重要判例を読み直す。
JOHNSON & JOHNSTON ASSOCIATES INC. v. R.E. SERVICE CO., INC. and MARK FRATER
DECIDED: March 28, 2002
(対象特許：USP 5,153,050)
明細書に開示されており、クレームされていなかった発明（構成）に均等論が適用されるかが問題となったケース。
発明は、脆い銅箔（foil）を、硬い「アルミニウム」のシートの担体に張り付けることで、銅箔の破損とコンタミネーションとを防止するもの。
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I.
The ’ 050 patent, which issued October 6, 1992, relates to the manufacture of printed circuit boards. Printed circuit boards are composed of extremely thin sheets of conductive copper foil joined to sheets of a dielectric (nonconductive) resin-impregnated material called “prepreg.” The process for making multi-layered printed circuit boards stacks sheets of copper foil and prepreg in a press, heats them to melt the resin in the prepreg, and thereby bonds the layers.
In creating these circuit boards, workers manually handle the thin sheets of copper foil during the layering process. Without the invention claimed in the ’050 patent, stacking by hand can damage or contaminate the fragile foil, causing discontinuities in the etched copper circuits. The ’ 050 patent claims an assembly that prevents most damage during manual handling. The invention adheres the fragile copper foil to a stiffer substrate sheet of aluminum. With the aluminum substrate for protection, workers can handle the assembly without damaging the fragile copper foil. After the pressing and heating steps, workers can remove and even recycle the aluminum substrate. Figure 5 of the ’ 050 patent shows the foil-substrate combination, with the foil layer peeled back at one corner for illustration:
Surface C i is the protected inner surface of the copper foil; A i is the inner surface of the aluminum substrate. A band of flexible adhesive 40 joins the substrate and the foil at the edges, creating a protected central zone CZ. The specification explains:
Because the frail, thin copper foil C was adhesively secured to its aluminum substrate A, the [laminate] is stiffer and more readily handled resulting in far fewer spoils due to damaged copper foil.
The use of the adhered substrate A, regardless of what material it is made of, makes the consumer’s (manufacturer’s) objective of using thinner and thinner foils and ultimately automating the procedure more realistic since the foil, by use of the invention, is no longer without the much needed physical support.
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