It seems that Nintendo will not be able to protect this game mechanic in the Asian island nation, which is a big surprise.

The Japan Patent Office (JPO) rejected Nintendo’s patent application, which would have granted the company ownership rights to a character or creature capture mechanism similar to those found in Pokémon games. The JPO issued an “official decision” rejecting Nintendo’s attempt to obtain the patent after determining that the disclosed technique lacked inventiveness based on prior art submitted by an undisclosed third party. The patent was filed in March 2024, a few months before the high-profile lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair.

This suggests that the JPO may reject Nintendo’s patent application because the ability to capture creatures existed prior to the Japanese company’s application. A few examples and their developers include: Ark — Studio Wildcard; Monster Hunter 4 — Capcom; Craftopia — Pocketpair; and a Japanese browser game, Kantai Collection. Nintendo will likely have to modify its application. This does not directly affect the lawsuit against Palworld but could have broader implications for Nintendo’s patent application and similar applications.

In September, Nintendo filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair, the developer of Palworld, for multiple patent infringements. At that time, Nintendo sought a preliminary injunction and damages, arguing that the Palworld game infringed on multiple patents. Nintendo recently argued that mods cannot be considered prior art.

Recently, the Big N obtained a new patent in the United States that protects a general game mechanism in which a character can call on another character for help in battle. Based on the examples mentioned, the Japanese company could threaten others by waving its patent around. We don’t want to see that happen. This is where the consolidation to just a few big corporations can backfire as they don’t want rivals…

Source: GamesIndustry.biz, Games Fray