Employee Inventions — IP High Court, 2022 (Ne) 10018: No “Monopoly Benefit” (Honda)
Updated: 2 days ago
Article information
Article type: Case note
Categories: Patents
Topics: Employee inventions
First published on this website: 2026-10-16
Display and classification checked: 2026-10-17
Case information: 2022 (Ne) 10018
Patents / Employee Inventions — IP High Court, 2022 (Ne) 10018 (Honda)
* No “monopoly benefit”!! ⇒ Claim (appeal) dismissed.
“Even if, as the appellant argues, the solvent fractionation method entails danger and may sometimes cause serious accidents, … it is difficult to find that, through the exclusionary effect of the patent right, the appellee excluded competitors from adopting the dry fractionation method at issue and thereby obtained benefits exceeding those obtainable from working the invention under the non-exclusive license it holds as an employer.
Furthermore, the increase in the appellee’s share of the CBE market after the facility at issue began operating appears to have resulted from the appellee anticipating increased international demand for CBE in light of deregulation and economic trends, establishing a new production facility with FVO as its base, and that facility actually commencing operations. There are no circumstances suggesting that adoption of the dry fractionation method at issue particularly enabled an expansion of market share.
Taking all of the above together, it cannot be found that the appellee obtained excess benefits through exclusive working under the patent beyond the amount of benefits obtainable from working Invention A2 under the non-exclusive license it holds in respect of Patent Right A2. Accordingly, no monopoly benefit from Invention A2 is recognized for the appellee.”
* Working of the invention by a subsidiary
“With regard to Invention A, … a subsidiary of the appellee … is working it. Therefore, … when examining the benefits that the appellee should receive, it is appropriate to examine the matter as equivalent to a case in which the appellee, whose business purpose is management as the holding company of the appellee’s group, … works the invention itself.”
Originally published: 2025-03-05
Original Japanese post: https://ameblo.jp/hideki-takaishi/entry-12888734028.html
Update history
This history records actual publication, display, and classification changes made on this website.
2026-10-16: The AMEBLO source was first published on this website.
2026-10-17: Added classification, topic tags, article information, translation navigation, related articles, consultation guidance, and SEO. The original article text was not changed.
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