38. 35 U.S.C. 132 Notice of rejection;
reexamination.
(a) Whenever, on examination, any claim for a
patent is rejected, or any objection or
requirement made, the Director shall notify
the applicant thereof, stating the reasons for
such rejection, or objection or requirement,
together with such information and references
as may be useful in judging of the propriety of
continuing the prosecution of his application;
and if after receiving such notice, the applicant
persists in his claim for a patent, with or
without amendment, the application shall be
reexamined. No amendment shall introduce
new matter into the disclosure of the invention.
132 条 拒絶通知;再審査
(a) 審査の結果,クレームが拒絶(特許性上の
拒絶)されるか,又は何らかの方式拒絶若しく
は要求が行われた場合は,長官は,出願人
にその通知をしなければならず,そのときは,
当該の拒絶又は方式拒絶若しくは要求の理
由を示し,出願手続を続行することの適切性
を判断する上で有用な情報及び引用文献を
添付しなければならない。出願人が当該通知
の受領後,特許を求めるクレームを,補正し
て又は補正しないで,持続するときは,その出
願は,再審査されるものとする。補正によって
発明の開示に新規事項を導入することはでき
ない。
37 C.F.R. 1.121 Manner of making
amendments in applications.
(f) No new matter.
No amendment may introduce new matter
into the disclosure of an application.
特許規則 §1.121 出願に関して補正をする
方法
(f) 新規事項の不許可
補正は,出願の開示に新規事項を導入するこ
とができない。 38
Title 35 of the United States Code(35 U.S.C.)
39. 35 U.S.C. 251 Reissue of defective patents.
[Editor Note: Applicable to any patent application filed on or after
September 16, 2012. See 35 U.S.C. 251 (pre-AIA) for the law otherwise
applicable.]
(a) IN GENERAL.—Whenever any patent is, through error, deemed
wholly or partly inoperative or invalid, by reason of a defective
specification or drawing, or by reason of the patentee claiming more
or less than he had a right to claim in the patent, the Director shall, on
the surrender of such patent and the payment of the fee required by
law, reissue the patent for the invention disclosed in the original patent,
and in accordance with a new and amended application, for the
unexpired part of the term of the original patent. No new matter shall
be introduced into the application for reissue.
(b) MULTIPLE REISSUED PATENTS.— The Director may issue several
reissued patents for distinct and separate parts of the thing patented,
upon demand of the applicant, and upon payment of the required fee
for a reissue for each of such reissued patents.
(c) APPLICABILITY OF THIS TITLE.— The provisions of this title relating
to applications for patent shall be applicable to applications for reissue
of a patent, except that application for reissue may be made and
sworn to by the assignee of the entire interest if the application does
not seek to enlarge the scope of the claims of the original patent or
the application for the original patent was filed by the assignee of the
entire interest.
(d) REISSUE PATENT ENLARGING SCOPE OF CLAIMS.—No reissued
patent shall be granted enlarging the scope of the claims of the original
patent unless applied for within two years from the grant of the
original patent.
251 条 瑕疵のある特許の再発行
[編集者注:2012年9月16日以後の特許出願に適用。他に適用される
法律については改正前特
許法第251条参照。]
(a) 一般
錯誤があったために,明細書若しくは図面の瑕疵を理由として,又は
特許権者が特許においてクレームする権利を有していたものより多く
又は少なくクレームしていることを理由として,特許がその全部若しく
は一部において効力を生じない若しくは無効とみなされた場合にお
いては,長官は,当該特許が放棄され,かつ,法律によって要求され
る手数料が納付されたときは,原特許に開示されている発明につい
て,補正された新たな出願に従い,原特許存続期間の残存部分を対
象として特許を再発行しなければならない。再発行を求める出願に
新規事項を導入することはできない。
(b) 複数の再発行特許
長官は,特許された対象の独自性を有し,かつ,別々の部分につい
て,複数の再発行特許を発行することができるが,出願人からの請
求があり,かつ,当該再発行特許の各々に対する所要の再発行手
数料が納付されることを条件とする。
(c) 本法の適用性
特許出願に関する本法の規定は,特許の再発行を求める出願に適
用されるが,当該出願が原特許に係るクレームの範囲の拡大を求め
ない,又は原特許の出願が権利全体の譲受人によってなされた場合
は,権利全体の譲受人が再発行の出願をし,それについての宣誓を
することができる。
(d) クレームの範囲を拡大する再発行特許
原特許の付与から 2年以内に出願されない限り,原特許のクレーム
範囲を拡大する再発行特許は付与されないものとする。
39
Title 35 of the United States Code(35 U.S.C.)
40. Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP)
第 600 章 出願書類の要素,形式及び内容
608 開示 [R-11.2013]
608.04 新規事項 [R-11.2013]
608.04(a) 当初明細書,クレーム又は図面にはない事項 [R-11.2013]
608.04(b) 予備的補正書による新規事項 [R-11.2013]
第 700 章 出願審査
706 クレームの拒絶 [R-11.2013]
706.03 先行技術に基づかない拒絶 [R-11.2013]
706.03(o) 新規事項 [R-08.2012]
第 2100 章 特許性
2159 適用性の日付についての規定及び出願が合衆国発明法の先
願規定に従うことを条件としているか否かの判断 [R-11.2013]
2159.01 2013 年 3 月 16 日前に提出された出願
2159.02 2013 年 3 月 16 日以降に提出される出願 [R-11.2013]
2163 特許法第 112 条(a)又は改正前特許法第 112 条第 1 段落「書
面による記載」要件に基づく特許出願の審査指針[R-11.2013]
I. 出願の「書面による記載」要件遵守を律する一般原則
A. 原クレーム
B. 新規の又は補正されたクレーム
2163.01 開示におけるクレームされた保護対象の支持[R-11.2013]
2163.06 書面記載要件と新規事項との関係[R-11.2013]
I. 新規事項の取扱い
Chapter 600 - Parts, Form, and Content of
Application
608 Disclosure [R-11.2013]
608.04 New Matter [R-07.2015]
608.04(a) Matter Not Present in Specification, Claims, or Drawings
on the Application Filing Date [R-07.2015]
608.04(b) New Matter by Preliminary Amendment [R-11.2013]
Chapter 700 - Examination of Applications
706 Rejection of Claims [R-07.2015]
706.03 Rejections Not Based on Prior Art [R-11.2013]
706.03(o) New Matter [R-08.2012]
Chapter 2100 - Patentability
2159 Applicability Date Provisions and Determining Whether an
Application Is Subject to the First Inventor To File Provisions of the AIA
[R-11.2013]
2159.01 Applications Filed Before March 16, 2013 [R-11.2013]
2159.02 Applications Filed on or After March 16, 2013 [R-11.2013]
2163 Guidelines for the Examination of Patent Applications Under
the 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or Pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, para. 1, "Written
Description" Requirement [R-07.2015]
I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES GOVERNING COMPLIANCE WITH THE
"WRITTEN DESCRIPTION" REQUIREMENT FOR APPLICATIONS
A. Original Claims
B. New or Amended Claims
2163.01 Support for the Claimed Subject Matter in Disclosure [R-
11.2013]
2163.06 Relationship of Written Description Requirement to New
Matter [R-11.2013]
I. TREATMENT OF NEW MATTER 40
41. 2163.01 開示におけるクレームされた保護対象の
支持[R-11.2013]
審査官がクレームの保護対象は出願時の出願 において裏
付けられて[記載されて]いないと結論する場合,特許法第
112 条(a)又は改正前特 許法第 112 条第 1 段落に基づく発
明の書面による記載の不足又は先に提出された出願の出
願 日の利益の拒否を理由とする拒絶という結果になるであ
ろう。当該クレームは新規事項を理由に拒絶されてはなら
ない。
2163.06 書面記載要件と新規事項との関係[R-
11.2013]
I. 新規事項の取扱い
新規保護対象が当該開示に追加される場合,それが要約,
明細書又は図面にであるが否かにかかわらず,審査官は
新規事項の挿入を必要に応じて特許法第 132 条又は第
251 条に基づいて拒絶し,出願人に当該新規事項を放棄す
るよう求めなくてはならない。新規事項が当該クレームに追
加される場合,審査官は特許法第 112 条(a)又は改正前特
許法第 112 条第 1 段落の書面記載要件に基づき当該ク
レームを拒絶しなくてはならない。
2163.01 Support for the Claimed Subject Matter
in Disclosure [R-11.2013]
If the examiner concludes that the claimed subject matter is
not supported [described] in an application as filed, this
would result in a rejection of the claim on the ground of a
lack of written description under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA
35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, or denial of the benefit of the
filing date of a previously filed application. The claim should
not be rejected or objected to on the ground of new matter.
2163.06 Relationship of Written Description
Requirement to New Matter [R-11.2013]
I. TREATMENT OF NEW MATTER
If new subject matter is added to the disclosure, whether it
be in the abstract, the specification, or the drawings, the
examiner should object to the introduction of new matter
under 35 U.S.C. 132 or 251 as appropriate, and require
applicant to cancel the new matter. If new matter is added
to the claims, the examiner should reject the claims under
35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph -
written description requirement.
