Tokyo District Court, 2018 (Wa) 1130 [Printed Retroreflective Sheeting] <Tanaka>
更新日：2 日前
Article information
Article type: Case note
Category: Patents
Topics: Support requirement
First published on this website: 2026-11-01
Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026
Originally published on Ameblo: 2024-09-14 (Japan time). Full English translation.
Tokyo District Court, 2018 (Wa) 1130 [Printed Retroreflective Sheeting] <Tanaka>
*Although no comparative examples outside the numerical range were provided, the support requirement was satisfied.
(The appellate judgment, 2021 (Ne) 10084 <Miyasaka>, also found the support requirement satisfied.)
The specification's statement that “at least 0.15 mm² is preferable because moldability is excellent …, and no more than 30 mm² is preferable because … interlayer adhesion strength is not reduced” contributed!!
(Excerpts from the court's reasoning)
Paragraph [0030] states: “An area of at least 0.15 mm² for an independent printed region is preferable because moldability is excellent and hue adjustment is easy, while an area of no more than 30 mm² is preferable because it does not reduce the interlayer adhesion strength of the two layers sandwiching the printed layer (2) around the printed region.” A person skilled in the art encountering this disclosure would understand that, if the area of a printed layer for improving or adjusting the hue of a retroreflective sheet is too small, the benefit of hue adjustment cannot be obtained, so a certain size is necessary. They would also understand that, if the area of a printed layer having poor adhesion is too large, interlayer adhesion strength decreases, so the printed layer must be sufficiently small. Accordingly, the technical significance of the invention can be understood even without examples comparing printed-region areas below 0.15 mm² or above 30 mm²….
The appellate judgment, 2021 (Ne) 10084 <Miyasaka>, also found the support requirement satisfied.
“The problem addressed by the invention can be said to be providing retroreflective sheeting with improved hue by solving, through an extremely simple and inexpensive method, the prior-art shortcomings of poor weather resistance and water resistance arising when a continuous printed layer is provided to improve hue in triangular-pyramidal cube-corner retroreflective sheeting, vapor-deposited triangular-pyramidal cube-corner retroreflective sheeting, and the like. Although it cannot be denied that conditions other than whether the printed regions are continuous or separate could affect solution of this problem, the support requirement does not demand exhaustive coverage of those conditions and effects. A person skilled in the art, comparing the claims of the patent and the specification, would be able to recognize that the invention is described as one contributing to solution of the above problem.”
Update history
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.
