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On October 12, 2010, the Intellectual Property High Court (IPHC) reversed a JPO board of appeal’s decision that the amended claims should be rejected.  The invention at issue is directed to TRANSDERMAL DRUG DELIVERY DEVICES HAVING COATED MICROPROTRUSIONS.
 
Amended Claim 1 has a numerical upper limitation “solution of the pharmacologically active agent has a viscosity less than about 500 centipoises” but does not have a numerical lower limitation.

The JPO argued that the claim has only an upper limitation (500 centipoises), i.e., no lower limitation, in terms of the viscosity of the pharmacologically active agent solution and therefore the claim should be construed to cover a solution having a reduced viscosity, such as water, which means that the numerical limitation of the amended claim simply defines a conventional-used numerical range.
 
The court said that “when specifying the invention in the claim, the claim is not required to specify all the conditions or features necessary for attaining desired results.  That is, typically, it is sufficient for the claim to describe only the characteristic condition(s) to constitute the invention, and the claim is not required to describe each and every condition that a person skilled in the art can determine on the basis of the content of the invention and the technical common sense.”  The court also said that “according to the invention it is only necessary to determine the viscosity within the range of about 1-500 centipoises depending upon an expected advantage, and the JPO’s argument that the numerical limitation does not provide special meaning is not persuasive or rational.”
 
http://www.courts.go.jp/hanrei/pdf/20101018111545.pdf