Nintendo’s Palworld lawsuit may be in trouble after Japan rejects Pokemon creature-capture patent

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Nintendo’s legal battle with Palworld‘s creator, Pocketpair, may hit a snag. Japan’s patent office recently denied a key patent for Palworld’s creature-catching feature, stating it wasn’t unique enough.

So, I was reading GameRant and Windows Central, and it turns out Nintendo’s patent application – number 2024-031879 – got rejected by the Japan Patent Office back in late October. Apparently, the patent office didn’t think it was original enough – it was too similar to stuff already out there. This is interesting because it’s connected to the same family of patents Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are using in their lawsuit against Palworld, so it could have some impact there.

The reviewer pointed to several older games – like Monster Hunter 4, ARK: Survival Evolved, Kantai Collection, Craftopia, and Pokemon GO – as having used comparable mechanics for catching or swapping creatures.

Key patent family under scrutiny

Nintendo recently had a patent application denied, but it’s related to several others – specifically patents JP 7493117, JP 7545191, and JP 7528390 – which are now at the center of a lawsuit. Filed in Tokyo court on September 19, 2024, the lawsuit claims that the game Palworld copies features related to capturing creatures and swapping between creatures you can ride.

Although the lawsuit doesn’t specifically mention which application was rejected, experts like Florian Mueller at Games Fray point out that it’s a crucial part of the patents being argued in court. If this rejected application is proven to be unoriginal, the other patents in the case could be examined more closely.

Nintendo has 60 days to either change its plans or challenge the rejection. If they do either, the deadline will be extended to late December 2025.

What it means for the case

Although the Japanese Patent Office’s decision doesn’t immediately end Nintendo’s lawsuit, the Tokyo District Court isn’t required to follow the patent office’s rulings. Still, it could affect how the court judges whether Nintendo’s technology is truly original – something Pocketpair is prepared to argue against.

The legal case against Palworld, first brought up a year after the game launched, has already been pushed back because Nintendo changed one of the patents in question earlier this year. Now, lawyers believe the case will likely continue into 2026.

Nintendo’s legal battle is still ongoing, but the Japanese Patent Office recently refused one of their claims. This is an unusual public defeat for Nintendo as they’ve consistently worked to protect the unique way Pokémon games allow players to catch creatures.

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2025-10-29 22:20