We performed an exhaustive compilation of patents involving a CRISPR gene editing system and categorized them following a thorough analysis of their abstract, description and claims. This landscape of CRISPR patenting shows that the technology is constantly being improved and that there is a diversity of potential sectors of application (medical, industrial, 7agriculture), of actors (both public and private) and a novel geopolitical balance of forces in 8this crucial new biotechnological field. Although laboratories in the USA played a pioneer role in the original invention, and USA remains a leader in technical improvements and in the medically applied sector, China is now taking the lead in the industrial and agricultural applied sectors and in the total number of patents per year. Strikingly, in all sectors, the number of CRISPR patents originating from Europe trails far behind the USA and China. Korea and Japan are next in this ranking.