Patent Case Law and Intellectual Property Practice Blog

Explore articles on claim interpretation, the doctrine of equivalents and product-by-process claims. Consult the individual articles and their sources for the facts and discussion of each case.

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Tokyo District Court, Reiwa 7 (Wa) 70141, “Inactivated vaccine preparation” (Presiding Judge 中島) Failure to meet the support requirement (+ lack of inventive step) “Lactococcus garvieae of a serotype that is neither KG− nor KG+” also includes type III Lactococcus garvieae, observed from 2021 onward. The specification contains no disclosure whatsoever of a vaccine preparation against streptococcosis caused by type III bacteria, and an inacti

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Tokyo District Court, Case No. 2024 (Wa) 70460 [Widening structure for a shield tunnel] (Presiding Judge Nakajima) *Claim requirements not satisfied (the doctrine of equivalents also not established). In interpreting the claim wording "filling a temporary filling case with filling material," the court held that "temporary filling case" means a container to be "filled" with "filling material," while "filling material" means raw material for

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Osaka District Court, Case No. 2024 (Wa) 7055 [Taxi dispatch management system] (Presiding Judge Matsuami) *Claim requirements not satisfied (the doctrine of equivalents also not established). "Taxi (information)" in claim element C means individual vehicles (information about them). ⇒ A "dispatch confirmation request specifying the taxi desired by the user" in the invention means a request to dispatch the particular taxi selected by the us

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Tokyo District Court, Case No. 2024 (Wa) 7064 [Aerosol for mosquito control] (Presiding Judge Takahashi) *Violation of the clarity requirement. "Adherent particles" means chemical-agent particles formed by spraying aerosol concentrate into the treatment space, which adhere to floor surfaces, walls, etc., remain adhered as time passes, and exterminate or control mosquitoes resting on exposed portions. ⇒ "Remain adhered as time passes" is unc

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む [IP Practice Online] Introduction of important patent judgments newly included in "Patent Case Law Encyclopedia, 4th edition" (Chizai Juku) (Hideki Takaishi, Nakamura & Partners) [Some case introductions omitted] 1. Central message of the video How the "problem of the invention" is set in the specification affects all of the support requirement, enablement, inventive step, addition of new matter, claim interpretation and satisfaction of cla

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Case No. 2025 (Ne) 10048 [System for providing an integrated homepage service] (Presiding Judge Nakahira) *Claim requirements not satisfied (same as the first-instance judgment). "Metadata" means data received by this system that an information provider entered in the metadata frame for information-provider registration—an input form sent from this system to the provider's information device—and that includes purposes of homepage production

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Case No. 2024 (Gyo-ke) 10077 [System for providing massage-related services] (Presiding Judge Nakahira) It is appropriate to interpret "program code" as meaning "instructions, data, etc. created using an artificial language for the purpose of having a computer interpret or execute them"; it is not limited to source code. ⇒ Invalidation decision maintained. (Quotations are translations.) https://lnkd.in/gZcZHTPK https://lnkd.in/gn-TsA7r hanr

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Case No. 2025 (Gyo-ke) 10037 [Cross-sectional image detection apparatus] (Presiding Judge Hasegawa) *Inventive step denied <Inventive step (1: Identification of the gist of the invention)> (Translation of the quoted judgment) "Neither the 'image including the axis of the image object of a dental artifact' nor the 'axis of the image object of a dental artifact' in the configuration of Invention 1 at issue asserted by the plaintiff is stated

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Osaka District Court, Case No. 2024 (Wa) 2606 [Electric coffee maker] (Presiding Judge Matsuami) Invention 1 at issue has a configuration in which the heater is turned off when the water temperature inside the boiler reaches 90–100°C, and steam pressure caused by boiling is not generated. The defendant's product has a configuration in which the heater is turned off after the hot water in the boiler boils and reaches 100.7°C (measured value)