patent

It’s Swimmer.
I went to “Natual History Mania” held at the Fukiage Hall in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. It was an event hosted by TV Aichi with a theme of natural science, featuring fun lectures on stage and over 100 booths displaying and selling various items.

As I walked around the venue, I came across a booth where patent numbers were displayed among fossils, minerals, various biological specimens, and mainly handmade items. There, various animals created using a patented 3D printing method were on display, making it a fascinating and intriguing shop.
I accidentally forgot to ask for permission to post this on my blog, so I’ll include the patent information here.
↓
Three dimensional shape data creation method for three dimensional model, three dimensional model manufacturing method, and three dimensional model
https://www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/c1801/PU/JP-7580688/15/en

As part of my job, I immediately looked up the patent information when I got home.

Natual History Mania Homepage (Japanese only)
https://tv-aichi.co.jp/hakubutsumania/
【Official】Natual History Mania SNS
@hakubutsumania

　Crème brûlée is a French dessert similar to pudding, with the name meaning “burnt cream.” The main difference from regular pudding is the hard caramelized crust on the surface.

　Ohayo Milk’s “BRULEE” is an ice cream with a crispy caramel layer on the surface, just like authentic crème brûlée.

　The patent number (Japanese Patent No. 6732945) was listed, so I looked it up. The invention is titled “Surface-Baked Food and Its Manufacturing Method,” and both the product and the method are patented. In the summary, the invention involves an ice cream (first food) and a caramel layer (a layer of heated sugar products) separated by a layer containing chocolate or other fats (second food), which helps maintain the crispy texture of the caramel layer. Looking at the ingredient list, “chocolate coating” was listed, so this is likely the “second food” referred to in the patent claims. Despite containing chocolate, it doesn’t taste like chocolate, remaining true to its “crème brûlée” flavor, which highlights the food processing technology. I savored the crispy, slightly bitter caramel.

　The price is a bit on the high side (around 400 yen at Seven-Eleven), but as the weather gets warmer, I look forward to enjoying it again as a special treat after a hard day’s work. (Marron)

　On March 24, 2025, the ‘My Number Driver’s License,’ which integrates the My Number Card and driver’s license, began operation. Since it was time to renew my driver’s license, I applied for both the regular driver’s license and the My Number Driver’s License. At the driver’s license examination center, after completing the renewal procedures, vision test, photo, and renewal lecture, you receive the standard new driver’s license. Those who wish to obtain the My Number Driver’s License then proceed to another room to have the electronic driver’s license information written onto their My Number Card. Additionally, you must access the My Number Portal after that day to complete the linkage process.

　By the way, both the regular driver’s license and the My Number driver’s license are issued as IC cards containing the driver’s information. However, globally, there are discussions about storing the information on a smartphone and using it as a mobile driver’s license. Patent No. 7003740 “Mobile Driver’s License and Portable Terminal Device” (Patent Holder: Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.) describes an invention where a public key certificate signed with a public key linked to driver’s license information is provided to a portable terminal device from a terminal authentication server, thereby enabling the portable terminal device to function as a mobile driver’s license.
　In the future, if fully automated driving becomes a reality, there may come a time when driver’s licenses are no longer needed. However, until then, technological development related to driver’s licenses will likely continue for some time. (Conan)

(Reference Site (Japanese only))
https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/menkyo/oshirase/individual_number.html

　When you have made a new invention and want to apply for a patent, in order to reduce the risk of being notified of reasons for rejection of novelty and inventive step in the examination, it is recommended that you conduct a search before filing an application to see if there are any similar inventions that have been published in the past. However, excluding special technical fields, even if you limit yourself to Japan, there are a huge number of documents that have been published in the past. It is very difficult to find prior art documents that could be used as reasons for rejection. If you are looking for similar documents, it is enough to find one, but if you are looking for documents that do not exist, there is no end to it. It is the so-called “the devil’s proof”.

