Nintendo Patent Under Rare US Reexamination Order
▼ Summary
– The USPTO director is reexamining Nintendo’s patent for a gameplay mechanic involving summoning sub-characters in battle modes.
– This reexamination could lead to the patent’s revocation, prompted by prior art references from Konami and Nintendo’s own patents.
– Nintendo has two months to respond to the order, which is a rare action taken by the USPTO director.
– If the patent is overturned, it may weaken Nintendo’s copyright infringement lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair.
– Nintendo reported strong financial results, with Switch 2 sales doubling the original Switch’s launch and significant increases in net sales and profits.
A rare reexamination order from the U.S. Patent Office now places a recently granted Nintendo patent under intense scrutiny. This patent covers a familiar gameplay mechanic where a main character calls upon a secondary character for assistance during one of two distinct battle modes. While the order doesn’t automatically invalidate the patent, it signals that USPTO Director John A. Squires holds serious reservations about its validity, raising the possibility of eventual revocation.
Just last week, reports confirmed Nintendo failed to secure a patent for the concept of capturing characters or creatures within a game, a mechanic famously used in the Pokémon series. However, the previous month, the company successfully obtained U.S. Patent No. 12,403,397, which protects the specific act of summoning a sub-character for battle support. The current reexamination appears partly motivated by two earlier patents, one filed by Konami in 2002 and another by Nintendo itself in 2019. Either could serve as prior art references, potentially invalidating Nintendo’s more recent claim by demonstrating the idea existed before.
Nintendo now has a two-month window to formally respond to the reexamination order. Other third parties interested in challenging the patent award may also submit arguments during this period. It is highly unusual for a USPTO director to personally initiate this type of review, underscoring the significance of the case.
This patent dispute carries implications beyond the paperwork. Back in September 2024, Nintendo filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair, the developer of Palworld, alleging infringement of “multiple patent rights.” The company sought both an injunction to stop further infringement and financial compensation, claiming Palworld violated several of its patents. Nintendo has also recently argued that player-created mods should not qualify as prior art in patent evaluations. Should the USPTO ultimately overturn this patent, it could weaken Nintendo’s legal position in its ongoing litigation against Pocketpair.
In unrelated corporate news, Nintendo released its financial results for the six months ending September 30, revealing impressive growth following the launch of its new console. Sales of the hardware reached 10.36 million units, more than doubling the original Switch’s performance during its own launch period. For the first half of its fiscal year, Nintendo reported a 110% surge in net sales and a 19.5% increase in operating profit, prompting the company to raise its full-year financial forecasts.
(Source: Games Industry)
