2025 (Ne) 10032 [Rod-Shaped Light] <Honda>
Updated: 1 day ago
Article information
Article type: Case note
Category: Patents
Topics: —
First published on this website: 2026-11-01
Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026
Originally published on Ameblo: 2025-12-16 (Japan time). Full English translation.
2025 (Ne) 10032 [Rod-Shaped Light] <Honda>
*Under the principle, based on the Regulations under the Patent Act, that claim terminology should be used consistently throughout the specification, the same term “first predetermined input” means the same input method.
⇒ “Said first predetermined input” in constituent requirements J3 and J4 refers to one of the two input methods specified in J2, either a “short press” or a “long press,” and means the same input method in J3 and J4.
Even if this renders the invention unclear, “it can only be described as the result of the applicant's drafting of the claims.”
⇒ Claim requirements not satisfied.
(Excerpt from the court's reasoning)
Terms recited in the claims should be interpreted in light of the requirement that terminology be used in its ordinary meaning and consistently throughout the specification and claims (Article 24 of the Regulations under the Patent Act; Note 8 to Form 29). “Or” is a word expressing a relationship in which one of two or more matters is selected. Thus, the “first predetermined input” in constituent requirement J2 refers to one of the two input methods specified as the “first predetermined input,” either a “short press” or a “long press”; and “said first predetermined input” in constituent requirements J3 and J4 is interpreted to mean the same input method as the “first predetermined input” in constituent requirement J2. Accordingly, as a matter of the meaning of the claim language of the invention at issue, there is no room to interpret the input method for “said first predetermined input” in constituent requirement J3 as differing from the input method for “said first predetermined input” in constituent requirement J4. Even if this interpretation leaves it unclear, as the appellant argues, whether carrying out the “first predetermined input” on the second button while the light-emitting portion is emitting light causes storage of the recommended color (constituent requirement J3) or emission of light in the recommended color (constituent requirement J4), that can only be described as the result of the applicant's drafting of the claims of the patent at issue.
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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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