IP High Court, Heisei 31 (Gyo-Ke) No. 10055 — Mechanical fastener (Judge Otaka)
Updated: 4 days ago
Article information
Article type: Case note
Category: Patents
Topics: Inventive step, Numerical limitations and parameters
First published on this site: 2026-10-10
Display/classification checked: 2026-10-10
IP High Court, Heisei 31 (Gyo-Ke) No. 10055 — Mechanical fastener (Judge Otaka)
*The claimed numerical range overlapped with the preferred numerical range disclosed in the cited reference.
→ The claimed numerical range was obvious.
(Excerpt from the judgment, translated)
A person skilled in the art reading the cited reference, motivated to reduce the thickness of male-side sheet material 1, would select smaller values within the respective preferred ranges for the thickness of base sheet 2 and the height of male engagement portions 3. That person would naturally also consider selecting values at the lower end of the preferred numerical ranges disclosed in the reference for dimensions other than the height of male engagement portions 3, the number of male engagement portions 3 per unit area, and similar parameters. There would therefore be no particular difficulty in appropriately selecting any basis weight for male-side sheet material 1 within the range of approximately 19.9–42.7 g/m². Accordingly, a person skilled in the art would readily arrive at setting the basis weight of male-side sheet material 1 in the cited invention to a value within the range of the amended invention relating to Difference 3 (“25 grams per square meter to 75 grams per square meter”)….
Original article (2025-09-05):
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This history records actual publication, display, and classification changes made on this site.
2026-10-10: First published the LinkedIn original on this site and set the classification, article information, and consultation link.
2026-10-10: Aligned the translation link, canonical URL and hreflang with the verified public URLs.
2026-10-10: Updated topic tags and related-article links. The original article text was not changed.
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