Nintendo’s Pokémon Catching Patent Rejected in Japan
▼ Summary
– Nintendo’s patent application related to monster-catching mechanics was rejected by Japan’s Patent Office for lacking an inventive step.
– The rejected patent involves throwing and aiming objects to capture creatures or initiate battles, with ARK cited as prior art evidence.
– This patent is connected to other patents in the same family that are crucial to Nintendo’s ongoing lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair.
– Nintendo can resubmit a modified application since the rejection is non-final, but it may signal broader issues for related patents.
– The wider Palworld lawsuit continues, with Nintendo seeking damages and an injunction for alleged patent infringement since September 2024.
Nintendo has encountered a significant legal setback in Japan, where the national Patent Office has turned down a key application tied to the company’s ongoing dispute with Pocketpair over the game Palworld. The rejected filing covers mechanics involving throwing and aiming objects to either capture creatures or start battles, a familiar feature in monster-collecting titles. Although this particular patent is not identical to one submitted earlier in the United States, its denial could influence Nintendo’s broader intellectual property strategy.
According to reports, the application, numbered 2024-031879, was refused on the grounds that it lacked an inventive step. Patent examiners pointed to existing “prior art,” specifically citing gameplay from ARK: Survival Evolved. In one example, a character throws a pod-like object and uses a blue crosshair for aiming, while other tools such as stunning arrows were also referenced. Additional comparisons were drawn from titles including Craftopia, Monster Hunter 4, Pokémon GO, and Kantai Collection, using manuals, tutorials, and publicly available wikis as evidence.
The official Notice of Reasons for Refusal, dated October 22, 2025, stated through a machine translation that the invention could have been easily conceived by individuals with ordinary skill in the field. While the rejection is not final, Nintendo may submit a revised application, this decision may affect related patents. The refused filing shares a parent with JP7493117, which covers character movement, collision, and throwing creatures to trigger battles, and is itself the parent of JP7545191, focusing on aiming mechanics in a virtual space. Both are considered central to the Palworld litigation.
Legal experts note that when one patent in a family faces obstacles, it often signals vulnerabilities across the entire group. Judges also tend to defer to the expertise of patent examiners, which could complicate Nintendo’s position in future hearings. The company’s next steps will be closely watched as it decides how to proceed.
In the wider case, Nintendo’s original lawsuit, filed in September 2024, accuses Pocketpair of infringing multiple patents and seeks both an injunction and financial damages. Since the legal action began, Pocketpair has altered Palworld’s creature capturing and summoning mechanics, a change the developer has publicly lamented. Despite these challenges, the studio continues to evaluate a potential release on Nintendo’s upcoming Switch 2 console.
(Source: Nintendo Life)
