The Intellectual Property High Court of Japan (IP High Court) handed down a judgment on October 17, 2018, that the invention titled "System for Providing a Steak", which was filed by a well-known Japanese steakhouse franchise, is eligible for patent (Japanese Patent No. 5946491).
 
The case in which the judgment was handed down was a lawsuit against the revocation decision made in an opposition to grant of patent regarding the invention "System for Providing a Steak". In the opposition to grant of patent procedure in the Japan Patent Office, the patent was revoked due to the invention according to the claims being directed to an economic activity and not being considered to be a "creation of technical ideas utilizing the laws of nature" (i.e., an "invention" as prescribed in Article 2, first paragraph of the Patent Law).
 
The IP High Court concluded that although the claimed invention includes procedures performed by a human (element A described below), the invention in its entirety is the "creation of technical ideas utilizing the laws of nature (invention)" since elements B to F result in preventing meat cut in accordance with a request by a customer being confused with meat cut for another customer by associating the information of the desired amount of meat with the table number, and elements B to F directly contribute to solving the problem of the invention.
 

Claim 1
(Translation prepared by Taiyo)
 
A: A system for providing a steak, the system performing a steak providing method comprising steps of guiding a customer to a stand-up dining table, asking the customer as to an amount of steak desired, cutting off, from a block of meat, an amount of meat corresponding to the desired amount of steak, grilling the meat cut from the block of meat, and carrying the grilled meat to the customer’s table, the system comprising:
B: a label indicating a table number to which the customer has been guided;
C: a scale for measuring the amount of meat cut from the block of meat in accordance with the customer’s request; and
D: a mark for distinguishing the meat cut in accordance with the customer’s request from meat cut for another customer,
wherein:
E: the scale outputs a sticker indicating the amount of the meat measured by the scale and the table number indicated on the label, and
F: the mark is the sticker output by the scale, the sticker indicating the amount of the meat and the table number.

 
This judgment may extend to the protection of business models beyond conventional business models that are performed by a computer, and increase new patent applications in industries that have not been thought to be related to patents.
 
Reference: Please access the following URL for the IP High Court’s Summary of the Judgment.
http://www.ip.courts.go.jp/app/files/hanrei_en/327/002327.pdf

 
Summary prepared by Hidehiro Sakate
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