and other technology owners to monetize and speed market adoption of their assets to a worldwide market while substantially reducing the cost of licensing. In addition to consumer electronics, MPEG LA is developing advanced Li-Ion battery and other gene editing patent pools and has conceived licensing ventures for molecular diagnostics and oligonucleotide therapeutics. For more information, go to www.mpegla.com.

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Contacts

MPEG LA, LLC
Tom O’Reilly, 303-200-1710
Fax: 301-986-8575
toreilly@mpegla.com