2021 (Gyo-Ke) 10006 [X-Ray Inspection Apparatus] <Kanno>
更新日：3 日前
Article information
Article type: Case note
Category: Patents
Topics: Inventive step, Motivation and teaching away
First published on this website: 2026-11-01
Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026
Originally published on Ameblo: 2024-12-14 (Japan time). Full English translation.
2021 (Gyo-Ke) 10006 [X-Ray Inspection Apparatus] <Kanno>
*The problems of the primary and secondary references were understood abstractly and found identical.
⇒ Obvious
“Cited Reference 2 … does not disregard cost…. Even if Cited Invention 1 is an apparatus for a product-manufacturing site and Cited Reference 2 … contemplates use in medical inspection equipment, the amount spent … is not directly linked to the technical field.”
⇒ Inventive step: not satisfied
(Excerpts from the court's reasoning)
The technical matters in Cited Reference 2 use substance-specific highly absorbed X-rays to inspect for drugs concealed in baggage or the human body, or contraband such as explosives and ivory. They therefore concern not only human-body inspection but also X-ray baggage inspection for hidden objects…. Thus, the technical field of Cited Invention 1, an X-ray detection apparatus inspecting foreign matter in food and the like, and the field of Cited Reference 2's technical matters, concerning medical or baggage inspection, are related as fields using X-ray inspection apparatuses…. …Cited Invention 1 and those technical matters have close relationships and commonalities in technical field, problems addressed, and functions …, providing strong motivation to combine them….
…Even if Cited Invention 1, being a foreign-matter inspection apparatus checking for metal and other foreign matter in workpieces on a conveyor path, is equipment for a product-manufacturing site, while Cited Reference 2 directly contemplates medical inspection equipment, the extent of expenditure is not directly linked to the technical field. Disregarding the nature of the products, the scale of the manufacturing site, and the products' sales channels, it cannot naturally be said that all manufacturing-site equipment need only be low-performance, that persons skilled in the art pay no attention to improving performance, or that they have no interest in technology for medical inspection equipment….
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.