　It is impossible to conduct a prior art search 100% without omissions and to obtain 100% certainty that a patent can be obtained. However, it is also the same for the examiner who examines patent applications: it is a “devil’s proof”. Therefore, it is considered that the basic approach is to first investigate the range that the examiner is likely to find. If you can quickly find prior art documents that could be cited as reasons for rejection by searching J-PlatPat, you should probably change your application strategy. If you can’t find any prior art documents even if you search within a certain range of search conditions, you might as well try filing an application and taking the challenge of obtaining a patent.

　Infringement prevention searches to determine whether the products that your company plans to manufacture and sell may infringe on the patent rights of other companies are also a “devil’s proof”. If the country in which you plan to manufacture and sell is Japan only, the scope of the infringement prevention search will be limited to existing valid patent gazettes and patent publication gazettes that are currently under examination and may become patents in the future. However, you need to be careful not to overlook documents that include some of the features of the products you plan to implement in the technical scope.
　If you have any requests for patent searches, please contact us. (Conan)

　Hello, this is Hiro.
In recent years, the evolution of AI technology has been remarkable, and its use in the patent industry is progressing, with the use of ChatGPT and other generative AI in patent searches and as a tool to assist in the preparation of specifications.
The other day, I attended a seminar (hands-on workshop) on how to use ChatGPT in responding to reasons for refusal. In the exercises at that seminar, ChatGPT presented proposed amendments and arguments that at first glance seemed appropriate. However, it is ultimately the job of patent attorneys and other specialists to check and judge whether the suggestions are really appropriate and whether there are any legal issues, and if there are any errors, they need to be corrected, so at the moment I got the impression that it is not easy (rather difficult) to use ChatGPT to improve the efficiency of work related to responding to reasons for refusal. On the other hand, ChatGPT is good at summarizing and explaining long documents in a short time. This ability is far superior to that of humans, and I thought it could be used conveniently when there is a need to understand the contents of a large number of patent documents in a short time.

　After the seminar, I loaded various patent documents (PDF patent gazettes) into ChatGPT and asked it to explain their contents.
The following is an example of a conversation (input prompt and ChatGPT response example) in which ChatGPT (4o) explains the contents of a patent document (Patent No. 6691280: patent holder “Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office”) for an invention (“management system and management method”) by a patent office employee in a way that even an elementary school student can understand.

——————————————-
■Input prompt:
JPB006691280.pdf (←attached)
Please explain the contents of the attached patent document in a way that even elementary school students can understand.

■ChatGPT response:
This patent document (JP 6691280 B1) is about a system that efficiently manages patent information from around the world and makes it easier to search. If I explain it in a way that even elementary school students can understand, it would be as follows

1. What problem does it solve?
Many inventions are registered as patents around the world. However, since the way patents are written and the format of the data differs from country to country, it is very difficult to manage them all together.
For example, if you went to a library and the Japanese books and English books were all placed separately, it would be difficult to find the books you were looking for, wouldn’t it? If all the books were organized according to the same rules, it would be much easier to find the books you were looking for.
This invention is a system that organizes patent information so that it can be easily searched.

2. How does it solve the problem?
This system does the following things.
1. Gathers patent information from around the world
→ Automatically collects patent data from each country.
2. Organizes the data
→ Assigns a number to each patent, and converts information written in different ways into a common format.
3. Translates the data
→ Automatically translates foreign language patents so that they can be viewed in the same language.
4. Classifies the data using AI
→ Classify the patents by type of invention, e.g. “this patent is related to automobiles” or “this patent is related to computers”.
5. Save to the database
→ Register the organized patent information in a database so that it can be searched.

3. What happens when you use it?
With this system, searching for and managing patents becomes much easier.
• People at the patent office can quickly look up past inventions
• When a company makes a new invention, they can quickly check whether there are any similar patents
• Researchers can easily look up the latest inventions
In other words, it’s like creating a “magical library where you can quickly search through lots of inventions”.

