With the help of our friends GamesFray, we are following Nintendo’s aggressive legal stance Palworld creator Pocketpair Both in the ongoing patent infringement issue in Japan and it seemed to create an innovation on Nintendo’s part. The patent army in the United States is set to present a legal challenge closer to home.
In Nintendo’s attempt to “catch ’em all” and collect a series of legal documents designed specifically to ensnare them Palworld The creators were controversial in the case “Call and fight” patent Through the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Basically trying to claim ownership of the mechanics of targeting an item, capturing a monster, and then summoning it to battle in various modes.
Well… back in November we reported that the patent in question had been withdrawn A closer examination by the USPTOand, officially, Nintendo has now been issued with a non-final rejection of the patent. All 26 claims of the patent were rejected, not just a few parts of it. oh
Using Nintendo’s own history against them
For a patent to really hold up under scrutiny, it must be a genuine leap forward or completely original, not a remake of what everyone else has already done. You can’t just take a standard game mechanic, tweak a UI element and say the idea is now yours.
It’s like when I was a teenager and spent hours gluing fancy diamonds all over my pink Motorola Razr. It looked different, sure, but I wasn’t exactly calling the patent office to claim I invented a new cell phone (I’m also pretty sure I stole that idea from Smash Hits magazine).
In this case, the USPTO examiner has not even looked at a single video game to prove that Nintendo was overreaching. Instead, they looked back at Nintendo’s own history. In this case, the expert invalidated the patent entirely, combining several documents to show that Nintendo did not invent anything new. Again, they looked at “prior art” in previous filings to prove that Nintendo’s so-called invention in this patent was actually a duplication of previous ones.
Four documents used to discredit Nintendo’s claims:
- Taura – One of Nintendo’s 2019 patents. This patent already covered the basics of summoning a “sub-character” to fight alongside the player. Using this, the USPTO claimed that Nintendo tried to patent the same idea twice to make a more effective weapon.
- it happened – This Konami patent from the PS2 era depicts characters with two different battle modes. One where they act on their own (Auto) and the other where the player gives direct commands (Teacher).
- Motokura – Another Nintendo presentation from 2020. This had to do with how characters were positioned and moved in 3D space during game transitions. This was used to prove that Palworld’s technical way with spawning monsters was not a new invention either.
- Shimomoto – This 2019 document from Bandai Namco provided the missing link. it described the specific logic of how the game determines where the summoned character should appear in relation to the player.
Note: All patent links above will take you to the GamesFray website where the patent documents are located.
Citing the combination of these patents as a counterargument against the one Nintendo was trying to secure, the USPTO told Nintendo that only Konami, Bandai Namco, and even Nintendo themselves described game mechanics that were on the books many years ago.
Article continues below
The patent office hasn’t looked at any video games?
One of the most interesting details of the report is that the tester came to this conclusion without having to play Palworld or Pokemon. They simply said that the concept of summoning and combat mechanics itself was not original. This prevents Nintendo from arguing that its specific implementation of a mechanic or how it feels in a game makes it unique from anyone else who uses it.
If the logic was already in Konami’s file from the PS2 era, Nintendo can’t claim ownership of it now in 2026.
What happens next?
It is important to note the term “non-final”. Nintendo still has a 2-month window to respond, which can be extended if Nintendo requests it. Even if the decision is final, it can still be appealed, so it remains to be seen if Nintendo will take it as a lie. They can still adjust the language of the patent to be more specific. However, it is significant here that all 26 claims are dismissed in their entirety. It’s harder for Nintendo to make amends when normally at least a few of them would survive.
There is no new news The case of Nintendo and Pocketpair is currently taking place in Japan, and since this drama began, more games have been launched or announced that bear similarities to Pokémon (Aniimo, for example).
All in all, this is a huge win for Palworld fans and indie developers everywhere. It shows that the big guys can’t just claim basic game design concepts and sue anyone who dares to use them. Nintendo may be determined, but the USPTO at least isn’t interested in helping maintain its monopoly on catching monsters and throwing things for use in battle.
What do you think? Is Nintendo protecting its legacy enough, or is it just a big case of salt on top of other innovations like Palworld? Let us know in the comments!
Join us Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your thoughts and discuss our latest news, reviews and more.
