Patent Case Law and Intellectual Property Practice Blog

[Passenger conveyor] (Presiding Judge Nakadaira) The plaintiff argued that "the cited invention … has already solved the problem by means for solving the problem that differ from those of the claimed invention." However, this judgment held that "whether it has already been solved by another, different means of solution is unrelated to the existence of motivation."

[Use of DPPIV inhibitors] (Presiding Judge Hasegawa) Exhibit Ko 1 stated that "in the case of the oral route, the range is preferably 1–100 mg, administered 1–4 times per day." Further, in light of common general knowledge:

[Pharmaceutical product] (Koa v. Toa) (Presiding Judge Masuda) *Inventive step denied

[Monitoring system] (Presiding Judge Takahashi) Inventive step denied, with "GPS BoT," the plaintiff's own publicly worked invention, as the primary reference. (Translation of the quoted judgment)

A review of 34 articles published in February 2026 by attorney Hideki Takaishi, covering claim interpretation, inventive step, inventorship, employee inventions, pharmaceutical patents, standard-essential patents and copyright.

日本語版 / Japanese version Article information Type: Case note Classification: Patents Topics: Inventive step, Motivation and teaching away First published on this site: 2023-12-31 Case number: Heisei 25 (Gyo-Ke) 10209 Display and classification checked: 2026-11-14 Heisei 25 (Gyo-Ke) 10209 [Agent for Suppressing Vascular Intimal Thickening] <Shimizu> * The claim is not framed as an agent for suppressing vascular intimal thickening!! (Incorporating effects into the claim) ⇒ It

日本語版 / Japanese version Article information Type: Case note Classification: Patents Topics: Inventive step, Motivation and teaching away First published on this site: 2023-12-30 Case number: Heisei 20 (Gyo-Ke) 10366 Display and classification checked: 2026-11-14 Heisei 20 (Gyo-Ke) 10366 [Gastritis Treatment Agent] <Iimura> * Criteria for assessing inventive step of second-medical-use inventions * Proof through post-filing literature and opinion letters counteracting a teach

日本語版 / Japanese version Article information Type: Case note Classification: Patents Topics: Inventive step, Motivation and teaching away First published on this site: 2023-12-30 Case number: Heisei 15 (Gyo-Ke) 405 Display and classification checked: 2026-11-14 Heisei 15 (Gyo-Ke) 405 [Substituted 1,3-Oxathiolanes with Antiviral Activity] <Sato> ‘Even if cross-resistance is likely ... there is strong motivation to conduct experiments to confirm the drug's efficacy ... and simp

日本語版 / Japanese version Article information Type: Case note Classification: Patents Topics: Inventive step, Motivation and teaching away First published on this site: 2023-12-28 Case number: Heisei 17 (Gyo-Ke) 10717 Display and classification checked: 2026-11-14 Heisei 17 (Gyo-Ke) 10717 [... Siloxane ...] <Tsukahara> * Planarization is essential in the primary reference, but the secondary reference is unsuitable for it. ⇒ A teaching away exists!! ‘The overcoat layer of Cit

日本語版 / Japanese version Article information Type: Case note Classification: Patents Topics: Inventive step, Motivation and teaching away First published on this site: 2023-12-27 Case number: Heisei 27 (Gyo-Ke) 10190 Display and classification checked: 2026-11-14 Heisei 27 (Gyo-Ke) 10190 [Method for Reducing Environmental Pollutants in Oils or Fats] <Tsuruoka> * Replacing some steps of the cited invention with well-known technology would leave two of its three problems unsolv