2022 (Gyo-Ke) 10007 [Heat Transfer System] <Shoji> — Relationship between Identification of the Cited Invention and Addition of New Matter
更新日：2 日前
Article information
Article type: Case note
Category: Patents
Topics: Inventive step, Added matter, Novelty
First published on this website: 2026-11-01
Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026
Originally published on Ameblo: 2024-11-10 (Japan time). Full English translation.
2022 (Gyo-Ke) 10007 [Heat Transfer System] <Shoji>
*An optional additional configuration not essential to solving the cited invention's problem may be disregarded in identifying that invention!!
⇒ Parallel to addition of new matter!?
Disclosure of the invention in the new-matter context and disclosure of the cited invention in the novelty/inventive-step context can be considered parallel. The standard in this judgment is the same as for new matter.
However, because inventive step involves the range of what is obvious, this does not mean the conclusions are the same.
*Each specifically enumerated alternative in a cited reference is disclosed.
(Excerpts from the court's reasoning)
…Although the embodiment in Cited Reference 1 can be understood as a pair-type system as described above, claim 1 specifies the compressor configuration constituting the means for solving the problem (one of the two cylinders can switch between compression and noncompression operation), but does not specify concrete configurations such as the number of indoor heat exchangers. Nor does the detailed description suggest that the problem-solving means and concrete configurations such as the number of indoor heat exchangers are inseparably linked. In light of these claim and specification statements, concrete configurations such as the number of indoor heat exchangers 270 are not essential to solving the problem but are optional additions, and the invention described in Cited Reference 1 is not found limited to a pair-type system. Accordingly, the JPO decision did not err in identifying simply “indoor heat exchanger 270,” without specifying their number or the like, based on that reference….
…
…Where primary-side refrigerants are specifically enumerated, as in Cited References 2 and 11, rather than presented in the form of a general formula, combinations of each listed refrigerant with carbon dioxide are found to be actually described in parallel. The publication therefore permits identification of a configuration expressing a concrete technical idea for a particular alternative consisting of a combination of one primary-side refrigerant and carbon dioxide…. …
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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.
