2022 (Gyo-Ke) 10131 [Heat Exchanger Using Thermally Conductive Knitted Wire Fabric] <Honda>
Updated: 2 days ago
Article information
Article type: Case note
Category: Patents
Topics: Inventive step
First published on this website: 2026-11-01
Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026
Originally published on Ameblo: 2024-09-25 (Japan time). Full English translation.
2022 (Gyo-Ke) 10131 [Heat Exchanger Using Thermally Conductive Knitted Wire Fabric] <Honda>
*Merely reciting the functions and effects produced by a configuration does not narrow the claim.
= 2021 (Gyo-Ke) 10090 [Spray Product and Spraying Method] <Otaka>
“Selecting metal as the material for … is a routine material selection by a person skilled in the art…. It is also routine, when forming a metal member, to form it integrally by casting or welding.”
⇒ Inventive step: not satisfied
Obviousness upon obviousness was not treated as an issue.
(Excerpt from the court's reasoning)
Since a person skilled in the art could readily have provided the cited invention with configurations A through C of the claimed invention, configurations D and F would naturally also be satisfied accordingly…. Configuration D specifies the function achieved by having configurations A through C. Because configuration C does not specify what physical components are included in the “device requiring heat dissipation or heat absorption,” whatever components are contained inside the cited invention's “heat pipe 4 having a heat-generating portion” does not affect identification of the common features and differences concerning configuration C, or the obviousness assessment, and likewise does not affect the assessment of configuration D. …Because configuration F does not specify a comparison standard, “rapidly conducting generated heat over the shortest distance to the largest heat-dissipating surface” in configuration F is a function of a device having configurations A through C, not an action defined by comparison with any standard. …
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The first-published date remains unchanged. Display maintenance, classification changes, related-article updates, and text corrections are recorded separately.
November 1, 2026: First published on this website.
November 2, 2026: Added article information, classification, topics, language navigation, related articles where the same case was confirmed, consultation guidance, and SEO. The original text and first-published date were preserved.
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