IP High Court, Reiwa 5 (Gyo-Ke) 10061 [Combustor and boiler] <Presiding Judge Miyasaka>
更新日：3 日前
Article information
Article type: Case note
Category: Patents
Topics: Inventive step, Motivation and teaching away, Patent corrections
First published on this website: October 2, 2026
Case number (as stated in the source): Reiwa 5 (Gyo-Ke) 10061
Display and classification checked: October 2, 2026 (not a re-review of the legal analysis)
IP High Court, Reiwa 5 (Gyo-Ke) 10061 [Combustor and boiler] <Presiding Judge Miyasaka>
* Inventive step denied (social demands at the filing date provided motivation).
The primary reference (Exhibit Ko 2) and the technology in Exhibit Ko 1 belong to the same field: apparatus using combustion heat.
At filing, reducing carbon dioxide emissions was a social demand, and using ammonia combustion heat as a heat source was common technical knowledge.
⇒ The problem and solution were shared, providing motivation to apply Ko 1 to Ko 2.
<Obviousness of difference 1: Burner structure>
Ko 1 also supplies ammonia to an oxygen-poor reducing atmosphere (the second reaction region), thermally decomposing it and suppressing nitrogen oxide formation. Its basic mechanism is no different from the claimed invention.
<Obviousness of difference 2: High-temperature region>
“Relatively low temperature” in Ko 1 is a relative expression compared with the hottest region outside the flame. Its second reaction region is hot enough to thermally decompose ammonia and corresponds to the claimed high-temperature region. Difference 2 was therefore readily conceivable.
(Excerpt from the judgment — English translation)
“At the filing date, reducing carbon dioxide emissions was a social demand or a well-known problem. Ko 1's description of conventional technology states that economical use of heat generated by burning ammonia gas is known. Evidence (Otsu 5–7) also establishes that using ammonia combustion heat as a heat source was common technical knowledge at filing. Ko 2 and Ko 1 thus belong to the same technical field of apparatus using combustion heat. In light of that well-known problem and common knowledge, a skilled person would clearly recognize their shared problem and solution, providing motivation to apply Ko 1 to Ko 2. …”
Original article: https://lnkd.in/ehR_XUUM
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Update and correction history
Substantive corrections and supplements are recorded separately from classification, related-article, and display maintenance.
October 2, 2026: First publication of the author's LinkedIn text. Article type, classification, issue tags, source, and consultation guide were added.
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October 2, 2026: Updated topic tags.
