Patent Case Law and Intellectual Property Practice Blog

日本語版 Article information Article type: Case note Category: Trademarks Topics: Examination and appeal practice First published on this site: 2026-10-10 Display/classification checked: 2026-10-10 [Trademarks / Cancellation for non-use] IP High Court, Heisei 22 (Gyo-Ke) No. 10083 — “ECOPAC” *Prosecution history estoppel prevents an argument that the registered mark conveys the concept of “environmentally friendly packaging.” → The registered mark “ECOPAC” is not equivalent to “エ

日本語版 Article information Article type: Administrative decision note Category: Trademarks Topics: Examination and appeal practice、Distinctiveness First published on this site: 2026-10-10 Display/classification checked: 2026-10-10 [Trademarks] Trial decision, Appeal against refusal No. 2023-10504 Applied-for mark: “完全” (complete) → No distinctiveness (contrary to Article 3(1)(vi) of the Trademark Act). (Excerpt from the trial decision, translated) Even if the applied-for mark,

日本語版 Article information Article type: Case note Category: Unfair competition law Topics: Injunctions First published on this site: 2026-10-10 Display/classification checked: 2026-10-10 [Unfair Competition / Indication of goods or business] Tokyo District Court, Reiwa 5 (Wa) No. 70036 — Catheter connector (Judge Kokubu) The court recognized dimensions compared with similar products as an “indication of goods or business.” → Injunction granted! *It is unusual for a likelihood

日本語版 Article information Article type: Case note Category: Trademarks Topics: Issues discussed in the text First published on this site: 2026-10-10 Display and classification checked: 2026-10-10 [Trademarks / Cancellation for non-use] IP High Court, Reiwa 6 (Gyo-Ke) No. 10054 “General retail and similar services” means “a case where clothing, food and beverages, and household goods are handled at a single establishment, each on a substantial scale and on a continuing basis.”

日本語版 Article information Article type: Case note Category: Patents Topics: Inventive step First published on this site: 2026-10-10 Display/classification checked: 2026-10-10 IP High Court, Reiwa 2 (Gyo-Ke) No. 10094 — Agent for suppressing recurrence of reflux esophagitis (Judge Mori) *Common general knowledge at the priority date: completion of a phase II clinical trial led to denial of inventive step. Phase I clinical trial: safety trial Phase II clinical trial: efficacy tr

日本語版 Article information Article type: Case note Category: United States Topics: Patent eligibility First published on this site: 2026-10-10 Display/classification checked: 2026-10-10 [United States] CAFC, August 2, 2023 — Realtime Data v. Array Network [Alice, step one] → Not satisfied The claims do not clearly define a particular technology for performing data compression; they merely state results abstractly. [Alice, step two] → Not satisfied The specification does not sho

日本語版 Article information Article type: Case note Category: Trademarks Topics: Distinctiveness, Examination and appeal practice First published on this site: 2026-10-10 Display/classification checked: 2026-10-10 [Trademarks] IP High Court, Reiwa 6 (Gyo-Ke) No. 10038 Applied-for mark: “新生甘酒” (Shinsei amazake) → No distinctiveness (contrary to Article 3(1)(iii) of the Trademark Act). 1. If understood as “新生” + “甘酒” It could ordinarily be used for amazake whose ingredients, manuf

日本語版 Article information Article type: Case note Category: Trademarks Topics: Issues discussed in the text First published on this site: 2026-10-10 Display and classification checked: 2026-10-10 [Trademarks] IP High Court, Reiwa 5 (Gyo-Ke) No. 10117 — “Besurikai Tokyo TMS Clinic” (Judge Honda) Applied-for mark: “ベスリ会 東京TMSクリニック” Cited mark: “東京TMSクリニック” *“ベスリ会,” the name of a medical corporation, has a source-identifying function, but “東京TMSクリニック” can be extracted as the esse

日本語版 Article information Article type: Case note Category: Trademarks Topics: Similarity of trademarks、Distinctiveness First published on this site: 2026-10-10 Display/classification checked: 2026-10-10 [Trademarks / Similarity] Tokyo High Court, Heisei 12 (Ne) No. 6252 *During prosecution, the applicant emphasized the distinctive spelling “BeaR.” → Dissimilar to “bear.” (Excerpts from the judgment, translated; portions omitted) [...] In the market for clothing and other desi

日本語版 Article information Article type: Case note Category: Copyright Topics: Damages First published on this site: 2026-10-10 Display/classification checked: 2026-10-10 [Copyright] Osaka District Court, Reiwa 1 (Wa) No. 10940 The court affirmed the copyrightability of the program, taking into account the volume of its source code. *Where the source code and the functions contained in it are extensive, creativity is recognized unless there are special circumstances (Tokyo Dist