Intellectual Property High Court, Reiwa 6 (Ne) No. 10048 — Battery (Judge Nakahira)
Updated: 6 days ago
Article information
Article type: Case note
Category: Patents
Topics: Claim interpretation / Inventive step / Injunctions / Damages
Published on this website: 2026-10-08
Display/classification checked: 2026-10-12
Intellectual Property High Court, Reiwa 6 (Ne) No. 10048 — Battery (Judge Nakahira)
The judgment at first instance granting an injunction and JPY 1.27 billion was upheld.
From the description in the specification, the power-generating element is not limited to a wound type but also includes a stacked type. The claim wording “outer side surface of the active-material-uncoated portion” and “surfaces are joined” also does not exclude joining through a member such as a clip.
⇒ The claim limitations are satisfied.
The position of the flange in Exhibit Otsu 12 is inseparable from the effects of the invention in Exhibit Otsu 12, and cannot be understood as not being limited to the specifically disclosed location. Even their combination does not lead to the invention at issue.
Exhibits Otsu 22 and 23 are each merely a part of a fuse or breaker structure, and do not lead to configuration A4, which provides terminal connection members at both the positive and negative electrodes; nor is there motivation to do so.
⇒ Inventive step affirmed.
(Excerpt from the judgment, translated)
According to the description in [Claim 1] of the claims of the publication in Exhibit Otsu 12 and the description in its detailed description of the invention, the “flange portion” described in that publication is provided on the lower surface of the lid body, and a rotation-preventing portion that engages with the engaging portion of the flange portion is provided on the lower surface of the lid body, thereby producing the effect that the terminal pole does not rotate even if an external force is applied to it….
Further, according to paragraph [0080] of the publication in Exhibit Otsu 12, the invention described in that publication also has the following effect: by interposing an annular packing between the upper surface of the planar flange portion formed integrally with the terminal pole and the lower surface of the lid body, engaging an annular pressing spring with the pole portion, and fixing the terminal pole to the lid body, the annular packing is compressed in the vertical direction, so that the terminal pole can be fixed to the lid plate while being reliably sealed.
Thus, in the invention described in the publication in Exhibit Otsu 12, the provision of the flange portion on the lower surface of the lid body is closely related to the effects of the invention. Accordingly, … the publication in Exhibit Otsu 12 is found to disclose a configuration in which the flange portion is provided on the lower surface of the lid body. It cannot be said that a configuration corresponding to claim element A4 of Invention 1 at issue is effectively described in that publication, nor can it be said that whether the flange portion is installed inside or outside the container is a matter of design choice. Even applying the configuration in Exhibit Otsu 12 to the invention in Exhibit Otsu 9 does not lead to the configuration of Invention 1 at issue.
Update history
This history records actual publication, display, and classification changes made on this site.
2026-10-08: Published an English translation of the Japanese article on this website.
2026-10-12: corrected Wix category and topic-tag references to the existing English labels; added stable management IDs; completed missing management lines; completed canonical, hreflang, and paired search-index links. The original article text was not changed.
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