CRISPR-Cas9 is one of the most advanced technologies developed for genome engineering. But it has been found that it has become the subject of a legal battle with billion dollar implications.

Using the technology, DNA can be cut and pasted with a high level of perfection and ease. The invention has revolutionized cloning and will immensely benefit gene therapy. On Monday, a legal request has been filed by the University of California.

The university has asked the US Patent and Trademark Office to establish who has invented the technology. In 2014, more than 10 patents were issued to MIT/Harvard Broad Institute, Massachusetts. But University of California and two co-petitioners have claimed that the right should belong to them.

Now, it has to be seen that whether or not that claim is approved. If it gets them it will establish a winner-takes-all challenge in which their rival will get nothing. Jennifer Doudna, University of California, Berkeley and Emmanuelle Charpentier, a French microbiologist, were the ones who first described CRISPR-Cas9 in the journal Science in 2012.

As per the ‘first to file’ rules, Doudna and Charpentier should be able to win easily and their application is dated back to May 2012. Now, the twist is Feng Zhang from the Broad Institute has won the patent on the technique under the ‘first to invent’ rule. He has submitted lab records that show he invented it first. But his application was filed seven months after Doudna and Charpentier’s application.

Now, the winner of the battle will be decided following the older ‘first to invent’ rule. “Expect this battle to be very expensive, very contentious, given the stakes involved. I can see many hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent”, affirmed Greg Aharonian, director of the Center for Global Patent Quality.