41
Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP)
42. 35 U.S.C. 112 Specification.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall
contain a written description of the invention,
and of the manner and process of making and
using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact
terms as to enable any person skilled in the art
to which it pertains, or with which it is most
nearly connected, to make and use the same,
and shall set forth the best mode
contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor
of carrying out the invention.
第 112 条 明細書
(a) 一般
明細書は,その発明の属する技術分野又は
その発明と極めて近い関係にある技術分野
において知識を有する者がその発明を製造し,
使用することができるような完全,明瞭,簡潔
かつ正確な用語によって,発明並びにその発
明を製造,使用する手法及び方法の説明を
含まなければならず,また,発明者又は共同
発明者が考える発明実施のベストモードを記
載していなければならない。
(cf Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co. (Fed. Cir. 2010) (en banc) : March 22, 2010)
CAFCの大法廷(en banc)において、特許法第 112 条第一段落には、「実施可能要件(enablement requirement)」
とは別に「記述要件(written description requirement)」も含まれると判断された。
Title 35 of the United States Code(35 U.S.C.)
42
CAFCの判例で最も頻繁に適用されるのが,発明者の主観的要素に注目す
る「発明の所有」基準である。この基準は,多くの判決で,「発明の完成」基
準と並列的に適用され,補正の適否が判断されてきた。クレームの優先性と
は無関係なAraid事件においても,「発明の所有」は,発明者がクレームに係
る発明を実際に完成させていたことを明細書が示しているかどうかによって
判断すべきとされ,発明の完成基準と一緒に適用された。(57頁)
(参照) パテント2011.別冊4号 Vol.64
「米国特許法におけるクレームに対する
補正適否の「発明の所有」基準」(竹中俊子)
46. ○US5487069
・Wireless LAN
・Priority date:1992/11/27(Australia)
・Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO)
42.
A transceiver for operation in a confined multipath transmission environment,
said transceiver comprising
antenna means coupled to transmission signal processing means and to
reception signal processing means,
said transmission signal processing means in turn coupled to an input data
channel, and said reception signal processing means in turn coupled to an output data
channel,
said transceiver being operable to transmit and receive data at radio frequencies,
said transmission signal processing means comprising modulation means for
modulating input data of said input data channel into a plurality of sub-channels
comprised of a sequence of data symbols such that the period of a sub-channel symbol is
longer than a predetermined period representative of the time delay of significant ones of
non-direct transmission paths,
means to apply data reliability enhancement to said data passed to said
modulation means and
means, interposed between said data reliability enhancement means and said
modulation means, for interleaving blocks of said data.
判例(CSIRO v. Buffalo)
46
47. 判例(CSIRO v. Buffalo)
○出願時のクレーム
1.
A wireless LAN comprising a plurality of hub transceivers each connected together to
constitute a data source and/or destination, and a plurality of mobile transceivers each able to
communicate by radio transmissions with any one(s) of said hub transceivers within a
predetermined range,
wherein each of said mobile transceivers are connectable to, and able to be powered
by, a corresponding portable electronic device with computational ability,
said radio transmissions have a frequency in excess of 10 GHz, and
all the transceivers are configured to receive and transmit in a multipath transmission
environment, the reciprocal of the information bit rate of said transceiver's transmission being
short relative to the time delay differences between significant ones of the transmission paths
of said multipath transmission environment.
47
48. 判例(CSIRO v. Buffalo)
(26頁)
At the outset, it is important to note that no
one has suggested that the 10-GHz minimum
reflects a distinction that has any technical
significance. Nor has Buffalo sought to show
that transmissions above 10 GHz and
transmissions below 10 GHz are distinct in
any way relevant to patentability. To the
contrary, it is apparent from the original
application itself that the references to the 10-
GHz minimum transmission frequencies were
presented as useful embodiments of the
invention, not as limitations to the invention as
a whole. For example, the reference in the
abstract to a “wireless transceiver and method
of transmitting data, all of which are capable of
operating at frequencies in excess of 10 GHz”
(emphasis added) suggests a system that has
the capacity to operate at those frequencies,
not one that is limited to that frequency range.
48
⇒ この補正は認められた。
○判断
49. 判例(CSIRO v. Buffalo)
○本件の背景
・CSIROは研究機関であり、発明の実施主体ではなかった。
⇒NPE(Non Practicing Entity:不実施主体)
・本発明はIEEE802.11a規格及び802.11g規格の中核技術であった。
⇒CSIROはRAND条件でライセンスを付与することについてIEEEと合意していた。
・前年にeBay判決がでていた。
(cf eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C., 547 U.S. 388 (2006))
That test requires a plaintiff to demonstrate:
(1) that it has suffered an irreparable injury;
(2) that remedies available at law are inadequate to compensate for that injury;
(3) that considering the balance of hardships between the plaintiff and defendant,
a remedy in equity is warranted; and
(4) that the public interest would not be disserved by a permanent injunction.
