The IP High Court published an English summary of a recent Grand Panel Case 2022(Ne)10046.
SourceThe IPHC calls third-party opinions for a case of seeking an injunction, etc. based on patent infringement. The due date for submitting the opinions is November 30, 2022.
Source[Title of the patent] “ANALYSIS METHOD OF HAIRCUT TECHNIQUES”
[Key issue] Statutory Invention (Article 2, paragraph (1) of the Patent Act）
A case in which the court ruled that the 1st to 4th steps of the invention at issue are estimation of a naturally-dried hairstyle by the use of knowledge of hair (1st step), selection of the area of head to be analyzed (2nd step), classification of the analysis subject’s hairstyle that was estimated by the analyst (3rd step) and derivation of an analysis for the haircut technique corresponding to the classification (4th step) and they are all conducted by the analyst in his/her mind; therefore the invention at issue cannot be said to be “a creation of technical ideas utilizing a law of nature” and does not fall under the “invention” stipulated by the Patent Act.
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