There was a lot of controversy when it was discovered that Nintendo had patented the ‘summon character and let it fight’ patent for the Pokemon franchise in the United States. Now it turns out that the boss of the patent office is now re-examining the patent after all the discourse which followed in the wake of the accepted patent. John A. Squires, who became director of the USPTO in September, is closely looking at the patent after he “determined that substantial new questions of patentability have arisen.”
John A. Squires, the director of the USPTO, is now looking at two patents one filed by Konami in 2002, the other by Nintendo itself in 2019 which he says will would be “important in deciding whether the claims are patentable,” and each “raises a substantial new question of patentability.” It now seems likely that the USPTO will revoke Nintendo’s ‘397 patent. This will be seen as a legal blow for Nintendo in its battle against Palworld.
Thanks to Francisco for sending in the news tip!
womp womp
I wonder if you complained this much when WB patented the Nemesis system that they still current hold that patent on. the ATB with Square Enix, the guitar with Ubisoft, or the mouse controls with Gaijin Ent.
I’m guessing you didn’t even know about the other patents and your hatred for TPC is why you always comment on these articles.
Isn’t that like one of the first bought up things that literally everyone talks about whenever talking about how patents are a virus to the industry? It’s always the nemesis system or the Dragon Ball Z loading mini game patent. So it’s likely yes this person probably did state their feelings towards it.
No, he hasn’t, it’s only ever been a Nintendo issue with him.
And yes the Namco and loading screen mini games is also another patent that should be talked about.
This one is involved in a court case. To the best of my knowledge, the others haven’t. This case could set some legal precedents going forward.
WOMP WOMP
That should be irrelevant.
Nintendo & TPC suck big time for pulling this bullshit, so who gives a shit how many of these articles he comments on? I love Nintendo but fuck them for this bullshit.
I can’t in good faith get mad at anyone defending their creation. I’ll never get mad at a creator who puts a patent on anything. Be it Nintendo who I love or Sony so I just DGF about. You created it, you own it. You want to license it out, then go ahead.
If it was a patent prior to Palworld ever being a thing, maybe I’d not care so much, but they made it AFTER to screw over another developer. That’s the bullshit part. And to be fair, as others have pointed out, Pokémon isn’t even the first franchise to do monster catching to make them battle other monsters as apparently Dragon Quest did it first. So by this logic, Squeenix has every right to make a patent for “capturing monsters to battle other monsters” and get 2 decades worth of royalties from Nintendo from doing something they did before Ninty. And if they choose not to license out the patent then Nintendo and GameFreak must cease and desist all future Pokémon projects because it’s Squeenix’s patent. My point is it’s too late to patent it now. Patenting it now because someone might do it BETTER than you is petty, greedy, and extremely dickish.
To be fair, it wasn’t even DQ who initially started the whole monster taming genre. The original predates both DQ5 and Pokemon. Hell, even a SMT game that had monster taming came out in the 80s
With that being said, that’s irrelevant.
Has anyone actually took the time to read the patent? Or is just going by headlines from websites looking for clicks?
Because the patent that got ok’d specifically mention an object being thrown to start the battle. Which neither SMT or DQ5 had. That’s what Nintendo is suing Palworld for, and that’s the patent that got infringed. The patent pretty much outlines the mechanics of Pokemon Legends. The patent was also submitted in 2023, a whole year before Palworld even released.
Again, I’m always on the side of creator, even when that creator is multi billion dollar company. I’ll always defend creativity.
https://gamesfray.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/US12403397B2-2025-09-02.pdf
Here’s a link to the actual patent for those that want to actually look at it.
These days, Pokemon is just about the only video game I play. But if it allows for more creativity, than yes, other developers should be allowed to use similar mechanics.
“The higher they are, the harder they’ll fall”
-Benjamin Franklin
This ongoing patent review could reshape the gaming landscape. Meanwhile, check out Wheelie Life for some thrilling motorcycle stunts!
Good- if a patent like this is allowed to stand then what’s to stop others, stifling creativity more and more with each claim upheld.
Goody. I remember when King tried to copyright candy, crush, and saga as separate terms and that was bullshit. Or Monster trying to sue anyone that uses monster in their name. Certain patents and copyrights should be denied the very instant some asshole corporation tries to get them approved.
That’s completely different from this. They were trying to copyright a word that already existed long before who they were. Nintendo patented a mechanic that they created.