On April 20th, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) set oral argument in Interference No. 106,155, between Senior Party The Broad Institute, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (collectively, "Broad") and Junior Party the University of California/Berkeley, the University of Vienna, and Emmanuelle Charpentier (collectively, "CVC") to proceed on Monday, May 18th at 10:30 am EDT.

The hearing will be conducted by telephone and (at least at present) all motions will be the subject of the hearing.  For those keeping track, CVC has pending Substantive Motions 1 and 2 (see "PTAB Redeclares CRISPR Interference and Grants Leave for Some (But Not All) of Parties' Proposed Motions") and Miscellaneous Motion No. 2 (to exclude certain Broad evidence), while the Broad has pending Substantive Motions No. 1 (no interference-in-fact), No. 2 (to Substitute the Count), No. 3 (to de-designate claims as not corresponding to Count 1), and No. 4 (for priority to Zhang B1 provisional application).

There is an opportunity for members of the public to listen to the hearing:

Members of the public may request to listen in on this oral hearing.  If resources are available, the Board generally expects to grant such requests.  If either party objects to the Board granting such requests, for example, because confidential information may be discussed, the party must notify the Board by contacting PTABHearings@uspto.gov at least five (5) business days prior to the oral hearing date.

Patent Docs will continue to monitor and report on developments as they arise.