CSIROは本権利を20社に対して行使し、$430millionの特許収入を得た。(2012年)
49
(参考) 第27回特許制度小委員会(平成22年5月24日)資料1(10頁)
①権利者に侵害を受忍させた場合に回復不能の損害を与えるかどうか、
②その損害に対する補償は金銭賠償のみでは不適切か、
③両当事者の辛苦を勘案して差止めによる救済が適切かどうか、
④差止命令を発行することが公益を害するかどうか、
※差止命令は発令せず、3500万ドルの損害賠償のみを認めた
53. 判例(Festo事件)
◆Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co.
○事案
53
・Festo社(独)は2件の特許権(ストール特許、キャロル特許)を有していた。
・Festo社が焼結金属工業株式会社(SMC)を訴えた。
Festo I 1994/10/27
マサチューセッツ
地裁(陪審)
侵害 1988年~
Festo II 1995/12/14 CAFC 侵害
Festo III 1997/3/17 最高裁 ---
Warner-Jenkinson事件
(1997/3/3)
Festo IV 1999/4/19 CAFC 侵害
Festo V 2000/11/29 CAFC(en banc) 非侵害 complete bar
Festo VIII 2002/5/28 最高裁 --- flexible bar (3つの基準)
Festo XIII 2007/7/5 CAFC 非侵害 予見可能性
535U.S.722(2002)
cf) Festo VIII
Petitioner Festo Corporation owns two patents for an improved magnetic rodless cylinder, a piston-driven
device that relies on magnets to move objects in a conveying system. The device has many industrial uses
and has been employed in machinery as diverse as sewing equipment and the Thunder Mountain ride at
Disney World.
55. ○US4354125
・Magnetically coupled arrangement for a driving and a driven member
・October 12, 1982 (Filed: May 28, 1980)
・Inventors: Stoll; Kurt
判例(Festo事件)
1.
In an arrangement having a hollow cylindrical tube and driving and driven members movable thereon for conveying articles, the
improvement comprising
wherein said tube is made of a nonmagnetic material,
wherein said driving member is a piston movably mounted on the inside of said tube,
said piston having a piston body and plural axially spaced, first permanent annular magnets encircling said piston body,
said piston further including first means spacing said first permanent magnets in said axial spaced relation, the radially peripheral
surface of said magnets being oriented close to the internal wall surface of said tube,
said piston further including plural guide ring means encircling said piston body and slidingly engaging said internal wall and first
sealing rings located axially outside said guide rings for wiping said internal wall as said piston moves along said tube to thereby
cause any impurities that may be present in said tube to be pushed along said tube so that said first annular magnets will be free of
interference from said impurities,
wherein said driven member includes a cylindrical sleeve made of a magnetizable material and encircles said tube,
said sleeve having plural axially spaced second permanent annular magnets affixed thereto and in magnetically attracting
relation to said first permanent annular magnets and second means spacing said second permanent annular magnets in said axially
spaced relation, the radially inner surface of said magnets being oriented close to the external surface of said tube,
said sleeve having end face means with second sealing rings located axially outside said second permanent annular magnets
for wiping the external wall surface of said tube as said driven member is moved along said tube in response to a driving movement
of said piston to thereby cause any impurities that may be present on said tube to be pushed along said tube so that said second
permanent annular magnets will be free of interference from said impurities.
55
※審査過程で以下の限定事項を導入した。
「シールリングが複数」である
「スリーブが磁化可能な材料」からなる
57. ○US3779401
・PNEUMATIC DEVICE FOR MOVING ARTICLES
・December 18, 1973 (Filed: February 17, 1972)
・Inventors: Carroll; George
9.
