IP High Court, Reiwa 6 (Ne) 10001 [Yarn color placement system] <Presiding Judge Hibiku Shimizu>
Updated: 4 days ago
Article information
Article type: Case note
Category: Patents
Issues: Inventive step, Design choices
First published on this website: 2026-10-03
Court: Intellectual Property High Court
Case number: Reiwa 6 (Ne) 10001
Display and classification checked: 2026-10-03
IP High Court, Reiwa 6 (Ne) 10001 [Yarn color placement system] <Presiding Judge Hibiku Shimizu>
Lacks inventive step ⇒ Claim dismissed.
“High-low control” is conventional technology for making patterns by leaving yarn of a desired visible color high, while pulling yarn of a color to be hidden down (or withdrawing it).
The invention sets the actual insertion density (effective rate) higher than the finished product's apparent density (desired rate) to account for hidden yarn, and controls the backing-material feed speed accordingly.
⇒ The prior art (Otsu 4) already had a system controlling yarn supply and substrate/backing-material feed to produce a desired pattern.
When some yarn is hidden by high-low control, it is self-evident that the actual insertion density (stitch rate) must be increased to avoid gaps and achieve the desired apparent density.
⇒ Increasing actual insertion density to account for hidden yarn and adjusting substrate feed speed to obtain the desired apparent density is merely a design choice a skilled person would naturally make.
(The plaintiff's concept of an “effective stitch rate” was not a new invention, but another expression for adjustment necessarily performed in conventional high-low control.)
Update history
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2026-10-03: First published on this website; classification, article information, and consultation guide were set.
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