Date of
Judgment: June 5, 2015
Issuing
Authority: Supreme
Court
Level of
the Issuing Authority: Final Instance
Type of Procedure: Judicial (Civin( �/span>
Subject
Matter: Patent (Inventions)
Summary
of the judgment (decision):
1. Even in
the case of what is generally referred to as a "product-by-process
claim," that is, when a claim of a patent for an invention of a product
recites the manufacturing process of the product, the technical scope of the
patented invention should be determined as referring to products that have the
same structure, characteristics, etc. as those of the product manufactured by
the manufacturing process recited in the claim.
2. In the case of what is generally referred to
as a "product-by-process claim," that is, when a claim of a patent
for an invention of a product recites the manufacturing process of the product,
the recitation of the claim should be held to meet the requirement that the
claimed invention is clear as prescribed in Article 36, paragraph (6), item
(ii) of the Patent Act, only if there are circumstances where it was impossible
or utterly impractical to directly define the product subject to the invention
by means of its structure or characteristics at the time of the filing of the
application.
(There are a concurring opinion and an opinion
concerning 1 and 2.)