Patent Case Law and Intellectual Property Practice Blog

日本語版 Article information Article type: Case note Categories: Patents Topics: Creators and inventors First published on this website: 2026-10-07 Display and classification checked: 2026-10-07 Osaka District Court, Reiwa 4 (Wa) 9696 [Method for producing active GcMAF] * A claim seeking registration of the transfer of a share in the patent right under Article 74(1) of the Patent Act or under the agreement was denied. ⇒ If the other party to joint research is filing an applicatio

日本語版 Article information Article type: Legal and examination updates Categories: Patents Topics: Inventive step / Added matter / Clarity / AI and intellectual property / Examination and appeal practice First published on this website: 2026-10-07 Display/classification checked: 2026-10-10 November 17, 2025 Industrial Structure Council, Intellectual Property Committee, Patent System Subcommittee 18th Meeting of the Working Group on Patent Examination Standards <Document 1> Rece

日本語版 Article information Article type: Case note Categories: Patents Topics: Priority First published on this website: 2026-10-07 Display and classification checked: 2026-10-07 IP High Court, Heisei 17 (Gyo-Ke) 10420 [Information supply system using a communication line] <Shinohara> * Even if obvious, domestic priority was denied. (Excerpt from the judgment, translated) ... The matter need not necessarily be expressly stated in the specification. However, the purpose of the p

日本語版 Article information Article type: Case note Categories: United States Topics: Claim interpretation / Doctrine of equivalents First published on this website: 2026-10-07 Display and classification checked: 2026-10-07 [United States] LAB v. Qiagen (CAFC, August 13, 2025) When claim language differs within a claim depending on whether a modifier is included, the different wording is understood to have been chosen deliberately. Where a claim contains both “partially matching

日本語版 Article information Article type: Case note Categories: Patents Topics: Claim interpretation First published on this website: 2026-10-07 Display and classification checked: 2026-10-07 Tokyo District Court, Reiwa 5 (Wa) 70346 [Wireless scuff plate] <Nakashima> * The claim term “adjustable” was construed as meaning capable of precise adjustment. ⇒ Active “adjustment” is required!! (Excerpt from the judgment, translated) Claim element F provides that “the time interval betw

日本語版 Article information Article type: Case note Categories: Patents Topics: Claim interpretation First published on this website: 2026-10-07 Display and classification checked: 2026-10-07 Tokyo District Court order, Reiwa 5 (Yo) 30402 [Siphon rain-gutter system] <Nakashima> * Based on the specification's explanation and other material, the claim term “lid member” was construed as not requiring complete closure. ⇒ The claim element was satisfied. (Excerpt from the decision, t

日本語版 Article information Article type: Lectures and videos Categories: Patents / Trademarks / Designs / Copyright / Other Japanese law Topics: Border enforcement / Exhaustion and parallel imports First published on this website: 2026-10-07 Display and classification checked: 2026-10-07 [IP Practice Online] Intellectual property rights and Customs procedures (Attorney Reiko Tonomura) Customs determination procedures Customs receives written opinions from both the right holder

日本語版 Article information Article type: Lectures and videos Categories: China / Other foreign jurisdictions Topics: Border enforcement First published on this website: 2026-10-07 Display and classification checked: 2026-10-07 [IP Practice Online] A surge during COVID-19! Online sales of counterfeits in Asia: Current situation and countermeasures (Patent attorney Tsuyoshi Masutani) Counterfeit sales have become a global business through cross-border e-commerce, rapidly expandin

日本語版 Article information Article type: Case note Categories: Unfair competition law Topics: Trade secrets First published on this website: 2026-10-07 Display and classification checked: 2026-10-07 [Unfair Competition / Trade Secrets] Osaka District Court, Reiwa 5 (Wa) 2681 * “For a confidentiality clause to be valid, there must be trade secrets or other information deserving protection”!! ⇒ NDA provisions should be drafted so that their scope is construed as extending beyond

日本語版 Article information Article type: Case note Categories: Patents / Other Japanese law Topics: Licensing First published on this website: 2026-10-07 Display and classification checked: 2026-10-07 Tokyo District Court, Reiwa 6 (Wa) 70106 <Kokubu> * An obligation to grant a non-exclusive license under another person's patent was not performed. ⇒ Termination was effective. (Excerpt from the judgment, translated) Even where someone grants another person a non-exclusive license