Tokyo District Court, Reiwa 5 (Wa) 70445 [Method for Producing Tea with a High γ-Aminobutyric Acid Content] <Presiding Judge Shibuya>
Updated: Oct 9
Article information
Article type: Case note
Categories: Patents
Topics: Claim interpretation
First published on this website: 2026-10-07
Display/classification checked: 2026-10-10
Tokyo District Court, Reiwa 5 (Wa) 70445 [Method for Producing Tea with a High γ-Aminobutyric Acid Content] <Presiding Judge Shibuya>
Meaning of “repeating” in claim element B’s “after alternately repeating the operations of anaerobic treatment followed by aerobic treatment”:
⇒ In the specification, performing anaerobic treatment and aerobic treatment once each is described as falling under “without repeating” and therefore does not constitute “repeating” in claim element B.
＋The anaerobic and aerobic treatments in claim element B are performed before the step in claim element C of “producing tencha, matcha, or gyokuro,” i.e., before the “steaming” step in which the tea leaves are steamed.
⇒The defendant’s method does not satisfy the claim element because, after delivery to the factory, the anaerobic treatment (standing for eight hours) is performed only once.
(The second anaerobic treatment (nitrogen gas filling) occurs after the “steam-heating” step and therefore does not qualify as anaerobic treatment under claim element B.)
Judgment:
https://lnkd.in/gbVAae_D
Original article:
https://lnkd.in/g3eJGzXx
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Update history
Content changes and display maintenance are recorded separately.
2026-10-07: First published from the original LinkedIn post; categories, article information, and consultation navigation added.
2026-10-10: Updated related-article links. The original article text was not changed.
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