Thanks to this invention, inventions from all over the world will be organized and made more convenient to use!
——————————————-

How was it? After a few seconds to load the attached file (PDF of the patent gazette), the above text appeared to flow smoothly. It is explained concisely and clearly, using bullet points and boldface decorations.
　What if you asked it to explain it in an even easier-to-understand way?

——————————————-
■Input prompt:
Next, please explain it in an even easier-to-understand way that even young children can understand.

■ChatGPT’s response:
A library of amazing inventions! 📚✨
If there were all sorts of toys jumbled up in a toy box, wouldn’t it be hard to find the toy you wanted to play with? 😵💦
If you could sort the toys into categories and make it so you could easily see where everything was, it would be even more fun to play with them!
This invention is a system that makes it easy to find new ideas by organizing them neatly in a notebook called a “patent”!

How do you organize them?🤔
1️⃣ Collect a lot!
　We’ll collect lots of patent notebooks from all over the world! 📖🌍
2️⃣ Arrange them in the same shape!
The way the notebooks are written is all over the place, so we’ll arrange them all in the same way! 📚✨
3️⃣ Translate them!
We’ll make it so that you can read the foreign language notebooks in Japanese! 🌎➡️🗾
4️⃣ Grouping!
Like “Car ideas🚗” and “Robot ideas🤖”, we’ll sort them by the same type!📂
5️⃣ Search!
If you say “Show me this idea!”, you’ll be able to find it right away!🔍

What happens if we have this?😃
✨ It makes it easier for people who work on researching patents!
✨ It makes it easier for people at your company to quickly check whether an idea is new or not!
✨ It makes it easier for people doing research to find things like “I didn’t know this kind of invention existed!”
In other words, it’s a system that helps you organize your invention notebook so that you can find what you’re looking for quickly, just like cleaning out a toy box so that you can find the toy you want to play with straight away! 🎊✨
That’s amazing! 😊💡
——————————————-

　It’s certainly easy to understand, even for young children. The examples are aimed at children, and even pictograms that match the context are used. At the end, there is even a comment on ChatGPT (“That’s amazing! 😊💡”). There are no typos or omissions, and the text is easy to understand from a child’s perspective, and to me, it looks like a text written by a human.

The generative AI is still continuing to evolve. We plan to continue to consider ways to use it in our work.

　The two illustrations in this article were generated by ChatGPT (4o), and are “a simple illustration inspired by ChatGPT” and “a simple illustration inspired by the content of the Patent Gazette (Patent No. 6691280)”.

It’s Swimmer.
The image shows a cosmetic accessory that I bought without thinking when I saw the word “patent” on the product shelf at my regular drugstore. It’s a curler that holds the eyelashes from above and below to curl them.

The product did not have a patent number on it, so I tried searching for it on the patent information platform J-PlatPat by entering the company name, and found several patents for eyelash curlers. The patent for the product I bought has expired, but it seems that the product has continued to be improved since then.

Personally, I like the fact that it is very compact and doesn’t take up much space in my makeup bag, as well as the fact that it curls my eyelashes.

Eyelash curler
https://www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/c1801/PU/JP-2005-312712/11/en

　I’ve been curious about Okamoto Corporation’s “Marude Kotatsu” series
and finally bought one this year. There were various types to choose from, but I decided on the “Socks Supplement Marude Kotatsu Ankle Warmer”.

　When I looked at the back, I saw a patent number (Japanese Patent No. 6043982).

　Reading the patent bulletin, I found that the invention was characterized by its material and shape, which were designed to stimulate the “acupuncture points” on the ankles with pinpoint accuracy.

　The oval part with a different color seems to stimulate the acupuncture points. When I tried wearing it, it didn’t get too hot, but I definitely felt like it was warming me up from the inside. I like that it makes it easy to stimulate the acupuncture points and that it can be expected to improve your constitution.

　I want to get through the cold winter by keeping my feet warm. (Marron)