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We investigated EPO opposition trends in the cell and gene therapy space across five years (2020-2024), using opposition data from the EPO and a combination of IPC codes and keywords.
The opposed patents fell into six general themes: gene editing (dark blue), manufacturing technologies (light blue), cellular immunotherapy (purple), nucleic acid vaccines (pink), genetic modulation (orange), and regenerative medicine (yellow). Each sub-group can be interrogated further using the drop-down menu or by clicking on the relevant group on the graphic. This will also reveal the entities and patents that were opposed. The size of each bar indicates how many oppositions were filed against each patent.
Patents relating to manufacturing technologies make up about a third of all patents opposed in the CGT space across the five years. This is perhaps unsurprising, given the manufacturing challenges still to be solved in this space and competition to provide the best solutions. Oppositions in some areas, such as nucleic acid vaccines, reflect the handful of well-known names at the forefront of this technology. Oppositions in other areas, such as those against patents relating to genetic modulation or cellular immunotherapy, reveal a broader array of patent owners including several universities. This reflects the role of academic institutions in early-stage research in such areas.