A device for moving articles, which comprises:
a hollow cylinder formed of non-ferrous material and having opposite axial ends;
a piston mounted in the interior of the hollow cylinder and reciprocatingly slidable therein, the piston including a central mounting
member disposed axially in the cylinder, a plurality of cylindrically-shaped permanent magnets mounted on the central mounting
member and spaced apart axially from each other, each magnet having a bore formed axially there-through for receiving the central
mounting member, at least one pair of end members mounted on the central mounting member and disposed on opposite axial sides
of the plurality of magnets, a pair of cushion members formed of resilient material, the cushion members being situated near opposite
axial ends of the central mounting member to help prevent damage to the piston when the piston contacts an axial end of the cylinder,
and a pair of resilient sealing rings situated near opposite axial ends of the central mounting member and engaging the cylinder to
effect a fluid-tight seal therewith;
a body mounted on the exterior of the hollow cylinder and reciprocatingly slidable thereon, the body including a plurality of
annularly shaped permanent magnets surrounding the cylinder and spaced apart from each other, the permanent magnets of the
piston and body being polarized so as to magnetically couple the body to the piston whereby movement of the piston inside the
cylinder causes a corresponding movement of the body outside the cylinder, the body further including means provided thereon for
holding on the body an article to be moved; and
means for controlling the admission of pressure fluid into the cylinder and exhaust fluid from the cylinder for moving the piston in
the cylinder, the attractive forces between the permanent magnets of the piston and the body being such that movement of the piston
causes corresponding movement of the body below a predetermined load on the body and such that above said predetermined load
movement of the piston does not cause corresponding movement of the body.
判例(Festo事件)
57
※再審査手続きで「シールリングが複数」であるという限定事項を導入した。
59. 判例(Festo事件)
59
〇判断(Festo VIII)
(III-B)
Does the estoppel bar the inventor from asserting infringement against any equivalent to the
narrowed element or might some equivalents still infringe?
The Court of Appeals held that prosecution history estoppel is a complete bar, and so the
narrowed element must be limited to its strict literal terms.***, we disagree with the decision to
adopt the complete bar.
<Flexible bar>
There are some cases, however, where the amendment cannot reasonably be viewed as
surrendering a particular equivalent.
(1) The equivalent may have been unforeseeable at the time of the application;
(2) the rationale underlying the amendment may bear no more than a tangential relation to
the equivalent in question; or
(3) there may be some other reason suggesting that the patentee could not reasonably be
expected to have described the insubstantial substitute in question.
In those cases the patentee can overcome the presumption that prosecution history
estoppel bars a finding of equivalence.
(1)均等物が出願時(補正時※)に予見できなかった可能性がある
(2)補正を行なった論理的根拠が争点である均等物に対してほとんど関係がない
(3)争点である非本質的な代替物を記載しておくことを特許権者に期待することが合理的ではないと示唆する他の理由が存在する
60. 判例(Festo事件)
60
〇判断(Festo XIII)
DISCUSSION -I
However, in Festo VIII, 535 U.S. at 740, the Supreme Court
held that the patentee may prove that the amendment did
not surrender the particular equivalent by demonstrating
that one of three exceptions is met.
We noted that later-developed technology or technology
that was not known in the pertinent prior art was “usually”
not foreseeable. Id. However, we explained that “old
technology, while not always foreseeable, would more likely
have been foreseeable.
We disagree that the foreseeability test requires application
of the function/way/result or insubstantial differences test.
Rather, we find that an alternative is foreseeable if it is
disclosed in the pertinent prior art in the field of the
invention. In other words, an alternative is foreseeable if it
is known in the field of the invention as reflected in the
claim scope before amendment. We have no occasion here
to determine in what other circumstances an equivalent
might be foreseeable.
しかしながら、Festo VIII 事件(535 U.S. 740(2002) )において、
最高裁は、3 つの適用除外要件を示し、これらのうちいずれ
かひとつを示せる場合、かかる補正によっても特定の均等物
については放棄していないことを証明することができると述
べた……。
当裁判所は、後に開発された技術や、関連する先行技術分
野において知られていなかった技術は、「通常は」予見不可
能であると述べた。一方、当裁判所は、「古い技術は、常に
予見可能であるとは限らないが、予見可能である確率が高
い。事実、主張されている均等物が、当該発明に関わる先行
技術分野において知られているものであるならば、当該補正
時においても予見可能であったに違いないといえる」と述べ
た。
当裁判所は、予見可能性テストが機能/態様/結果テストあ
るいは非実質的差異テストの適用を要するという主張を退け
る。代替物(均等であることが主張されているもの) は、それ
が当該発明分野における関連先行技術に開示されていれば、
予見可能であったといえる。換言すれば、代替物は、補正前
のクレーム範囲に反映されている発明分野において知られ
ているものであるならば、予見可能であったといえるのであ
る。
(参照)日本技術貿易株式会社
『【Cases & Trends】特許権者へさらなる一撃?
「予見可能性テスト」をめぐりCAFCが下した最新
フェスト判決』
However, this court has confounded the issue by creating a new and
incorrect criterion for the measurement of "foreseeability," the court
now holding that an existing structure need not be recognized, or
even recognizable, as an equivalent at the time of the patent
application or amendment, in order to be "foreseeable" if it is later
used as an equivalent.