Nintendo and Pokémon’s Patent Rejected: Could Spell Trouble for Palworld Lawsuit!

Nintendo has encountered another setback in its ongoing legal confrontation with Pocketpair over their open-world survival game, Palworld. According to a report by GamesFray, the Japan Patent Office (JPO) has dismissed one of Nintendo’s patents involved in the lawsuit for being non-original.

In September 2024, Nintendo alongside The Pokémon Company publicly declared their decision to initiate a patent infringement lawsuit in Japan targeting Pocketpair’s game, Palworld. This legal action centers around three specific patents issued by the JPO, with two concerning the mechanics of monster capture and release, and one dealing with character riding.

These patents, though approved in 2024, are based on earlier patents from Nintendo dating back to 2021. It appears that these newer, divisional patents were strategically prepared by Nintendo to specifically address the alleged violations by Palworld. Since initiating legal action, Nintendo has gone as far as to amend a patent related to mount mechanics during the ongoing lawsuit and has contended that modifications should not be seen as prior art.

Yet, one of these monster capture patents, filed by Nintendo in 2024, remains unapproved. In October, the JPO highlighted the lack of an inventive step in this patent, tentatively deciding to reject the application. The decision referenced earlier games that featured similar mechanics prior to the 2021 priority date Nintendo claims, such as ARK (2015), Monster Hunter 4 (2013), and the Japanese browser game Kantai Collection (2013). Notably, Pocketpair’s own Craftopia (2020) and Niantic’s Pokémon Go (2016) were also mentioned as evidence of the patent’s lack of novelty.

Although this provisional and non-final rejection by the JPO does not immediately affect the lawsuit, it could potentially influence the proceedings, as observed by GamesFray. The disputed patent application, numbered 2024-031879, is intricately linked to the two primary monster capture patents (JP7505852 and JP7545191) utilized against Palworld in this dispute.

Consequently, the JPO’s decision might cast doubts on the legitimacy of the patents Nintendo is using in this lawsuit, potentially bolstering Pocketpair’s defense. This could support the assertion that Palworld’s monster-capture elements are not infringing but rather are an evolution of long-standing mechanics seen in numerous older games by various creators. As IP consultant Florian Mueller from GamesFray pointed out, “The examination of actual games rather than solely patent documents and articles significantly increases the stakes for Nintendo.”

Earlier in the month, comments made by former Capcom game developer Yoshiki Okamoto appeared to criticize Pocketpair and Palworld in this legal dispute, leading to viewer backlash. In a YouTube video on his channel dated September 27, Okamoto expressed that Palworld had “crossed an unacceptable line, and I don’t want to see a world where such behavior is tolerated.”

Last month, just a week after Nintendo’s announcement of the cozy farming simulator Pokémon Pokopia, Pocketpair disclosed their upcoming game, Palworld: Palfarm. They also announced that Palworld will officially launch in its full version 1.0 in 2026.

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously held roles as editor, contributor, and translator for the gaming news site Automaton West. She has also covered Japanese culture and cinema for various outlets.