Fenwick intellectual property lawyer Kevin Kabler was interviewed in a Biocentury Innovations article about some of the new IP challenges lawyers are facing with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell technology.
Kabler talked about the challenges in securing the right patent strategy, which requires collaboration between high tech and life sciences IP practitioners.
Kabler and other lawyers said that the question of whether a novel circuit composed of standard parts is patentable would likely come down to whether the new architecture would be considered “obvious” by an expert in the field.
Kabler told the publication that despite the hurdles, he thinks companies will still pursue composition of matter IP on synthetic circuits.
“Composition of matter patent claim scope in synthetic biology may just end up being somewhat narrower, depending on the circumstances. This may increase the value of certain method patents that help fill that void from a scope perspective,” Kabler said.
Currently, Kabler is focused on technology that sits at the nexus between traditional biomedical research and data science. He is a co-founder with Andrew Whitehead of a Fenwick working group that is rapidly iterating on how to improve patents written in this space to successfully navigate the shifting, modern legal landscape that has significantly impacted what subject matter is deemed eligible for patenting.
The full article is available through the Biocentury Innovations website (subscription required).