2017 (Gyo-Ke) 10075 [… Exercise Bike] <Mori>
Updated: 2 days ago
Article information
Article type: Case note
Category: Patents
Topics: Design choices
First published on this website: 2026-11-01
Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026
Originally published on Ameblo: 2024-12-30 (Japan time). Full English translation.
2017 (Gyo-Ke) 10075 [… Exercise Bike] <Mori>
*Four differences were design matters.
*No new problem solved (no technical significance)
⇒ A design matter
*A limited set of alternatives is a design matter.
*Well-known technology makes it a design matter.
“Because there is no statement that a previously unknown new problem was solved …, it is a design matter.”
(Excerpts from the court's reasoning)
…The specification contains no statement that adopting the configuration “a city bicycle with dragonfly-style handlebars” solves a previously unknown new problem. Making the handlebars of the exercise bike in Publication 1's invention into well-known dragonfly-style handlebars is therefore a design matter a person skilled in the art may appropriately select. …
…For training equipment, selecting dimensions suited to the user's physique and ability is routinely done. A crank is either adjustable or not adjustable. Therefore, making the …crank in Publication 1's invention “a crank length suited to the person training” and “nonadjustable” is a design matter a person skilled in the art may appropriately select. …
…Exercise-bike saddles that are “height-adjustable” are well known …; making the saddle of Publication 1's exercise bike height-adjustable is therefore a design matter a person skilled in the art may appropriately select. …
…A “city bicycle with dragonfly-style handlebars” is well-known technology. Thus, providing the handlebars, saddle, and pedals of Publication 1's exercise bike with “a function of establishing the same riding posture and maintaining the operating feel of an actual city bicycle with dragonfly-style handlebars, excluding the perceived height differences from the rider's viewpoint” is a design matter a person skilled in the art may appropriately select. …
…For exercise bikes, which provide training through simulated bicycle riding, it is well known …to provide a gear-changing mechanism like that of an actual bicycle. …Where on the exercise bike to place the device operating that mechanism and what form it should take are design matters a person skilled in the art may appropriately select. Accordingly, providing Publication 1's exercise bike with “a gear-changing function that manually changes the pedal load through a button switch on the electronic equipment and changes the speed of movement of the current position in proportion to the changed load” is a design matter a person skilled in the art may appropriately select.
Update history
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.
Comments