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The battle over creature-catching mechanics just got a lot more interesting. In what could be a significant development for the gaming industry’s approach to patents, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has stepped in to take a closer look at one of Nintendo’s key weapons in its ongoing legal dispute with Pocketpair, the studio behind the wildly popular Palworld.
When the patent office raises an eyebrow
Patent No. 12,403,397 is now under formal reexamination—and it wasn’t Pocketpair who requested it. In a rare move, USPTO Director John A. Squires personally initiated the review on his own authority. The patent in question covers the mechanic of summoning characters to battle other creatures, a system that sounds familiar to anyone who’s played a monster-collecting game in the past two decades.
What caught Squires’ attention? Two prior patents that appear to cover similar ground. One dates back to 2002 and was filed by Konami, while the other is actually Nintendo’s own patent from 2019, which wasn’t published until 2020. This raises intriguing questions about whether Nintendo’s 2024 patent might be treading on already-claimed territory.
The clock starts ticking for Nintendo
Nintendo now has a two-month window to mount its defense and explain why this patent deserves to stand. It’s worth noting that a reexamination doesn’t automatically mean the patent will be invalidated—companies successfully defend their patents in these proceedings all the time. However, the mere fact that the USPTO director found enough concern to initiate this review suggests there are legitimate questions about the patent’s validity.
For Pocketpair, this development couldn’t have come at a better time. The indie studio has been facing down one of the industry’s most formidable legal juggernauts, and any weakening of Nintendo’s patent portfolio could dramatically shift the balance of power in this dispute.
A pattern emerges
This isn’t the first time Nintendo’s patent strategy has hit a roadblock recently. Just last month, the Japan Patent Office rejected Nintendo’s attempt to patent a Pokémon-style capture mechanic. The reasoning? The concept was already too well-established across multiple games, including Ark: Survival Evolved, Craftopia, Monster Hunter 4, and even Nintendo’s own Pokémon GO.
The rejection suggests that patent offices are becoming increasingly skeptical of attempts to claim ownership over gameplay mechanics that have become standard across the industry. It’s a reminder that just because a mechanic is iconic to a particular franchise doesn’t mean the company behind it can retroactively lock down the concept for everyone else.
What this means for game development
The implications of this case extend far beyond Nintendo and Pocketpair. Game developers worldwide are watching closely to see whether broad gameplay mechanics can continue to be patented or if patent offices will start drawing stricter lines around what constitutes genuine innovation versus industry-standard practices.
If Nintendo’s patent doesn’t survive the reexamination, it could embolden other developers to explore creature-collecting mechanics without fear of legal repercussions. On the flip side, if Nintendo successfully defends its patent, it might encourage more aggressive patenting strategies across the industry—a scenario that could stifle creativity and innovation in game design.
For now, all eyes are on Nintendo’s response and how the USPTO will ultimately rule on this increasingly complex case. The next few months could reshape how we think about intellectual property in gaming.