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This isn’t an everyday patent dispute.

This is a battle for who invented the powerful gene-editing technique that Science magazine named the Breakthrough of the Year for 2015: CRISPR-Cas9.

CRISPR is like a molecular scalpel that uses the enzyme Cas9 to locate and snip out bits of DNA. Its great promise is that it could one day be used to cut out and replace whatever tiny mutant bit of genetic material is contributing to disease.

The process could yield new therapies for certain cancers or genetic disorders.

Potentially, billions of dollars are at stake that could flow either to UC Berkeley or to the Broad Institute (rhymes with “road”) in Cambridge, Mass., jointly owned by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) agreed this week to resolve the competing claims for the discovery of the revolutionary tool.

On Monday, the office declared an interference, recognizing a conflict between patent rights granted to the Broad Institute and rights claimed by a pending UC Berkeley patent application.

Whoever gets the patent will...