IP Court Case Summary: H21(Wa)18950 “Patent is invalid because it fails to comply with the support requirement”
IP News
2010.01.15
On December 16, 2009, the JP Intellectual Property High Court upheld a district court’s decision that the patent is invalid because it fails to comply with the support requirement under Article 36(6)i. The patent at issue, JP 3752588 B, entitled “Method for locking hinged-door at the time of earthquake”, includes a limitation “the locking device being mounted at a “position” that is not a free end of the hinged door.” The court pointed out that the detailed description of the specification is silent about the distance from the “position” to the free end of the hinged door and, therefore, the description of the claim fails to comply with the support requirement.
http://www.courts.go.jp/hanrei/pdf/20091214084815.pdf