Patent Case Law and Intellectual Property Practice Blog

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む [Article / Patents] A study of design choices in inventive-step assessment (鈴木守, 長嶺浩之, Patent, September 2024) The criteria for finding a “design choice,” particularly when inventive step can be denied without direct evidence (a secondary reference), were studied through device/system cases. Cases recognizing design choices without evidence fall into three types: (1) Numerical ranges: The specification gives no basis or technical significan

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む [Article / Patents] Double standards in inventive-step assessment (Hideki Takaishi, Patent, June 2024) The dividing line for a “design choice” Whether the configuration constituting the difference correlates with the “problem addressed by the invention,” and whether its technical significance is disclosed in the specification, is the decisive boundary separating obviousness from non-obviousness. For numerical-limit and parameter inventions,

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む [Article / Patents] Examining the patentability of impurity claims (松岡徹, Patent, July 2024) Under what conditions does a claim that numerically limits only the impurity content of a known substance satisfy “inventive step” and the “support requirement”? 1. Inventive step: The “limits” of conventional methods are key Reducing impurities itself is often considered an “obvious problem.” Inventive step therefore depends on whether the value is

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)

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Case No. 2025 (Gyo-ke) 10054 [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: "A person skilled in the art who encounters the Exhibit Ko 1 publication is found to use the lower limits of the above numerical ranges (1 mg, administered once daily) as a reference for the

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む Case No. 2025 (Gyo-ke) 10051 [Pharmaceutical product] (Koa v. Toa) (Presiding Judge Masuda) *Inventive step denied Using a container made of polyolefin resin (PE, PP) for ripasudil eye drops is a design matter based on well-known technology and is readily conceivable. Regarding "0.4 g as the free form per 100 mL of the aqueous composition" (Translation of the quoted judgment) "The concentration of the active ingredient in eye drops is a des

Read the Japanese version / 日本語版を読む I have uploaded the materials to another page, so please refer to them. A “qualitatively different effect” is not the “effect” itself..., English translation of the Japanese article.