November 17, 2025
更新日：3 日前
Article information
Article type: Legal and examination updates
Categories: Patents
Topics: Inventive step / Added matter / Clarity / AI and intellectual property / Examination and appeal practice
First published on this website: 2026-10-07
Display/classification checked: 2026-10-10
November 17, 2025
Industrial Structure Council, Intellectual Property Committee, Patent System Subcommittee
18th Meeting of the Working Group on Patent Examination Standards
<Document 1> Recent initiatives concerning examination standards
A report investigating the technological level of generative AI, the use of AI, and whether inventions exist without human involvement was published in April 2024. The survey identified issues including effects on inventive-step assessments and disclosure requirements, determination of inventorship where human involvement is limited, and requests to recognize AI as a rights holder.
<Document 2> Planned revisions to examination standards
Addressing “disclaimer claims”: Amendments excluding certain matters from claims to overcome grounds for rejection are increasing, and there are numerous concerns about how they are being used. Reviewing the examination standards to clarify the approach is under consideration.
<Document 3> Approach to amendments introducing “disclaimer claims”
Such amendments have recently increased, and individual companies and relevant organizations have expressed concerns about their use.
The JPO is preparing drafting examples for examiners, introducing checks by managers, and communicating points requiring attention.
Effect on inventive step: Excluding the portion overlapping with a cited invention can overcome lack of novelty. For inventive step, however, whether a person skilled in the art could readily arrive at the claimed invention from the cited invention must be considered anew. If inventive step is still lacking, a decision of rejection will issue.
Even if an essential configuration is excluded, inventive step is denied where redesigning it into another configuration falls within the ordinary creative ability of a person skilled in the art.
This working group will examine whether the examination standards need review or revision from the perspectives of inventive step, addition of new matter, clarity, and other issues.
<Reference Document 1> (Committee member 谷島)
The Japan Intellectual Property Association's comments note that amendments introducing “disclaimer claims” have increased since the Solder Resist case (the IP High Court's 2008 Grand Panel judgment). Although useful in some situations for obtaining rights, they are sometimes used inappropriately.
Practical issues identified include cases in which inventions inherently lacking inventive step are nevertheless found inventive after such amendments; difficulty using other prior art once one cited reference has been excluded; and prolonged examination through repeated amendments, making third parties' business decisions difficult.
https://lnkd.in/g6XunAcf
Original article (2025-11-16):
https://lnkd.in/g7jY5bPf
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2026-10-07: First published from the original LinkedIn post; categories, article information, and consultation navigation added.
2026-10-10: Updated related-article links. The original article text was not changed.
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